19 And 20, Abbeygate Street

A pair of shops with living accommodation above, dating from the late 18th century, originally a single house and shop. The building is constructed of red brick laid in a Flemish bond pattern, with a plain parapet and a moulded stucco cornice. It has a hipped, plaintiled roof.

The front of the building has three bays and a cellar. The second storey windows are six-pane sashes set in deep reveals. The first storey incorporates a central twelve-pane sash, flanked by two large, square, mid-19th century windows that replace earlier sashes. These projecting windows are in a "Venetian" style, featuring a central arched light and two narrower side lights, divided by slender columns. A raised stucco band below the first-storey windows is interrupted by these projecting bays. A central six-panel door, approached by three stone steps, has panelled reveals and an altered surround. Four fluted pilasters of unusual design, topped with carved brackets, are spaced across the ground storey. The shop front of number 19 was modernised around 1970, while number 20 retains its original fascia with deeply-cut gilded lettering, a vertical bar to the glazing and a panelled stall-board, believed to have been installed after a fire in Abbeygate Street in 1882. A "Royal" insurance sign is positioned between two first-floor windows. Extensions are present at the rear of both halves of the building.

The cellars beneath both halves extend partly under the street, revealing remains of flint rubble walling with reused stone blocks. A partition wall exhibits the stub ends of older ceiling-beams, above which the current ceiling sits at the ground floor level of the original house. Below number 19 is a curious dome-shaped opening, rendered and formerly shelved at a height of approximately 5 feet. The house was subsequently divided into two separate dwellings. The original dog-leg staircase, now disused in number 19, rises to the first storey only, originally reaching the second storey, and features wide oak treads, slender turned balusters and a plain wreathed handrail inlaid with contrasting wood strips. A large Diocletian window, partially blocked by 20th-century fletton brickwork, provides light to the stairwell from the second storey rear.