4-12, Church Street

A row of shops and houses dating to around 1855, designed by William White. The building is constructed of red brick, using both English and Flemish bonds, with polychromatic detailing, and has plain tile roofs and brick stacks. It is built in a simplified Gothic style, with two storeys and an attic, and comprises four gabled units, with a slightly lower house set back to the right. Originally, there was an open, arcaded passage in front of the shops (at numbers 8, 10, and 12), featuring alternating narrow and wide pointed arches. The arches of number 12, on the left, remain, but modern shop fronts have been inserted in numbers 8 and 10. Between the shops and number 4, to the right, is a similar pair of arches, reversed, with the larger one providing access to a rear passage. The first floor and attic windows are casements with pointed tympana. The window arrangement on the first floor repeats the ground-floor arch motif, with alternate large, three-light windows and smaller, single-light windows. Number 8 has a late 19th/early 20th century sash window at first floor level. Number 4 has some inserted casements and a double sash window below a pointed tympanum. The design for numbers 4-12 Church Street was illustrated in The Builder on 11th August 1855.