29, 30 AND 30A, CASTLE STREET

Three Grade II* listed houses dating to the early 18th century, constructed in brick beneath Welsh slate roofs. The complex incorporates significant earlier medieval fabric, particularly a late 14th-century hall belonging to the original College of The Vicar's Choral.

Exterior

The principal frontage presents three storeys over a cellar, with a five-window range. The left window is a larger 10/10 sash, while the remaining windows alternate between 6/6 and 8/8 sashes with cambered heads, set in moulded cases beneath segmental arches with painted stone keyblocks. Supplementary 4/4 and 3/3 horizontal casements occupy similar moulded settings. Carved wood coving runs beneath the eaves.

Two matching entrances flank a central 8/8 sash. Both feature six-fielded panel doors with overlights set in shouldered moulded wood architraves under moulded cambered hoods. The right entrance includes Gothic glazing in the overlight; the left has glazing-bars. Windows frame each entrance.

To the left, a narrow early 19th-century wing extends with a hipped slate roof. It contains a single tier of two 6/6 and one 3/3 sashes beneath segmental arches with stucco keyblocks, and brick modillion eaves.

To the right (No. 30A), a two-storey entrance bay with Welsh slate roof displays a 6/6 sash under a segmental arch with keyblock. The entrance door is eight-fielded panel with glazing-bar overlight, set in a moulded case with cambered head beneath a moulded flat hood with boarded cambered soffit.

A rear wing built of coursed rubble with Welsh slate roof contains a brick blocked opening with chamfered reveals and lintel. Two early 19th-century 8/8 sashes sit above a mullion light and coloured leaded light, all in moulded reveals.

Three brick stacks rise to the rear; that to the left has been reduced.

Interior

No. 29: A late 18th-century staircase features a moulded rail and turned balusters. The second floor contains two and four-panel doors and an 18th-century fireplace. The first floor has an 18th-century fireplace, four-panel doors with architraves, and a 19th-century panelled door. The hall displays a 19th-century half-glazed panelled door with leaded lights and overlight, a coved ceiling, and six-panel doors. The ground floor contains a stone fireplace with 19th-century overmantel, a four-panel door, an 18th-century fireplace, and coving.

The rear wing (Hall of Vicars Choral) preserves the late 14th-century hall of the College of The Vicar's Choral, featuring a substantial original roof with cusped wind braces. A late 18th-century open-well staircase with panelled dado rises to the second floor. The attic contains moulded collar trusses with cusped braces and pierced, cusped windbraces with foliate finials. The second floor has a late 18th-century corner fireplace with mirror overmantel and wall cupboard, an 18th-century fireplace, and a wall cupboard and chest. The first floor includes an 18th-century fireplace, panelled recesses, a coved ceiling, four-panel doors and architraves. The ground floor has a 19th-century fireplace, panelled alcoves, four-panel doors with architrave, and a coved ceiling.

No. 30: An early 18th-century dogleg staircase ascends to the second floor. The second floor contains a four-panel door, a 19th-century fireplace, an 18th-century bolection moulded fireplace, a wall cupboard, two reused 18th-century panel doors (one with cockspur hinges), and two plank doors. The first floor has four-panel doors, 18th-century fireplaces, wall cupboards, and a moulded ceiling beam. The ground floor features panelled dado, six-panel doors, and an 18th-century fireplace. A brick vaulted cellar lies beneath.

The timber-framed rear wing contains an early 18th-century dogleg staircase with moulded string and rail and barley sugar twist balusters. The first floor holds a panelled room with 18th-century fireplace, four-panel door, 17th-century moulded ceiling frame, and two three and four-panel doors. The hall retains 17th-century panelling. The ground floor displays 18th-century panelling, a plaster ceiling with rose and acorn motif, wood moulded cornice, and panelled doors.

No. 30A: The ground floor contains plank doors, a 19th-century winder stair, a four-panel door, a 19th-century fireplace, and a wall cupboard. There is no access to the upper floor.