8 and 8a, The Traverse

No. 8 and 8A The Traverse is a house that has been converted into a shop. The building features an early 19th-century front but has a core that dates back to the mid-to-late 16th century. It is timber-framed and faced with early 19th-century white brick, topped with a plain parapet and a moulded stone cornice. The roof is steeply pitched and tiled.

The building stands three storeys high with attics and has a three-window range. The upper storeys feature 12-pane sash windows in plain reveals with flat gauged arches, and there is one segmental-headed dormer. The ground storey has a 20th-century shop front that includes ornate 19th-century console brackets at each end of the fascia. On the Skinner Street side, there are two small-paned sliding sash windows on the second storey.

Inside, there are extensive cellars with large chamfered main beams, including a small vaulted section made of flint and Tudor brick that runs below the street. The front range, which was likely originally jettied, has main cross-beams with shallow multiple roll moulding and was initially divided into two sections, similar to the first storey, although both partition walls have been removed. A section of good studding is exposed on the upper north wall. The layout of the upper storeys is complex, with some main components of the timber-framed rear range visible, which faces Skinner Street. The top storey is an addition but remains timber-framed, with exposed wallplates and tie-beams.