1 And 3, Castle Street

Two houses, numbered 1 and 3, stand on Castle Street in Saffron Walden. They likely date to around 1600, with a significant re-fronting in the early to mid 19th century. The construction combines plastered timber framing with gault brick, and the roofs are covered in peg tiles. The houses are arranged in an uneven U-shaped plan, encompassing a timber-framed street range, an east rear wing, and later rear lean-to additions projecting deeply at the west end. The buildings contain a cellar and extend to two storeys.

The south-facing front elevation, which runs east to west, is brick and features a three-window and three-door arrangement characteristic of the 19th century. Ground-floor windows and doors are detailed with cement voussoirs. Number 3 has a four-pane sash window and a four-panel door, with the lower pair being flush. Number 1 features a similar window and a shopfront with a boarded cellar opening. The shopfront incorporates a central stile with two plain panes of glass, and a door comprised of two upper glazed lights and single molded lower panels. The first floor of Number 3 has a six-pane sash window, while Number 1 has two four-pane sash windows with molded architraves, decorative soffits, and projecting barge-boards ornamented with faces and foliage. Stacks are positioned at the east end, one offset from the front and set away from the main roof, while a second stack is located behind the roof apex of Number 1.

The north-facing rear elevation consists of the main range and the east wing, with three lean-to additions. A stack of two joined buildings rises through the roof pitch at the junction of Nos 1 and 3. An older section is rendered at its base, and a 20th-century addition is situated on the west. The east wing reveals timber framing wall plates. A 19th-century four-panel door, with the upper two panels now glazed, is paired with a single-light 20th-century window under a common weathering hood. To the west, a brick lean-to with slated roofing has two 20th-century single-light casement windows. A 19th-century timber-framed lean-to with a matching boarded door and a two-pane casement window is present at the west end of Number 1. A dormer window with a slate roof swept from the apex of the house is situated above. The west end lean-to is partly obscured, featuring a timber frame and corrugated iron roof. The east gable end of the street range is constructed of gault brick with a stack projecting to the west. The main roof is set back with a lower hip, exposing a roof side purlin. The rear wing, set slightly back to the north, displays lower brickwork and rendering, with timber framing above.

Internally, Number 3 is largely timber-framed, with brickwork serving as a secondary component. While the framing is masked, the shape of the principal members remains visible. In Number 1, the shop area has a central binding ceiling joist with late 16th-century lamb's tongue chamfer stops, although the common joists are now boarded over and likely previously decorated in a similar fashion.