53, Lower Bridge Street

This is a humble town house, now a shop and accommodation, with origins in the medieval period. It was altered significantly in the 18th and 19th centuries. The building is timber-framed with painted brickwork and a roof covered in grey slate, with the ridge running perpendicular to the front. The front facade was likely rebuilt in the 18th century and subsequently altered, and is constructed of brick. It has three storeys and a single narrow bay. The front door, situated on the south side, has two panes of glass above a boarded panel. A 19th-century shop window to the north of the door has six panes set within a timber frame and a lead-clad hood. Each upper storey features a recessed 12-pane sash window with exposed boxes, tiled sills, and cambered brick heads. A late 19th-century parapet to the front gable is constructed of patterned red and yellow brick, topped with a terracotta coping and a ball finial.

The south side, facing St Olave Street, demonstrates different phases of construction. Medieval red sandstone rubble walling remains towards the rear, with some visible stones further west. Late medieval posts west of the bay, containing the first and second-floor windows, mark the front of a former Row walk, which was a covered walkway. Carpenters’ marks are visible along the Row and stallboard bay, progressing from the rear westward through the Row and stallboard bay, and then eastward in the domestic bays. The secondary timber framing in the Row and stallboard bay likely dates to the late 17th century. The windows in this area have irregular placement and leaded glazing. An old boarded door provides access to the undercroft, now functioning as a first storey. Another similar door, accessed via an inserted recessed porch with eight repaired stone steps, leads to the second storey. The chimney is shared with the adjacent building at No. 51, likely constructed when the Row was closed in 1700. The rear of the building adjoins another property.

The undercroft, now a first storey, has no particularly noteworthy features. The former Row storey (now the second storey) displays visible front corner posts, beams, and other timber framing. An inglenook fireplace is situated against the north wall at the eastern end, featuring a stone hearth, brick fireplace, a massive bressumer, and a plastered smoke hood. The enclosed staircase against the north wall has turned newel posts with ball finials and slender turned balusters, likely dating from the mid-18th century. Finally, the third storey shows a firehood and a damaged roof truss.