2 and 4, Parliament Square

This is a shop with a dwelling above, now offices, built around 1840. It is located on the north side of Parliament Square in Hertford. The building is constructed of yellow stock brick with a stucco front, and has a Welsh slate roof hidden behind a parapet.

The main block is three storeys and has a basement, with a two-storey wing and carriageway to the left, shared with the adjacent building at number 6. The first floor has two large windows with timber triple sashes and single horizontal bars, recessed within a pilaster surround with a frieze and cornice, all set below a plat band. Two smaller timber sashes with glazing bars are on the second floor, also recessed and with moulded architrave surrounds, which break the front of the elevation and align with the first-floor windows, topped by a moulded cornice and blocking course. The ground floor has five unequal bays defined by Tuscan antae. Recessed doorways are positioned on the left and right, flanked by these antae. The left doorway is a 20th-century six-panel design with an architrave and fanlight, accessed via three stone steps. The right doorway is a four-panelled design with a simpler surround and fanlight. A shopfront occupies the central bay with a recessed entrance flanked by slimmer Tuscan antae and a panelled door, now disused, with an architrave surround. The shop windows have timber frames and plate glass above stallrisers with recessed vents leading to the basement. The two-storey wing on the left includes a carriageway on the ground floor with twin-leaf patterned doors with trellis infill to the top panels. A recessed timber sash window with glazing bars is above, with a plat band and blocking course aligning with number 6 further west. The side and rear elevations are of yellow stock brick.

Inside, the former shop occupies the front of the building. A 20th-century corridor on the right leads to a rear hall containing a dogleg staircase with semicircular landings, an open string construction, stick balusters, a handrail that terminates in a wreathed handrail and a column baluster. First-floor rooms feature a mid-19th century moulded plaster cornice with a reeded band, six-panel doors with scotia mouldings, and fireplaces with carved consoles and roll mouldings incorporating paterae. The basement contains a brick floor and walls, a former washhouse/scullery with a cast-iron grate and remains of a wash boiler, a strong room with a Chubb safe, and a former kitchen at the front. The basement has been subdivided into two areas, indicating possible independent units or a separate use for the shop, each with its own staircase.