96 96a, High Street

No. 96 and 96A on High Street is a house that was later converted into a shop with offices above. It dates from the 17th century and was altered in the 19th century. The building is timber-framed, covered in colourwashed plaster and stucco, and has an old tiled roof with gables facing both High Street and West Street, with No. 96A accessible from West Street.

The exterior features two storeys and attics, forming a three-bay structure that is part of the encroachment on the west market place. On the first floor, there are two 19th-century flush-set sash windows with divided glazing, and an early 20th-century casement window in the attic. The ground floor has a 19th-century shopfront with timber pilasters on either side and framing around a central entrance. It includes timber stall risers, arcaded windows above, and a timber fascia with a moulded cornice.

The rear elevation, which faces West Street and is numbered 96A, is stucco-faced with masonry lining. It also has two storeys, featuring two mullion and transom windows on the ground and first floors, with the ground floor windows slightly recessed. There is a recessed door with a heavy timber surround, a raised door hood with a moulded fascia, console brackets, and a moulded broken cornice, along with a small dentil frieze. The attic is corbelled out on timber console brackets, with an exposed timber bressumer below the stucco-faced gable, which has one central 19th-century mullion and transom window with opening casements. Additionally, there is a lowered 17th-century narrow red brick chimneystack on the left with two terracotta pots.