30, 32 AND 34, CASTLE STREET

Three houses on Castle Street, Saffron Walden, date from the 18th century, although they were refaced in the 19th century and have undergone 20th-century refurbishment. The houses are timber-framed and plastered, with red brick and rendered brick facades, and have peg-tiled roofs. The layout is in the shape of an 'F', comprising a principal range and two rear additions. The buildings have two storeys, a cellar, and attics.

The north front has different treatments for each house. Number 30 retains timber framing and plasterwork. Number 32 has a brick facade, and Number 34 is rendered with a decorative brush finish. Number 30 features a 19th-century doorway with a flat hood and pulvinated jambs, a four-panel flush door, and an early 19th-century sash window with a moulded architrave and 4x4 panes. A blocked carriageway has two leaves, with an upper shorter door designed for high loads. The first floor has a 19th-century sash window above another, and a 20th-century 3-light casement. Number 32 has brickwork with scored pointing, and its door and windows have cement-rendered voussoirs. It has a 19th-century four-panel door and windows with 4x4 panes, and a slated raking dormer window. Number 34 has 20th-century detailing, with a six-panel door and replacement sash windows.

The rear, south elevation largely features 20th-century windows. Number 30 has a slated ground-floor lean-to with 20th-century weatherboarding, a 19th-century 2-light sliding sash and a door with upper glazing. Number 32 has a full-width slated lean-to with a plain door and a 3-light casement. Number 34 has a plain door and a 2-light casement window on the ground floor, and two single-light windows on the first floor.

The east end has a weatherboarded gable with a 3-light casement window.

The interior of Number 30 retains 18th-century slender framing, joinery with primary bracing, and a brick party wall to Number 32. An 18th-century stack remains intact. The cellar contains arched recesses said to be remnants of a water course, located on the site of the former castle ditch.