173, High Street

Shop. Late 13th century, altered in the 17th century, re-fronted in the 19th century, with further alterations in progress at the time of inspection in January 2001. Timber framing on a brick plinth, rendered to the street frontage. Steeply pitched roof in Welsh slate, now hipped to the right-hand side but originally with a gable-end to the street.

The building originally had a 13th-century crown-post roof structure consisting of 2 bays aligned end-on to the street. It was jettied and shows evidence of a medieval shop front. The absence of smoke-blackening suggests the building was always floored throughout, with a chimney bay probably inserted in the 17th century.

The High Street elevation displays 2 storeys with an attic. Mid-19th-century display windows incorporate a recessed entrance to the centre, flanked by bay windows below a fascia bearing the shop name. A first-floor bay window to the centre has blind panels on either side, below a shallow parapet with brackets. An inserted dormer is present.

At the time of inspection the building was stripped to reveal structural members. Curved braces to wall posts at the centre of the framing divide the building into front and rear bays, with wall framing extant in the front bay. A large mortise to the soffit of the central joist at the street frontage end suggests a subdivided facade, possibly indicating the original shop front. A brick staircase at the cellar underneath the front bay leads to the cellar, which has been re-lined in brick but may originally have been a medieval undercroft. Winding brick steps with wooden risings descend to the cellar. Arched brick niches with shelving are located below the facade windows. Ceiling joists with carpenter's marks are arranged in a cellular pattern. A well, approximately 24 feet deep, in the rear bay is lined in flint to a depth of 6 feet from the mouth.

The ground floor sole plate extends three-quarters the length of the building on the right-hand side, and rakes extend the depth of the front bay at both sides. End posts and wall posts with mortises and curved braces to rakes exist at both sides of the front bay. Two studs remain extant at the right-hand side and none are evident at the left-hand side, where brick infill is present. The centre wall post to the left-hand side has a curved brace to a tie beam, but only a mortise remains at the right-hand side. The rake extends over end posts at the front, now supported by a diagonal brace and brick infill. Ceiling joists are present in the ground-floor front bay. The first-floor wall plate at both sides extends through the rear bay with scarf joints. Several studs remain at both sides in the first-floor front bay, infilled with brick at the left-hand side and wattle and daubed with puddle chalk at the right-hand side. One stud in the front bay at the right-hand side carries detailed carving of a capital with mouldings similar to those of the surviving crown post. Curved braces extend from centre wall posts to a severed tie beam. Timber framing extant at both ground and first floors shows evidence of a 17th-century insertion of a chimney bay, with wall posts (jowled at the left-hand side ground floor) and curved braces to tie beams. Evidence of a stair is present at the right-hand side ground floor and a stair exists at the first floor. Roof structure remains include common rafters, with one complete pair of rafters with collar, a damaged crown post with mouldings of 13th-century form, and a section of collar purlin with two diagonal braces and a single surviving curved down-brace. Dendrochronological analysis in October 2000 dated two timbers to 1277-1297, and the building has been recorded by BEAMS.

The building was likely constructed in the late 13th century as a shop or workshop with a chamber above. Its location in the urban centre, original jetty, undercroft and well all suggest a site of commerce. It was re-fronted in the 19th century for use as a millinery and drapery, and a chemist occupied the building for much of the 20th century. Rows of shelving provided storage space on the ground and first floors, and their removal revealed the 13th-century frame, which had been protected through the centuries by adjacent structures and the addition of interior layers.