The Red House

The Red House is a mid-18th century house, later divided into flats, located on Shropshire Street in Market Drayton. It has been altered around 1900. The house is constructed of red brick with painted sandstone ashlar dressings, and has a plain tile roof. It is three storeys high, with chamfered brick quoins at the angles, a stone plinth, a stone cill band to the first floor, a moulded stone cornice, and a parapet with stone coping. A central, three-bay triangular pediment has a broken-back centre. Brick integral end stacks are topped with moulded stone caps, and a central brick stack rises behind the ridge. The front elevation has a 2:3:2 bay arrangement with a central break, featuring glazing bar sashes with exposed boxes, painted rusticated stone lintels with raised keystones, and painted stone cills. The central door is six-panelled, with panelled reveals, a moulded architrave, and an Ionic doorcase consisting of three-quarter fluted columns supporting an entablature and a triangular pediment, broken back at each end. Three stone steps with curved ends lead to the front door, along with a cast-iron boot scraper. Remains of former railed enclosures and low stone walls flank the entrance. A circa 1900 one-bay addition is set back to the left, featuring a plinth, chamfered cill bands to the first and second floors, a moulded stone cornice, and a coped parapet. It includes an integral brick end stack and 16-pane glazing bar sashes with painted stone cills and painted rusticated stone lintels with raised keystones. The rear (garden front) has five bays. A central four-panelled, half-glazed door is set within a porch with thin cast-iron columns and a hood with a moulded cornice and panelled soffit. The interior includes an entrance hall and staircase hall with a moulded cornice. An early 19th century oak staircase features an open string, cut brackets, fluted stick balusters (three per tread), a moulded ramped handrail, and wreathed newel posts, with a matching balustrade on the landing. A right-hand word-floor rear room contains 18th century ornament, including an enriched plaster frieze with alternating swags and amphorae, and a cornice with acanthus enrichment. A fireplace has a marble surround, fluted frieze with a central oval panel depicting a scene between flanking urns and drops, and an enriched cornice. A blocked former archway leads to the front room. A right-hand ground-floor front room features a corner fireplace and a moulded cornice. There is also an early 19th century attic staircase with an open string, cut brackets, fluted stick balusters (two per tread), a moulded handrail, and a wreathed newel. Six-panelled doors with moulded architraves are found throughout the house. A pair of elliptical-arched first-floor doorways have pilastered surrounds. The interior was only partly inspected due to the building’s division into flats.