7 North Brink

7 North Brink is an 18th-century house located in a terrace along the north shore of the River Nene. It has been used as a doctors' surgery since the mid-20th century. Large single-storey late 20th-century rear extensions are excluded from the listing.

The building is constructed of finely jointed limestone ashlar on the front elevation and buff-coloured brick laid in English bond on the rear, with a slate-clad roof. It is rectangular on plan with a small projection on the west side of the north (rear) elevation.

The four-bay façade is in Classical style with three storeys and a service basement. A deep cornice with shaped modillions sits above a panelled parapet, and wide storey bands mark the floor divisions. The entrance occupies the left bay of the rusticated ground floor, set within a recessed round-headed arch with a plain fanlight and eight-panelled door. The three bays to the right are lit by six-over-six pane sash windows flush with the wall, each with key blocks and fanned stone arches. All façade windows retain decorative blind fascias. The first and second floors have slightly smaller six-over-six pane sash windows in lugged architraves. The basement contains a door on the left with glazed upper panels and two six-over-three sash windows.

The rear elevation features a moulded and dentilled cornice. Early 19th-century windows are recessed with gauged flat brick arches. The ground floor is dominated by French windows with sidelights, above which is a six-light casement with margin lights and an overlight with geometric glazing bars, flanked by small one-over-one pane sashes with margin lights. The second floor has a six-over-six pane sash window with margin lights. The projection on the right side is lit on the first and second floors by a six-over-six and three-over-six pane sash respectively. The left return of the projection has French windows and above them a small two-over-two pane sash window with margin lights. The right return is lit by a six-over-six pane sash with margin lights and coloured glass depicting a flower in each corner.

A stone plinth supports original ornamental railings to the basement forecourt, featuring spear-head finials to the uprights interspersed with lyre-shaped railings and gates at either end.

Internally, the building retains many original features of fine quality. The entrance opens into a short passageway leading to the former hall, with front and rear reception rooms arranged either side of the staircase hall. The rear reception room is now used as a dispensary, with a large opening made in the party wall to serve patients. A doorway has been inserted in the hall to provide access to the adjacent building.

The principal areas of interest are the staircase hall and three reception rooms—two on the ground floor and one at the front of the first floor. These contain six-panelled doors with raised and fielded panels, panelled window embrasures with shutters, and delicate cornices, mostly dentilled and enriched with egg-and-dart ornament. In the staircase hall, the opposing doors to the reception rooms have lugged architraves with a dentilled cornice and pulvinated frieze, surmounted by a dentilled triangular pediment. The rear ground-floor room features a ceiling roundel with acanthus leaf decoration, whilst the panelled room at the front has a fireplace with a grey marble lugged surround, a moulded frieze depicting fruit and foliage, and a later Art Nouveau cast iron grate and hood.

The handsome open-well stair rises through three floors and is lit by an octagonal skylight. It has quarter-pace landings, a panelled dado, and an open string with carved tread ends. The moulded handrail ramps up to circular newel posts with square caps. The first-floor landing has the same arrangement of opposing doorways as on the ground floor but with less elaborate lugged architraves featuring a pulvinated frieze. The panelled room at the front has long panels above the dado rail and shorter ones below, incorporating a dentilled cornice pierced to form a Greek key pattern, and a fireplace with a lugged surround with pulvinated frieze embellished with carved foliage and a lugged overmantel panel. The ceiling has mouldings in shallow relief creating a delicate floral pattern. The rear room retains a dado, picture rail, and cornice, together with a round-arched 19th-century fireplace with a register grate. Other rooms on the first and second floors are plain and retain few original features. In the basement, a recess for the range survives.