1, Mercers Row

This is a 17th-century shop with a restaurant above, significantly altered and restored in the 20th century. It is located on Mercers Row in Saffron Walden. The building has an irregular, roughly L-shaped plan with a later infilling at the rear. The north front, facing Mercers Row, has a wide wing at the east end with a gable facing the street, and a range running parallel to the street. A brick stack rises through the roof apex where the two sections meet. The front elevation was largely rebuilt in the 20th century, featuring predominantly multi-paned windows. A doorway on the ground floor has six fielded panels, with the upper panels glazed, within a modern doorcase. To the east, a polygonal shop window extends around the corner to Market Passage, featuring seven top-opening glazed units with an iron corner support. The first floor has 2-light casements and bargeboards. The rear, south-facing elevation shows the gable of the east block and a smaller projecting gable, set forward, with a small slated lean-to attached. Similar windows are found on the rear elevation. A polygonal shop window, similar to the front, is also present on the ground floor. The east elevation, facing Market Passage, features polygonal shop windows at both ends, a central door with upper glazing, and an early 19th-century sash window above. A simple cornice separates the ground and first floors. The interior has been heavily restored, with exposed 17th-century timber framing and reused timber in the 20th-century work. Notable features include primary braced studding, scarf joints in the wall plate, bridging joists with lamb's tongue chamfer stops, deep-set joists, and a robust roof structure with butt side purlins, collars, and pegged rafters. A lower section of the brick stack is of late 17th-century brickwork in English bond.