27- 28 Queen Street

Late-C17 dwelling, altered in the C18 and C19, re-fronted and further altered in the C20.

MATERIALS: constructed of brick with stone dressings under a slate roof, windows are timber sashes.

PLAN: the building is L-shaped with the principal elevation facing east onto Queen Street.

EXTERIOR: the building is Queen Anne in style, with the main range facing east over two storeys with a hipped slate roof. The principal façade is formed of five bays, with an entrance in both the first and fifth bay. The entrances are under semi-circular arches and have rendered surrounds. The southern entrance has a wrought iron gate. Between the entrances are three window openings which are currently (2024) boarded up. Between the ground and first floor is an C18 stone modillion cornice. At first floor level there is a window opening within each of the bays, with the exception of the central bay, where the opening has been infilled with brick. This is now the location of a projecting turret clock, set at right angles to the building and supported by a bracket. The clock dates to the building’s former use as a clock manufactory, with: ‘JOHN SMITH & SONS/ CLOCK MAKERS’ displayed above the clock faces. Within every other bay on the first floor there is a timber six-over-nine sash window under a flat, rubbed brick arch. There is a further modillion cornice beneath the eaves, with the cornice forming a semi-circular broken pediment at the centre of the elevation to account for the projecting turret clock.

The north elevation of the building is in two sections: a solid two-storey part under the hipped roof to the front (east), and a taller, three-storey section to the rear (west) end. This taller rear section has two window openings with C20 casements at second floor level, and is solid and rendered below.

The south elevation of the building is blind without any openings.

INTERIOR: the interior of the building has been remodelled during the early C20 and appears to contain re-used fittings and features from earlier phases of the building’s history. This includes a C17 panelled room to the rear of the building, a newel post staircase and a marble fireplace. Further oak panelling, of uncertain date, survives in the building’s entrance hall. Some of the C17 timber roof structure appears to survive at the north west end of the building.