27 And 27A, Friar Street

The buildings at 27 and 27A Friar Street are a group of houses and shops, likely dating from around 1500 to 1550, with later additions and alterations including a late 19th-century shop window and a rear extension built around 1980. The construction is timber frame with plaster infill, brick side and rear walls, and a renewed plain tile roof.

The buildings have a plan consisting of three bays with two ranges running parallel to the street, alongside an outshut to the rear and a later extension. The main building is two storeys and three bays wide. The first floor is jettied and features decorative box frames, with three casement windows: one four-light window with multiple panes, and two two-light windows with mullions, all featuring renewed moulded sills. The ground floor has a plinth on the left side and three large shop windows with multiple panes; the rightmost window has six panes, and the central window sits on a panelled plinth. The left entrance is a plank door with a blind overlight, leading to a through passage. The off-centre right entrance is a part-glazed door with an overlight. A tie-beam is visible at the right gable end. Within the left-hand passage, a former shop entrance is marked by a part-glazed door with margin lights.

The interior retains some original features, including three main posts visible along the front wall, two chamfered transverse beams with mortices indicating the position of former walls, and five further chamfered beams to the left. The first floor is said to have some exposed timber framing.

Historically, the site originally comprised two two-bay buildings, but the north bay has since been demolished. In 1555, both houses were owned by Henry Hosier; the north house was rented to Richard Hornby, a pewterer, and included a hall, parlour, two chambers, a shop, and a kitchen. The property was purchased by the Society of Friends in 1671, and a meeting house was subsequently built on the site.