21-27, HIGH STREET

Terrace of four houses, now houses and shops, built between approximately 1818 and 1836 with later additions and alterations including later 19th-century and 20th-century shop fronts. The building is constructed in brick with painted stucco facades, concealed roofs, and cast-iron balconies.

The exterior is four storeys tall with nine first-floor windows, the rightmost window curved on plan at the corner. The stucco detailing includes horizontal rustication to the ground floor at the right, surmounted by tall pilaster strips with sunk panels to the first and second floors to the left and corner of this section, and similar pilasters to the third floor, the leftmost of which is surmounted by a segmental pediment.

First floor windows comprise two 10-pane French windows with overlights with glazing bars, two multi-pane casement windows, and four 10-pane French windows with divided overlights, all with margin-lights. All windows are in plain reveals with tooled architraves. At the angle is a 6-over-9 sash curved on plan.

The second floor has nine 6-over-6 sashes, with the rightmost curved on plan at the angle. A frieze, cornice and third-floor sill band continues around the right return.

Third floor contains seven 3-over-6 sashes, all in plain reveals with tooled architraves. There is a blind opening and no opening at the angle. The frieze is moulded to numbers 23 and 25 but missing to number 27. The cornice is moulded to numbers 25 and 27.

The ground floor contains varied shop and residential frontages. Number 21 has a part-glazed, off-centre door in a canted glazed shop front with pilasters and continuous frieze. Number 23 has off-centre double doors in a panelled surround with overlight and margin-lights within a shop front with plate glass windows, plus a further entrance with a 4-panel door with divided overlight. Number 25 has a 4-panel door with overlight featuring lozenge glazing bars to the left, a shop front with part-glazed door, overlight, and a window with round-arched glazing. Number 27 has a 6-panel double door with fanlight to the left, a plate glass window, and a further similar entrance at the angle.

Tall end and rear chimney stacks with cornices are present.

The right return has three first-floor windows and similar pilasters to the right end. The ground floor contains three 6-over-6 sashes, with central blind windows to the first, second, and third floors. The first floor has tall 6-over-9 sashes, the second floor has 6-over-6 sashes, and the third floor has 8-over-8 and 3-over-6 sashes, all in plain reveals with tooled architraves and sills to the second floor.

Continuous cast-iron balconies to the first floor feature circle-and-anthemion motifs to number 21, a double-harp-and-wheel motif to number 25, and a circle-and-anthemion motif to number 27, which continues around the right return.

The interior was not inspected.

The High Street was laid out between approximately 1810 and 1813, initially called Warwick Row. It formed part of the former high road from Warwick to London. Numbers 21-27 (odd) High Street form an architectural unit together with numbers 29-33 (odd) and numbers 35-49 Bath Street.