School Chambers

This is a shop, originally a dwelling, dating from approximately 1600, with additions from the 19th century. It is timber-framed with a plain tiled roof, and extended in brick with mock timbering. The building comprises three parallel ranges with gables facing the street; the original central structure has a timber frame with small square panels, enriched quatrefoil decoration, billet moulded cross beams, and close studding with quatrefoil panels in the gable apex. A 20th-century shop front has been inserted to the ground floor of this range, and a three-light casement window sits above. A fluted brick axial stack is also present. This original range is flanked by two additional gabled ranges, both with inserted shop fronts to the ground floor and mock timbering above. A rear range, at a right angle to the main building, was probably added in the 18th century, and is constructed of painted brick with a plain tiled roof. This rear range has a doorway with an overlight to the left, and three twelve-pane sash windows to the ground floor, with further twelve-pane sashes above. A deep modillion eaves cornice sits above an overhanging roof, and the gable has curved coping with an end wall stack. The interior of the 18th-century rear range contains a fine early 18th-century open-well staircase with turned balusters and a closed string. A ground-floor room to the right features fielded panelling. A single-bay addition to this rear range, possibly dating from the early 19th century, incorporates a twelve-pane sash window on each floor.