Landor House

Landor House, located at 5 Smith Street, is a Grade II* listed building dating from 1781. It is notable as the birthplace of Walter Savage Landor, an essayist and poet who lived from 1775 to 1864. The building features a well-preserved early 18th-century symmetrical brick facade with stone dressings.

The facade is characterized by a heavy painted wood cornice at the eaves, adorned with carved modillions and egg-and-tongue decoration. It has rusticated stone quoins and a plain stone string band at the first floor, along with a moulded stone plinth. The windows are likely late 18th-century sashes set in moulded frames, featuring wide spaced glazing bars (two panes wide and four panes high), and are framed by brick reveals with stone keystones and flat arches.

The structure includes projecting side wings, each two windows wide, while the central three-window section boasts an impressive entrance doorway with a painted stone surround. This doorway features a segmental pediment supported by carved console brackets, a bolection moulded architrave with a stone keyblock, a large six-fielded panelled door, and a semi-circular fanlight above. Simple wrought iron railings complement the entrance, with ornamental scrollwork on the overthrow. The hipped roof is covered with old tiles and has three plain gabled dormers.

Inside, the building contains an excellent staircase, a panelled entrance hall, a first-floor sitting room, and the headmistress's study. Landor House is part of a group with Nos 1, 3, and 5.