The Packet House

This is a group of several houses, largely dating from the 19th century, on the site of an earlier packet house from 1760. A significant timber-framed wing was constructed around 1850 for the first Earl of Ellesmere. The construction is a mix of English garden wall bond brick with a slate roof, and timber framing with a stone slate roof. The buildings comprise an irregular arrangement of two, three, and four-storey ranges over a total of four bays, with wings and additions to the rear. Bays one and two are brick and feature three-light timber mullioned windows with flat brick arches, brick hoodmoulds and stone sills. Bay two has a gable. A picturesque shop front is present on the left return. Coped gables are embellished with kneelers and finials. Bays three and four are timber-framed. Bay three has an ovolo-moulded door surround, and three-light ovolo-moulded timber-mullioned windows on each floor, including within a gabled dormer window. Bay four projects as a large gabled crosswing, with each floor and the gable jettied out on carved brackets. The windows of this bay are a mix of three, four, or six-light ovolo-moulded timber mullions, with decorative framing to the second floor, enriched barge boards, and a finial. A gabled porch is located on the right return. The chimneys are clustered and single, diagonally set. The overall composition is pleasing and picturesque, dominating the canal basin. The timber framing is part of a group of similar works commissioned for the first Earl of Ellesmere, representing an early revival style.