The Old Cock Inn

The Old Cock Inn, located at Nos 73 to 77 on Friar Street, is a building dated 1712 and features an unusual "Gothick" design. It is roughcast and has two storeys. The façade includes two stone mullioned three-light windows with trefoiled heads, along with an early 19th-century doorcase and window on the lower storey. To the right, there is a small covered arched gateway, above which is a grotesque human head with a toad emerging from its mouth, believed to be a satirical portrait of Judge Jeffreys. Adjacent to this is a gabled bay at a higher level, topped with a weather-vane and a cock, flanked by obelisk finials. The building also features a large original Gothic window with Decorated tracery, which was removed from the demolished church of St Nicholas. The early 19th-century moulded wood doorcase has above it a stone head of a medieval knight, likely from St Nicholas. A moulded wood panel on the wall is painted and inscribed "Licensed in 10th year of Queen Anne." The roof is slate, and there are two dormers with two-light pointed casements. The Old Cock Inn is part of a group of listed buildings from Nos 53 to 81 on Friar Street.