Virgil Andertons Shops

A terrace of six shops dating to 1876, designed by Virgil Anderton of Padiham and subsequently altered. Constructed of coursed squared sandstone with freestone dressings and a slate roof, the buildings are in a Venetian style. The rectangular plan is divided into six narrow, laterally arranged units. The three-storey facade is six bays wide, with superimposed orders of panelled pilasters, the upper ones topped with crocketed caps. Fascia bands, now altered or concealed, run across the ground floor, while plain friezes and moulded cornices sit above the first and second floors. The ground floor currently has 20th-century shop fronts. The first and second floors originally featured coupled windows, with the first floor of number 4 exhibiting an unsympathetic 20th-century replacement. The first-floor windows are round-headed, and the second-floor windows are segmental-headed. All windows have keyed architraves, prominent sills on carved brackets, and panelled pilaster jambs (the first-floor pilasters fitted with crocketed caps). The majority are sash windows with altered glazing, although numbers 12 and 14 have retained original glazing. The interior remains uninspected. The building forms a group with numbers 16 and 18 to the right.