3 East Street

3 East Street is a house that now has a shop on the ground floor. It dates from the 17th century or earlier and was refronted in the late 17th century or early 18th century. The front is made of brick, featuring dark red bricks with cherry red dressings, and has a wood cornice with modillions at the eaves. The roof is tiled and was originally fitted with two gabled dormers, which were removed in the 1970s.

The building has two storeys and attics. On the first floor, there is a six-light flush set mullion and transom casement window with small panes. To the right of this window are twin brick recesses that flank a central semicircular headed stucco niche. This niche has a moulded cill, Tuscan pilasters, and a moulded impost band. It originally housed a statue of a Bluecoat Boy from around 1704 to 1840, which has since been moved to Hertford and is now displayed in Place House. A new statue, created by Angela Godfrey, was installed in the niche in 1986. The ground floor features a 19th-century shopfront on the left, with timber pilasters that have been partly cut back to accommodate a modern brick stallriser. A sash window, divided into three panes by glazing bars, extends across two-thirds of the width of the frontage, while a modern glazed door on the right is set within a 19th-century surround. The 19th-century fascia has been covered by a modern panel. There is a carriageway on the right side, which has timber reveals and a bressumer, along with exposed beams inside.

At the rear, the building is plastered and pebbledashed, with a moulded wood eaves cornice. There is a single-storey lean-to with a pantiled and old tiled roof on the right side of the carriageway.

Historically, the building was used by Christ's Hospital as a nurse's cottage after they acquired Place House in 1685. The rear elevation reflects the materials and details found in the Bluecoat Yard cottages.