There is a real feeling of history .....

when you go through the ancient doorway, along the narrow panelled hallway and up the steep, spiral staircase of the Elizabethan House, in New Street, in the Barbican area of Plymouth's waterfront.(See yesterday's post)

New Street in the historic Barbican area of Plymouth's waterfront.

New Street was "new" in the late 1500s but it is still going strong,

with its collection of bars, tea rooms, restaurants, galleries and gift shops etc. 

But, without doubt, the most interesting building in New Street
is the authentically restored Elizabethan House.

Come back tomorrow and take a look inside The Elizabethan House. 

The Elizabethan Garden in New Street.

This delightfully restored little garden was created in the 16th century when 

wealthy merchants built their houses in the then accurately named New Street.

This garden lies a few yards away from the Elizabethan House,
a late 1500s sea captain's house which was rescued from demolition in 1929 and survives today in its near original state, and is sympathetically furnished.

The house and the gardens provide a fascinating insight into a life in Elizabethan England.

The Tudor Rose Tearooms

Tucked away in New Street, adjoining the beautifully restored Elizabethan Garden, is the secluded garden of the Tudor Rose Tearooms.

They really do live up to these claims, and anyone familiar with service standards in the UK knows how rare that is.



















The food is very good as well.

The Garden of the Elizabethan House in New Street

With the same detailed attention to the archaeological evidence and material from archival documents, that characterised the restoration of the house, a typical Elizabethan garden has been recreated in the area immediately behind the Elizabethan House in New Street.

The Interior of the Elizabethan House (2)

The Front Bedroom, in the attic, contains this superb Tester bed. Made of oak, with scroll carving on the canopy, posts and panelled back, this a fine example of 16th century craftsmanship. The original iron rods for the curtains are still in position and have been used to hang these new drapes.

In the Rear Bedroom are a number of pieces of oak furniture and this very interesting box bed from France. Made in Brittany of carved oak, with a sliding door and decorated with cherubs, this provided considerable warmth and privacy. It was transported to Plymouth by fishing boat in 1909.

Come back tomorrow to see the recreated Elizabethan Garden.

The interior of the Elizabethan House (1)

This is the Front Parlour, the main reception room. The large window, spans the full width of the house, it is the window you can see at first floor level in yesterday's post.

All the items on display throughout the house are authentic to the period and many have been carefully selected from local archaeological finds.

The Kitchen, with its large inglenook fireplace, is on the ground floor whilst the Eating Room is  on the first floor.

Access to the upper floors is reached through a spiral staircase, a typical feature of houses in old Plymouth. The central newel is almost certainly a disused ship's mast and probably the work of a local shipwright, while the heavy rope guide is another traditional feature.

The Elizabethan House in New Street

The Elizabethen House is a rare surviving example of Plymouth's history. By the late 1500s the city was a bustling port, bursting at the seams with ships and crew, merchants and craftsmen. More housing was needed and around 1584 New Street was developed, providing homes for sea captains and middle merchants whose livelihoods were based around the waterfront.

Although the first owner is not known records of ownership from 1613 are complete to the present.

By 1850 the prosperous merchants had moved out and New Street was full of slums and hovels. The 1851 census records 47 occupants of this house which by 1891 had risen to 58. The 1920s saw major slum clearance projects clear virtually all the houses in the area but in 1926 the Borough of Plymouth bought the freehold and restoration work began.

Come back tomorrow and we'll look in side.

The old and the new

The historic building on the right is tucked away down one of the city's oldest streets - the Merchant's House is Plymouth’s finest surviving example of a 16th/17th century residence. Its first recorded owner was certainly living in the house in 1608.