21, Mealcheapen Street

No. 21 Mealcheapen Street is a house and cardmaker's shop, largely dating from 1635-9, originally built for William Bradley. It has undergone later additions and alterations, including a refronting and a rear range constructed between 1674 and 1678, and the application of stucco to the front facade. A modern shop front was added in the 1970s. The building is timber-framed with a brick core and a stuccoed front.

The exterior is four storeys high with a single window on the first floor. The first and second floors each contain an 8/8 flush sash window with a sill and a flat arch featuring a keystone. The third floor has a blind, shallow-arched recess and a central lozenge. A coped parapet tops the facade. The ground floor has outer pilasters, a frieze, and a cornice, concealing a plate-glass window and a glazed door.

The ground floor interior retains no original features or plan. The upper floors were not fully inspected, but it was noted that they include small square panels of timber framing and evidence of three jetties.

Historical accounts for the rebuilding of the property survive, submitted by William Bradley, a Worcester cardmaker, in 1639 to the Stourbridge Grammar School. These accounts are considered rare for small townhouses. Mealcheapen Street flourished in the 16th and early 17th centuries as a retail area, benefiting from its proximity to the Cornmarket.

The listed buildings in Mealcheapen Street form a group with those in the Cornmarket and with the Church of St Swithun in Church Street.