71, FOREGATE STREET (See details for further address information)

No. 71 Foregate Street, which also includes No. 2 Queen Street, is a town house that has been converted into a shop and masonic lodge. It was originally built in the early 18th century and was refronted in 1883. The building features stone-dressed Flemish bond orange brick and has a grey slate hipped roof that runs at a right angle to Foregate Street.

The exterior consists of three storeys and three windows. The three-bay arcade facing Foregate Street is supported by columns and responds that carry stone basket-arches with alternating moulded and projecting voussoirs, as well as triple keystones. The arcade has rusticated end-piers, and the upper storeys have quoins. The shopfront was added in the 20th century.

On the first floor, there is a sill band and three flush 15-pane sash windows with rusticated lintels and projecting keys. The second floor features three flush 9-pane sash windows with painted stone sills and rusticated wedge lintels with keys, topped by a modillion cornice and a one-course stone parapet. The long west face towards Queen Street has a late 18th-century eared and pedimented case for a six-panel door, while the rest of the facade dates from 1883. This includes small-pane sashes and stone-dressed cross-windows, with two projecting bays that have pediments above eaves level; the rear bay features a stone cartouche and a blunt spire behind the pediment.

Inside, there is a notable open-well staircase with newels and closely spaced slender turned balusters. The building contains six-panel doors, some of which have lower and upper cross-panels, and moulded plaster ceilings. The first-floor dining room and second-floor hall span the full width of the front of the building.