2 and 2a Castle Street and 1 The Borough

An early 19th-century house and shop with late 19th-century extensions and alterations, further altered in the late 20th century.

The building is constructed of red brick with stone and stucco details, with a pitched slate roof and brick chimney stacks positioned centrally on both roof slopes. The plan is roughly rectangular, with a distinctive curved corner between The Borough and Castle Street that contains the principal entrance.

The west elevation (The Borough) features a ground-floor stucco shopfront at street level, comprising three principal bays and one curved corner bay extending the full width of the façade. The bays are divided by channelled stucco panels fronted with pairs of pilasters topped with simple moulded capitals. Above runs a plat band with moulded cornice capped in lead. To the left is a round-headed entrance door in stucco with a prominent keystone and blind panel above, providing access to the apartments of 1 and 1A The Borough. The curved corner bay contains the entrance to 2 Castle Street and is topped with angled stucco headers and a central double keystone.

Above ground-floor level, the character changes noticeably. The left-hand two bays, likely the oldest elements, are four storeys tall. At first and second-floor levels they have two-over-two flat-arched windows with stucco lintels featuring slightly eroded keystone details and moulded caps. The second-floor windows are exceptionally small, just one pane high, with no lintels. This section is capped with a slim moulded cornice showing signs of deterioration.

The right-hand bay and curved corner are only three storeys high, with significantly taller first-floor windows than the adjacent left bays. These windows have stucco lintels with angled headers and dropped keystones at first-floor level, and similar lintels with moulded caps at second-floor level. The curved corner windows are blind, set in slightly recessed panels. The first-floor window is a nine-over-nine sash, whilst the second-floor window is two-over-two. This section is topped with a prominent cornice capped in lead, repeating the cornice above the shopfront and recessed at the curved corner.

The south elevation continues the curved corner stucco detail and the pattern of channelled stucco panels with pilasters, plat band and cornice. A single slim bay of the original stucco shopfront appears here, fitted with a modern window. To the right, 2A's shopfront is a 1997 addition in imitation historic style, featuring large plate glass windows with timber panels to the bottom and a matching timber-panelled door to the left of centre. Above is a plastic signboard the full shop width, with signs of mouldings above that may date to the 19th century.

At first and second-floor level on the south elevation are two main bays plus the curved bay on the left. The windows follow the pattern described on The Borough elevation, with stucco lintels featuring angled headers and dropped keystones at first-floor level, and matching lintels with moulded caps at second floor. The left-hand first-floor window is a nine-over-nine sash, the right-hand is six-over-six, with both second-floor windows being two-over-two sashes. The decorative cornice visible on the west elevation is absent or concealed on the south elevation, apparently replaced or boxed-in with timber boards.