125, High Street

This is a house, now partly used as commercial premises, dating back to the 16th century. It incorporates elements of a medieval open hall of at least two bays, was refaced with brickwork in the mid-19th century, and has undergone alterations in the late 20th century. The building is timber-framed behind painted brickwork and has brick chimneys and a Welsh slated roof. It is an 'L' shaped house constructed in at least three phases.

The street-facing range has a main section of four bays. The right-hand bay features a two-storey canted bay, originally an entrance, now with 20th-century doors and a staircase with curved steps and splayed handrails. The left-hand bay contains a carriage entry beneath a shallow segmental arch. The central bays have a 20th-century double-fronted shop window with a plain fascia, an elaborate cornice, and a part-glazed door. Above the shop, there are three sash windows with 8-pane glazing, without horns, set between truncated pilasters. A fixed side light and a two-light casement are in the canted bay.

The rear range is four bays wide and two stories high. A two-storey lean-to extension was added to the south in the 20th century, and it has been substantially remodelled with replacement sash windows. A carriage entry, with a 19th-century three-light casement at eaves level, is also present.

Inside the front range, the first floor reveals timber framing of modest scantling and straight angle bracing. The rear range contains remnants of two trusses from an earlier open hall, including substantial jowled posts, an arch-braced tie beam, and steeply-set principal rafters. Most of the upper roof structure has been replaced. A ground floor room at the rear has substantial cross-beams. The room above has 18th-century panelling and a corner hearth with a brick oven behind. Timberwork set back behind the brick front suggests a framed end wall and a jettied first floor, now concealed or destroyed. The building was a remnant of an early, high-status house situated at the end of the medieval market place, now surrounded by a 19th-century remodelling, which contributes to the street frontage of Berkhamsted’s main street.