81,81A,81B, HIGH STREET

This is an early 17th-century shop with offices above, and a rear wing extending west down the north side of Library Court. It was remodelled internally in the early 18th century and given a mid-19th century Italianate facade. The building is constructed of brick with a stone facade, and has pantiled and slate roofs.

The main facade of No. 81 covers the ground floor, with the offices above numbered as No. 81A. It is arranged over three storeys and five bays. A 20th-century shopfront is located to the right of the entrance to Library Court, the entrance itself featuring an elaborate architrave with a heavy hood supported by scrolled brackets, and a cast-iron grille over the door. The facade is lit by sashes with a single glazing bar, with the first-floor windows having alternately pedimented and segmentally pedimented hoods. A projecting modillion cornice runs along the top, and a panelled parapet conceals the roof.

In Library Court, two ranges run parallel; the eastern range contains domestic quarters, and the western range provided warehouse accommodation, now in retail use. The western part of this range is entered through a panelled door with a glazed overlight containing glazing bars. This is surrounded by a panelled doorcase with scrolled consoles supporting a pedimented hood above triple keystones. A sash window with glazing bars is located to the right of the door. Further sashes and a 20th-century doorway are found to the left. The first floor features three similar sashes and a 20th-century casement over the main door. The western range, formerly a warehouse and now No. 81B, has a gabled roof. An entrance is located under a loading-bay door. At the west end are two large early 18th-century sash windows with flush frames and glazing bars, the lower sashes fixed and featuring opening casements. Rebuilt gauged skewback arches are visible. Two 19th-century sashes are above these, and elsewhere, various other 19th-century windows are present. The roof is gabled with two gabled dormers in the south roof slope. Three ridge stacks are spaced at intervals along the rear ranges.

Inside, a first-floor room facing the facade features a marble fire surround with a foliated frieze below the mantelpiece. The overmantel has a swan-necked pediment and hood above an egg-and-dart frieze. Three panelled doors, with egg-and-dart surrounds, friezes of lions' heads, and hoods, are situated on this floor. A large-frame panelled dado rail runs along the north, west, and south walls, dating from around 1735.