Rediscovering history

In 2019, Heritage Unlimited were engaged by the owner of 5 Pemberton Row to provide a Heritage Statement (now termed a Heritage Impact Assessment) to support a planning application and listed building consent for work to the grade II listed building. It was during our research that we rediscovered the house was the former home and workshop of Richard Potter, an influential 18th century flute maker.

What the heritage statement uncovered

5 Pemberton Row, along with 4 Pemberton Row and 17 Gough Street, are the remaining properties of a terraced row of townhouses dating to c.1700. The area was obliterated during the Second World War by enemy aerial bombardment, the other properties forming the row now modern buildings.

Richard Potter moved to 5 Pemberton Row in 1764 with his family, where he manufactured the ‘German Flute’. His contribution to music has global significance: he re-invented the German flute, incorporating a metal tuning slide, foot tuner, metal valves and a narrow bore head. His design was patented in 1785 before becoming globally recognised, and was the instrument of choice of many flautists and composers, including Mozart. From 1782 to 1783, Richard Potter was Master Turner of the Worshipful Company of Turners, which dominated the production of woodwind instruments at that time.

Richard’s sons, Richard Huddleston and William Henry, were apprenticed to their father. Richard Huddleston was also a music teacher, and from 1782 until his death in 1821 was organist at St Bride’s Church in Fleet Street. In 1813 he was one of the 30 original members of the Philharmonic Society. His fifth child, Phillip Cipriani Hambley Potter (1792-1871), became a leading composer and pianist, working with Beethoven and producing many orchestral works, including twelve symphonies.

The rediscovery of the property’s association with the Potter family was used in the Heritage Statement to provide public benefit, helping to overcome the less than substantial harm the works caused to the listed building and Fleet Street Conservation Area, a requirement of the National Planning Policy Framework. This public benefit was gained through enhancing the historic value of the building and conservation area, increasing the significance of these designated heritage assets and the importance of this surviving row of late 16th/early 17th century town houses.

The neighbouring building, 17 Gough Square, a grade I listed building, has an historical association with another important figure: it was the former home of Samuel Johnson between 1748 and 1759. It was while living there that Dr Johnson compiled and published the first modern English language dictionary.

Read more about how we approach this kind of work on our heritage statements service page.