15 And 16, High Street

This timber-framed building, originally an inn known as the Cross Keys, dates to 1575 and is situated on High Street in Shrewsbury. It is now used as a shop. The building is two storeys and originally had a two-window front, though this has been altered with a late 20th-century shop front on the ground floor. The right-hand bay of the building projects forward, possibly having been a full-height porch in the past.

The front of the building is jettied with a moulded bressumer, featuring close studding with a middle rail and herringbone studding in the side walls. A four-pane sash window has been inserted on the first floor. The left-hand section was formerly jettied with a moulded bressumer and square panelling featuring twisted shafts superimposed on vertical members, with sunk quatrefoils built into the horizontal panels. A four-pane sash window has been inserted here. Some of the panel infill has been renewed in brick and painted over. A single segmentally-arched dormer window is visible in the roof.

The return elevation to Grope Lane is similarly framed and decorated, with a wide gable above the shop front. This gable contains a six-pane sash window and a renewed plaque displaying the date 1575. A lower jettied central range with close studding connects this gable to a narrower upper gable, which features a five-light mullioned and transomed window and a projecting casement in the gable apex. Beyond this are two further bays; the ground floor has been renewed, but the jettied upper storey retains a moulded bressumer and close studding. Late 19th-century mullioned and transomed windows of two and four lights have been inserted. A loading door and hoist are present in a gabled dormer.