30-34, BROAD STREET

30-34 BROAD STREET, BROMYARD

This is a Grade II listed group of three shops with accommodation above, originally comprising two separate houses. Number 30 dates from the 17th century, while numbers 32 and 34 originate from the 18th century.

The principal façade is constructed of brick with a slate roof, while the rear elevation is built of coursed rubble stone. The building is arranged with three bays running east to west along Broad Street, with single-bay pitched ranges projecting perpendicularly to the rear from each bay of the main range.

The three-storey building consists of two distinct sections. Numbers 32 and 34 form a single build, while number 30, which occupies a wider bay, is structurally separate. At ground-floor level, each bay contains a shop front. Number 30 features a large plate-glass window to the right of a fielded-panel door with glazed upper sections. Pilasters with fielded panels and moulded consoles flank the building either side, with a fascia between them. Above the door is a narrow over-light divided vertically by four glazing bars. Number 32 has a large glazed window above a tiled plinth and a front door with four fielded panels, the top two glazed. A tall over-light divided into three sections by glazing bars sits above, with a projecting bow remaining from an earlier window. Number 34 features a canted bay window with four lights and glazed returns, together with a half-glazed front door with four lights at the top and an over-light matching number 32. Moulded pilasters flank the door with a moulded hood above. A cut-out 'BREAD' sign is attached to the wall above the shop front. The upper levels show different finishes: number 30 is rendered, number 32 is painted brick, and number 34 is exposed brick. First and second-floor windows serve each bay, with first-floor windows being eight-over-eight hornless sashes and second-floor windows four-over-four, all with projecting cills. The windows of number 30 have flat arches and differ in proportion from numbers 32 and 34, which have segmental brick arches at first-floor level. A plat band runs the length of the two buildings and continues into number 28.

The interior was not inspected for this assessment but has been informed by the Insight Historic Buildings Research report of 2009. Number 30 has a timber-frame core with much of it exposed. Chamfered and scroll-stopped ceiling beams are present. The roof is an interrupted tie-beam primary structure showing evidence of having been raised to provide the second floor. A winder staircase with splat balusters exists at first-floor level. The floor level of the front bay has been lowered, taking height from the cellar. Number 32 similarly has had its front bay floor lowered. The rear bay of the cellar is dominated by a large fireplace with three hearths. A blocked doorway leads to number 34. The staircase to the upper floor is an open-string dog leg with moulded newel post and handrail. On the first floor, the timber-framed wall of number 30 is exposed. On the top floor there is a 17th-century three-plank door with decorative strap hinges. Evidence indicates that the front leaf of the roof has been raised to provide a second floor.

Bromyard is a small market town first recorded around 840. Numbers 30-34 Broad Street occupy one of the principal thoroughfares in the town adjoining the market square. The street appears to have been fully built up by the early 17th century, though some plots have been redeveloped since that time.

Number 30 was originally a two-and-a-half storey timber-framed building of one bay, with a rear range that is a later addition likely dating from the 17th century. The building was refronted and the eaves were raised in the 18th century, with the shop front likely dating from the late 19th century. Numbers 32-34 postdate their neighbour and have 18th-century origins. The large fireplace in the basement suggests the building may have had a service function before conversion into a shop in the 19th century.