12,14 AND 16, FORE STREET

12, 14, and 16 Fore Street are three houses that have been converted into shops with offices above. They date from the mid-18th century but were rebuilt and raised in height during the mid-19th century, with early 20th-century shopfronts on the ground floor. The exterior features stucco over brick, with the rear constructed of red brick laid in Flemish bond on the ground and first floors, and yellow-brown stock brick in Flemish bond on the second floor. The building has a Welsh slated roof above a deep moulded eaves cornice, and a red brick chimneystack on the left.

The front of the building is three storeys high and has five bays. The first floor contains five nearly flush-set 12-pane sash windows, with a plat band at the second-floor level and five 6-pane sash windows above. The ground floor showcases bold stuccoed surrounds for the shopfronts at the sides and center, featuring twin Tuscan pilasters raised on a plinth that support twin profiled consoles with an ogee fronted blocking piece and a curved moulded cornice. There are deep fascias with dentil cornices. On the left, there is an early 20th-century timber shopfront with plate glass windows and column mullions with arcaded heads, along with upper lights that have multiple closely spaced mullions. A recessed door is located on the right, and the right-hand shopfront is a late 20th-century addition set back within the original surround.

The rear elevation retains two flush-set mid-18th-century sash windows below segmental arches on the right side of the first floor, with filled voids for two windows on the left side that are still discernible. The change in brickwork above indicates that the second floor was raised and rebuilt. The interior has not been inspected.