Numbers 26 And 28 Street

Numbers 26 and 28 on Northgate Street are two narrow shops that have been combined into one, each approximately 3 meters wide, with former living accommodation above. Number 26 likely dates from the 1820s, while Number 28 is from the 1830s, possibly built on the site of a single medieval house. The exterior of Number 26 features Flemish bond brown brickwork, whereas Number 28 has stuccoed brick. Both buildings have grey slate roofs with ridges running perpendicular to the street, and the rear is finished with English garden wall bond brown brickwork.

Number 26 stands four storeys tall, while Number 28 is three storeys. The shopfronts are adorned with reeded pilasters, paired at the south end and between the two shops, and triple at the north-west corner of Number 28 leading to Music Hall Passage. Each shopfront has an openwork timber basket arch, with modern glazed shopfronts set back behind the pilasters and arches. Number 26 features a 12-pane recessed sash window on both the second and third storeys, and a 6-pane window on the fourth storey, topped with a parapet that has a moulded cornice. Number 28 has a replaced window on the second storey within an opening that includes an architrave and entablature, a 9-pane recessed sash window in an architrave on the third storey, and a cornice above a raised panel, beneath a parapet with plain coping. The facade facing Music Hall Passage and the rear windows have been altered, and the rear gables have flush verges. These shops replaced two low two-storey buildings that were depicted in a c1820 engraving by Batenham.

Inside, there is no evidence of a cellar, and the upper rooms feature some simple plaster cornices and panelled window reveals.