40 and 41, Broad Street

The buildings at 40 and 41 Broad Street are a pair of houses, likely originally with shops, now used as shops with flats above. They probably date to the 16th and 17th centuries, with possible earlier medieval origins, and have undergone later additions and alterations, including a likely 18th-century refacing, 19th-century shop fronts, and restorations in the 1980s.

The buildings are timber-framed, with a pinkish-red brick facade on the left and a red brick facade on the right, both in Flemish bond with red gauged brick flat arches and stone keystones on the left. They have renewed plain tile roofs, the right-hand roof being double-pitched. The houses are three storeys high plus attics, with a 2+1 window arrangement on the first floor. The first floor has two 6/6 sash windows with flat arches and keystones, followed by a 10/10 sash with a cambered arch above. The second floor has two 6/6 sash windows with flat arches and keystones, followed by a 5/10 sash with a cambered arch above. All windows are in flush frames. Modillion bands are located above the second-floor level of each house. A roof-light is present on the left, and the attic storey on the right has a replacement 6-light casement window. The ground floors feature restored Victorian shop fronts with outer pilasters, fascias, cornices with outer ‘corbels’, panelled aprons, plate glass windows canted into the central entrances, and part-glazed doors with fielded lower panels. The right return has been rebuilt. The rear elevation features replacement 8/8 and 3/6 sashes, all under elliptical arches.

Internally, the left-hand building has an exposed sandstone wall at basement and ground floor levels. The first floor features exposed small rectangular panels of timber-framing with arch braces, with further timber-framing believed to remain on the second floor. The right-hand building has similar exposed timber-framing on the ground floor, and it is believed that extensive timber-framing exists on the upper floors.

Historically, the shop fronts were removed from other buildings in the town and restored with a grant from English Heritage, and they have served as models for other restorations and facsimiles in the historic town. The basement stone wall may be related to pre-Reformation Dominican monastery buildings. The buildings are part of a significant group within Broad Street which also includes numbers 10, 10A (with Crown Passage), 11, 12, 18, 19, 29, 30, 33-36, 43-49, 51-63, 69, 70, and the Church of All Saints. Broad Street was historically second only to High Street for commercial importance as a direct route through the city.