8-9, Market Square

A pair of shops dating from the mid to late 19th century, with later 19th-century remodelling and shop front additions. The building is constructed of painted brick with rusticated stone quoins in the centre. It has plate glass shop windows within frames of wood and cast iron, and a slate roof. The building is double-depth, with long rear extensions. It is two storeys high, arranged in a three-bay composition, with a narrow centre that projects slightly and is divided between the two properties. A moulded cornice, blocking course, and shallow central pediment are present.

The shop fronts are the most notable features. The shop front of No.8 occupies the original ground floor on the left side of the centre and features a recessed entrance flanked by bay windows of plate glass with curved corners. Each bay window has two slender colonettes in a classical Ionic style, and overlights with rectilinear glazing bars forming a rectangular panel in the centre of each light. An altered doorway, originally with a pilastered architrave, is located to the right of the shop front. No.9 has a wider, symmetrical, double-fronted and two-storey shop front, which replaces most of the original ground and first floors and extends outwards to the right. It features a deeply recessed central entrance flanked by wide plate glass windows at ground floor, and a narrower tripartite window above. The entrance and all windows have slender columns with ogee-shaped tracery to the heads. The building is an unusual survival and forms a group with the Market Hall in the Square.