17 And 19, Castle Street

The property at 17 and 19 Castle Street comprises two houses, representing a late 16th-century cross-wing (number 19) and an 18th-century street range (number 17). A 19th-century lean-to addition is present at the west end, along with a 20th-century rear addition. The construction is timber-framed and plastered, with a peg-tiled roof. The buildings are arranged in an L-shape.

The south-facing front elevation displays differing styles for the two units. The eastern cross-wing has been refronted in the 19th century to imitate a medieval appearance. The plastering reveals the underlying timber framing. A ground-floor doorway features a boarded and battened door fitted with ornamental strap hinges. A two-light window has a moulded frame and metal casements with interlocking hexagonal glazing bars. Above this, a three-cant oriel window, with similar casements and a hipped roof, features a shaped sill with deep roll mouldings, replicating details found at number 1 Myddylton Place. Decorative bargeboards are present. An eastern lean-to has a catslide roof and a single-light window with a moulded frame and glazing bars. A substantial red brick stack is visible at the junction of the wing and lean-to.

The western street range has a double-window front, with all features being new or restored in the 20th century, and a central doorway. To the east of the door is a three-cant bay window with a brick base and a hipped roof, incorporating casements with a 1x3, 2x3, 2x3, and 1x3 pane arrangement. To the west of the door is a two-light casement window with 4x3 panes. The first floor has two matching windows. A stack rises through the roof apex.

The rear, north-facing elevation clearly shows the street range and cross-wing. A deep lean-to with a continuous catslide roof extends from number 17, with a large rectangular stack emerging through the roof pitch. A 20th-century gabled dormer window has a two-light window. A 20th-century flat-roofed rectangular addition is shared with number 19, and includes a two-panel door with glazed upper portion and a two-light casement window. The lean-to has a three-light window with 20th-century casements. The gable of number 19 shows traces of old basket pattern pargeting and deep 19th-century bargeboards. The east end of number 19's lean-to has a boarded door and a sliding sash window with 4x2 panes. The flat-roofed addition has one window on the first floor, and a continuous weathering board covers both.

The eastern end elevation, facing Bridge End Gardens, has plain plastered walls and a large stack rising through the roof pitch at the junction of the lean-to and cross-wing.

Internally, number 17 reveals 18th-century slender softwood framing and a roof with clasped side purlins. The rear wall of the street range is of heavier oak framing, indicating a rebuild of the house's centre and front. While the fireplace set within this rear wall uses some thin 17th-century bricks, a small round arched fireplace is visible above it on the first floor. Heavier oak framing, as used in numbers 15 and 19, is visible in the end walls. The roof of number 19 is oak, with side purlins and curved wind braces.