later covering of plaster and have only recently been revealed, the best known being at Lavenham, Suffolk (126). Essex probably has more than most, and examples can be seen at Kings Street, Saffron Walden, at Aubyns, Church Lane, Writtle, at Coggeshall and at Felsted. Elsewhere they can be seen at West Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, Lingfield, Surrey (127), Charing, Kent, Weobley, Hereford & Worcester, Ashwell, Hertfordshire, and Cerne Abbas, Dorset (128).
From examination of these medieval structures it is evident that the shop front comprised two or three unglazed openings, generally with four centred arches set below a square head. They often have some form of rebate to take some kind of internal shutter, or else the unglazed windows were secured at night by a pair of timber shutters, the upper one hinged from above, the lower one hinged from below. Both shutters opened outwards, the lower one let down to serve as an external counter during the day, and the upper one raised, providing shelter for the counter. These shutters can still be seen on a surviving
|
O’T”?Q |
