Arkwright House

Arkwright House, formerly known as the Arkwright Arms, is a town house built in 1728 with a 19th-century addition, now partly used as an office. It has undergone alterations and renovations around 1979. The building is constructed of brick with a stucco facade and features a slate roof. It is designed in an L-plan, consisting of a single-depth front range with a rear wing and an addition on the east side.

This early Georgian structure stands three storeys tall with an attic over a cellar and presents a symmetrical five-window range at the front, plus a two-window addition to the right. The facade includes a central doorway with a 20th-century pedimented wooden architrave, a panelled door with an overlight, and 12-pane sashed windows on all floors, which have raised sills and exposed boxes. The building has gable chimneys and 20th-century skylights in the roof.

On the left gable wall, there is a large 12-pane sashed stair-window, a smaller 12-pane sash above it, and a very small 12-pane sash in the attic. The right addition, which is not stuccoed, features a 19th-century corner-shop front at the ground floor, sashed windows without glazing bars on the first floor, and altered windows on the second floor.

Historically, the house was originally occupied by the headmaster of the Grammar School. In 1768, Richard Arkwright and John Kay used a back room for the development of the spinning machine known as the water-frame.