2-4 Leicester Road

This is a two-storey house with shop units, dating from the 19th century with later alterations. The building is constructed from red brick in a Flemish bond pattern, with limestone dressings. The roof is covered in Swithland slate and features brick chimney stacks.

The building is situated on the west side of Leicester Road, with its principal, east-facing elevation displaying a four-bay arrangement. The main body of the building has a roughly rectangular footprint, with outshuts and workshops located to the rear (west).

The ground floor features two shop fronts separated by a central carriageway opening. The carriageway is defined by a segmental archway constructed with alternating dressed stone and gauged brick voussoirs, containing a pair of timber plank doors and a wrought iron screen bearing the inscription ‘THOMAS BROWN / BUILDER’. A doorway to the left, similarly detailed, has a half-glazed door with fielded panelling and a leaded overlight, providing access to the shop.

The shopfront on the left retains its original appearance, constructed from timber with pilasters and paired consoles supporting a moulded cornice, and a fascia indicating ‘FRUITERER W H COX EST 1888’. It has a glazed front with three large lights separated by timber mullions, each with a Tudor-arched head. Above each large light are three smaller lights with leaded glass, including a central roundel. A low stall riser and a wrought iron railing are also present. The shopfront to the right has been modernised.

The first floor has four window openings with moulded stone lintels. The two windows on the left retain paired sash windows with arched heads. Stone sill and impost bands run along the facade, topped by a brick cornice with paired corbels. The roof is pitched and incorporates a chimneystack at either end of the ridge.

The single-cell shop unit of W H Cox, originally a parlour to the dwelling, was converted into a shop in 1888. It retains some original domestic features, including the chimneybreast and moulded cornice, along with 19th and 20th century shop fittings. These include a counter with fielded panels and pilasters with scroll consoles supporting a deep timber countertop, alongside matchboarding to the dado. Shelving to the rear is believed to date from the 1960s. The shop unit on the right has modern fittings.