166 AND 168, TOWN STREET

166 and 168 Town Street is a building that may have originally served as offices and a warehouse, but is now used as shops. It dates from the early 18th century and has undergone extensive alterations in the 20th century. The structure is made of rendered brick and stone, sitting on coursed rubble foundations, and features a stone slate roof.

This tall, two-storey, two-bay building has a basement, with its northern wall located at the edge of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. The building has stone quoins and an inserted shop entrance with an overlight in the center, along with moulded jambs and a lintel above the doorway on the far right and a window, which may have been a former doorway, on the far left. There is a large opening to the left of center that is now a window, and a 20th-century window to the right. A projecting band is present at the level of the former window sill, extending to the raised ground and the first floor, which has two square windows with 20th-century small-pane frames. Gutter brackets are also visible. A large central stack made of handmade bricks straddles the ridge of the roof.

At the rear, the ground floor is obscured by trees, but features a small four-pane sash window, a three-light mullioned window, and a large doorway with 20th-century glazing on the upper storey. The interior has not been inspected. Despite the alterations, this building remains an unusual example, with its canal-side location and proportions suggesting it may have been an early Canal Company building, designed to accommodate loading from both the canal and the roadside.