1 1a 1b 1c, Priory Street

This house, now used as offices on the ground floor with flats above, was originally built in the 16th and 17th centuries, with alterations and extensions in the 19th century. The front is timber-framed and colourwashed brick, with a Welsh slate roof hidden behind a parapet. The design incorporates a corbelled cornice, and the brickwork details mirror those of the adjacent building at 1 Baldock Street, but with a higher roofline.

The building is two storeys high, with an attic level, and sits above a basement. It features two sash windows with glazing bars, set within flat-arched reveals, and a dummy window on the first floor. The front door is made of five panels with two glazed upper panels, and is set within a round-headed reveal with a fanlight, approached by three steps from the street level. A carriageway is located to the right, showcasing the timber studwork from the adjacent building at 1 Baldock Street, and displaying exposed beams above.

A rear wing, two storeys high, is plastered and colourwashed, featuring some 17th-century fan pargeting, exposed timbers, and internal mortices indicating the former positions of mullioned windows.

The building’s layout, including a courtyard with a north-east range facing Baldock Street, suggests a previous use as an inn. It is believed that The Griffin Inn occupied this site during the mid-17th century.