Built in 1886 for the draper William Clark, who occupied the previous shop on the site since at least 1861. The architect was Walter Henry Bell (1860-1932) of 31 Cheap Street, Newbury.
By the late 1890’s the building was occupied by another draper, Alfred Camp, who already had a shop at 8-9 Northbrook Street known as “Alfred Camp’s Drapery Bazaar”. In 1920 the business was merged with adjoining shops to create the department store Camp Hopson which opened in 1921. Camp Hopson vacated numbers 13 and 14 in the 1920’s but continued to occupy 6-12 until substantial alterations in 2004-6, when it moved out of numbers 6 and 12, with number 6 becoming a branch of HSBC Bank. The building was largely rebuilt behind the original frontage and extended to the south across the former Waldegrave Place.
The original brick, three-storey, street frontage of 6 Northbrook Street is of two bays, each with a separate tile roof and stone dressings. The additional early-C21 bay to the south is flat-roofed with a glazed frontage. The original bays are flanked by shallow brick pilasters and the elevation has stone string courses and coping to the gables. On the first floor are a pair of canted bay windows with timber-framed glazing with leaded transoms and stone hoods and pediments connected by a string course. The second floor has a pair of timber-framed double-casement windows, again with leaded transoms. The brick segmental arches have decorative stone keystones above which, in the gables, are a pair of oeil-de-boeuf windows with four keystones. The ground floor frontage dates from 2006 and has plate-glass windows and doors and a broad fascia panel running across all three bays. The interior is completely modern. The historic façade alone is being put forward for local listing.
Not included in the listing are the adjoining buildings to the north are the Grade II listed 8-9 Northbrook Street, and Grade II* listed 10-11 Northbrook Street. These constitute the present Camp Hopson store, owned by Morley’s Stores since 2014. 8-9 Northbrook Street features a rainwater head dated 1790. 10-11 Northbrook Street is dated 1663. Further to the north is the Grade II listed 12 Northbrook Street, now Cobrizo Lounge café bar.
The four buildings which made up Camp Hopson for a large part of the 20th century (nos. 6-12), are an important architectural part of the Northbrook Street street-scene, recognized as a group in many postcards. As part of the only department store open in Newbury for most of the 20th century, the four buildings have a local social significance which is more than their simple architectural importance. They contribute materially to the character of Northbrook Street within the Newbury Conservation Area.
In architectural terms, the double gables of 6 Northbrook Street echo those of numbers 10-11 and together they bookend numbers 8-9. No 6 is a building by a Newbury architect, (Walter Henry Bell) who deserves local recognition. Although the frontage at street level is modern, the attractive frontage above street level is deserving of recognition and protection for its architectural merit, and attractive and complimentary design. It contributes to the ambience and amenity of the street scene of the Conservation Area.
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