45 and 46, Load Street

This is a timber-frame house, originally built in the first half of the 16th century and subsequently refronted in the mid-18th century, with further alterations made in the mid-19th century and late 20th century. It now serves as a shop and flat. The building is brick-clad with a hipped roof and a central chimney stack. It is three storeys high, featuring a dentilled brick cornice. A small section of the front on the right-hand side is canted back. The front has two plus one windows, with 16-pane sashes under plastered wedge lintels incorporating keystones. The second floor features 12-pane sashes. The ground floor includes a pilastered shop front with scroll brackets to the cornice, a recessed central entry with a glazed door, and two plate glass windows. A recessed ledged and boarded door is located in the central section of the front, leading to a passage connecting to the adjacent property at number 46A, which is not included in this listing. Inside, the jetty of the original second floor is visible in the first-floor showroom. The roof is a two-bay structure with raking struts to the collar and a clasped purlin. Exposed ceiling beams in the ground-floor passage continue into the adjoining property at number 47.