53 and 53a, Market Street

53 and 53A Market Street are two shops built around 1800, with alterations made in the 19th and 20th centuries. The building is constructed of sandstone ashlar and has a slate roof. It stands three storeys high and features four bays beneath a cornice. The ground floor has 20th-century shop fronts, but remnants of a 19th-century timber shop front can still be seen, including fluted Doric columns on the left and right, and a cornice above the ground floor that likely dates from the same period. The upper storeys are fitted with glazing bar sash windows, with 12 panes on the first floor and 9 panes on the second floor, both having plain reveals and projecting stone sills. There are iron tie plates added between the bays on both floors, which are a 20th-century feature. The building has chimneys on both the left and right sides. Historically, an old photograph shows the shop front when it was occupied by Fenton and Co., Silversmiths and Ironmongers, who operated there from 1855 until the 1960s.