1 South Street

A house with probable ground-floor shop, built in the mid-18th century and altered in the early 20th century for W H Smith and Son.

The building is constructed of Flemish-bond brickwork painted white on the west and north elevations, with a timber, stone and glazed shopfront and curved corner element decorated with lead panels. The roof is slate-covered.

The rectangular plan comprises a shorter primary frontage onto South Street to the west and a longer secondary frontage onto Corn Street to the north. The principal west range rises three storeys across two bays onto South Street and three bays onto Corn Street beneath a hipped roof. A 20th-century brick chimney stack rises from the southern party wall shared with 3 South Street.

The ground-floor shopfront consists of a series of multi-paned bow windows over a stone base, separated by plain pilasters and topped by a panelled fascia with nail-head pyramid-shaped bosses and an ovolo-moulded cornice. The curved bay at the north-west corner carries a fascia with raised lettering reading 'CIRCULATION LIBRARY'. Above this bay, the first and second floors have multi-paned bow windows matching the ground floor, flanked by plain timber pilasters, with lead panels beneath each window embossed and painted with heraldic motifs. The hipped roof projects over the curved bay. The main entrance on the west elevation is centrally located and comprises a pair of half-glazed panelled doors matching the shopfront design.

Above the entrance, the first and second floors carry a pair of timber sash windows each with six-over-six glazing, stucco cills and timber surrounds. Those on the first floor have segmental-arched heads, with the southern window possibly retaining the original sashes and moulded surround. A brick cill band runs between the first and second floors. The second-floor windows have flat-arched heads set within a dentillated eaves course. Between the first-floor windows is a moulded and painted lead panel with heraldic motifs and raised lettering reading 'THE CORNER HOUSE'.

The north elevation of the west range is plainer at first and second-floor level. The easternmost bay contains a timber sash window on the first floor with eight-over-eight glazing and horns, moulded surround and segmental-arched head. Above at second-floor level is a small timber sash window with three-over-three glazing, horns, stucco cill and flat-arched head. A brick cill band runs between the floors as on the west elevation.

The rear east range fronting Corn Street is three storeys across three bays and projects slightly forward from the principal range. The ground floor contains a 20th-century four-panelled door in a plain timber surround beneath a segmental-arched head, flanked by timber sash windows with segmental-arched heads and stucco cills. The larger western window has six-over-six glazing, horns and a moulded timber surround, set flush with the façade. The smaller eastern window has four-over-four glazing, horns and a simpler moulded timber surround, recessed into the brickwork. All three openings are closely grouped within the two easternmost bays. Beneath the larger western window is a blocked basement light with a segmental-arched head. Two brick cill bands divide the ground, first and second floors.

The first and second floors each carry three timber sash windows with stucco cills, except for the central second-floor window. The two westernmost windows sit closer together on each floor, with the two outer windows recessed and the central window flush with the brickwork in a moulded timber surround. The easternmost windows are narrower, with four-over-four glazing on the first floor and two-over-two on the second. The four wider windows to the west have six-over-six glazing on the first floor and three-over-three on the second. First-floor windows have segmental-arched heads; second-floor windows have flat-arched heads. A dentillated eaves course matching the principal range sits immediately above the second-floor windows. Iron ties are set beneath the cills of the central windows on the first and second floors.