4,4A And 6, St Andrew Street

This is a house, now subdivided into two shops with office suites above, located on the north side of St Andrew Street in Hertford. The building dates from the early 17th century, with an 18th-century refronting and rear range added, and 19th-century shopfronts applied to the ground floor.

The front and rear range are built of orange brick in Flemish bond. The timber-framed structure is plastered on the right (west) flank and part of the rear range, where it is pebbledashed. Old tiled roofs cover the building, with the front elevation featuring a moulded wood bracket-modillioned eaves cornice.

The plan comprises a six-bay front range, with the position of the front entrance obscured by the shopfronts but likely originally central. A rear stair turret in the position of the second bay from the west corresponds with a later extension running across the remainder of the rear, creating a double-depth plan.

The exterior rises to two storeys and attics above a basement. The first-floor front elevation has six slightly recessed 12-pane sash windows with architrave surrounds beneath rubbed brick arches, the tops of which are obscured by the base of the moulded eaves cornice.

The ground floor displays three early 19th-century shopfronts. Number 6 is double-fronted. On the left is a closed window with six large panes, surrounded by a panelled Tuscan Doric pilaster and a slim fascia with a moulded cornice raised on blocks above capitals. A doorway sits above shallow steps. In the second bay is a three-quarter glazed door with two lower flush panels, again with a pilaster surround and cornice of similar detail. In the centre is a projecting bay with moulded glazing bars and colonnettes at the corners, above a brick stallriser decorated with a panel of terracotta guilloche moulded ornament, and topped with a fascia and flat moulded cornice. A second doorway sits in the third bay from the right, accessed by two shallow stone steps. A 20th-century glazed door with a slim pilaster surround and a projecting flat moulded cornice hood on cut console brackets stands on the right. At the far right is a third shop window, a projecting bay of similar detail to that in the centre. Blind boxes sit above all three windows, set above a moulded plat band at first-floor level.

The rear elevation features a mid-18th-century rear range on the left. Part is of red brick in Flemish bond with overburnt headers; part is stuccoed. A canted two-storey bay displays triple sash windows in an 8:16:8 pane configuration, topped by a fascia and bold modillioned cornice, with a plaster spandrel above the ground-floor window. To the right of this is a recessed 12-pane sash window and a rear door with a six-pane fanlight on the ground floor; the door is now fixed with a 20th-century hopper window inserted below it.

At the far left (east) sits a single-storey timber-framed and weatherboarded outshut with a pantiled roof. Right of centre rises a two-storey projecting brick stair turret with a plat band at first-floor level. A wood casement window on the first floor and a 12-pane sash window on the ground floor, both below segmental rubbed arches, light this tower. At the far right stands a timber-framed pebbledashed rear projection with a coved wood cornice below a hipped roof, a 20th-century casement window on the first floor, and a projecting 19th-century flat-roofed bay with a six-panelled rear door and coupled eight-pane sash windows to the right.

Three hipped casement dormers with bold moulded wood cornices punctuate the roofline. The rear roofs, of varied heights, feature hipped and gabled forms with a modillioned eaves cornice and parapet at the left (east). Red brick chimneys rise from the structure: a three-flue stack sits on the ridge of the rear range at the left (east), whilst clustered square chimneys of varied size stand at the right (west) of the projecting stair turret. At the base of these is a fragment of a quatrefoil-pattern moulded brick shaft from an earlier 17th-century chimney. In the central valley between the front and rear ranges stands an early 17th-century chimney with octagonal brick shafts, one of which bears honeycomb pattern roll mouldings. Panels between these shafts are now rendered.

The interior of the ground floor has been substantially altered by the opening out of shops and subdivision of the property. The entrance to Number 4 passes through a former window reveal bearing traces of an 18th-century cornice above. The rear room with a canted bay contains a fine Edwardian Arts and Crafts fireplace with a wood surround. Beneath is a vaulted cellar lined with red brick in English bond, featuring brick arched storage compartments and a four-centred brick arch inside a threshold with a substantial door frame.

The ground floor of Number 6 includes a fireplace with an eared architrave and a wall featuring panelling, dado, and a bold double cyma wood cornice. An arched entry, now blocked, once led to the rear hall and staircase; it has an elliptical head with a keyblock and twin panelled pilasters. A window in the west wall displays quadrant bars. Cased beams running from front to back appear to indicate the position of a now-removed wall that once defined an entry corridor from the front.

The first floor is now accessed from a rear right (west) vestibule. An open string dogleg stair has bracketed treads, square newels, barleysugar twist on urn balusters, and a bold moulded handrail. The dado features raised and fielded panels with simple moulded rails.

The first-floor front range comprises three rooms, each of two bays, with a central fireplace at the rear wall. Two doors lead off the first-floor landing. The west room is panelled with a moulded dado and moulded wood cornice. Its fireplace has a bolection moulded inner surround with a shelf on consoles and a raised panel with bolection and cyma surround on the chimneybreast. The centre room has a 20th-century access corridor that blocks off its fireplace, which features a bolection moulded raised panel on the chimneybreast flanked to the left by panelled dado and wall with a bolection moulded dado rail. The end room to the east has a bolection moulded fire surround with an Edwardian cast-iron grate, blue glazed tiled inner surround and hearth, and a moulded dado rail.

The attics display exposed principal rafters and butt purlins. A 20th-century ceiling raised above collar level covers halved and pegged rafters, much of which has been renewed. Studwork appears in the west gable. The rear attic has access from the top landing, which was adapted to fit it; the roof structure above features a ridge board.