26, 26A AND 26B, HIGH STREET

This is a house with hayloft, stables, and coach house, dating to the late 18th century, later adapted for use as a shop, offices, and restaurant. The front facade was reduced in height during the 1930s, and a late 19th-century shop front was introduced. Two earlier wings, dating to the 17th century, and a rear extension from 1866 are situated at the rear, along with more recent 20th-century alterations, including flat-topped dormers and altered window openings.

The front of the building is constructed of gault brick, topped with a hipped roof covered in plain tiles. The rear wings feature brick on the ground floor and a plastered timber-frame on the first floor, with a 19th-century brick extension. Pantiles and concrete tiles are used on the rear wings.

The front of the building is two storeys and an attic with a four-window arrangement. A plate glass shop front occupies the center and right side of the ground floor, with a doorway to No. 26A on the left. A single unhorned sash window with 8/8 glazing bars is located at the far left. Four similar sash windows are positioned on the first floor, each set beneath a gauged skewback arch. A plain parapet, originally pierced by four windows, partially conceals three small, flat-topped dormers fitted with casements. The right return side exhibits three sash windows on the first floor. The rear features a two-storey wing with a dormer attic and mostly modern casement windows. A lower two-storey range of service buildings has been converted.

The interior of the front block has been opened into a showroom. Chamfered bridging beams with run-out stops are present. Two staircases are noted: one early 20th-century with spiral incised decoration on the balusters, and another from the early 19th century with stick balusters and a ramped handrail. The timber-framed rear wings display jowled principal studs, and in the left wing, one wave-moulded bridging beam is visible. The roofs are plastered. Early 17th-century brickwork is found in extensive cellars, although the majority of the brickwork dates to the 19th century.