2A,2B,2C, ST ANN'S STREET

Nos. 2A, 2B, and 2C on St Ann's Street is a house and shop, now used as an office and flat, dating from the late 14th century or possibly early 15th century. The building is timber-framed with brick infill and has a pantiled roof. It features a rare parallel hall plan with jettied fronts and rears, and it stands two storeys high with an attic. There is a pedestrian passage to the rear on the left, framed by a 19th-century surround. The mid-19th-century shopfront has a central door, while the first floor displays close studding of heavy scantling with two large arched braces on either side. Between these braces are two four-light mullioned windows, which have 20th-century glazing. The gabled roof includes a 20th-century dormer. The rear passage has knuckle braces at the entrance and in the centre, with studs and tension braces on the north side. The ground floor at the rear is rendered, while the first floor features heavy scantling close studs and two heavy arched braces at the centre, along with one renewed three-light mullioned window to the right.

Inside, the ground floor has a heavy bridging beam running north-south, with a mortice for an arched brace at the south end and a corresponding mortice to the north, located very close to a 17th-century inserted brick stack. The heavy studwork is notable, and the front wall plate has three sets of rebates for shop arcade shutters, along with peg holes for studs between them. The remainder of the interior was not accessible at the time of review but is likely to be of considerable interest.