15 The Thoroughfare
Between the chemists and the bakery we find Old Post office Yard, for many years Lillistone’s Yard named for the Bakers that stood on the site back in 1838. Except for a short period when the Post Office (after which the Court was renamed) stood on the left hand corner, this has been a bakery or café for at least 200 years.
Some may remember the White Heather Café that once stood here.
The Yards date back to when Harleston market was founded and long thin ‘burgess plots’ were laid out around it. Fronted by commercial premises lived in by the tradesman, his family and servants, the land behind was essentially a small holding with pigs, chickens, orchards and vegetable and herb gardens.
As the town and market grew, many of these ‘burgess plots’ were filled in by workshops and small dwellings.
The barn on Swan Lane is 17th C relic from this more rural era of town dwelling. Timber framed, stuccoed and roughcast with a steep gable-ended pantile roof, originally thatched. Easy to spot on Swan Lane, more difficult to spot behind later lean-tos on the Old Post Office Yard side. An early mullioned window is also visible on the Swan Lane. Mr Alexander Pashley, the chemist in residence in the mid-19thC, probably used this barn to manufacture the Waterproof Tarpaulins that were one of his leading sale lines, he stomped out of town after locals complained about the smell from his various manufacturies!
Nearby Old Chapel Card also has a barn although of a rather later date. At one time it was the Parish Coal store but was then used for storage by Denny’s – the predecessors of Coopers and another renowned Hardware Store.
A later barn in Old Chapel Yard – once the Parish Coal Store, a form of practical focussed Parish Relief that could not be mis-spent by the recipients in a local pub!