23, Westgate Street

23 Westgate Street is a house dating from the 16th and 17th centuries, with alterations made in the early 19th century. It has a timber-framed structure, fronted in white brick, and features a plain tiled roof with a large chimney stack on the west side.

The house is two storeys high, with an attic and cellar, and includes a two-storey rear wing. The front has a two-window range with 12-pane sash windows set in flush cased frames, each with segmental arches. The entrance features a six-panel door topped by a shallow fanlight, framed by a doorcase with pilasters and a flat cornice hood supported by moulded brackets. There is also a recessed foot-scraper by the entrance.

Inside, there is a small brick-lined cellar. The front room on the ground floor has square Jacobean panelling that was uncovered during restoration in the 1970s, covering one wall and serving as a dado on another. The fireplace has a reeded surround, and there is a moulded plaster cornice. An early 19th-century staircase features stick balusters and a ramped, moulded handrail.

On the upper floor, the back wall displays good 16th-century studding with a shallow cranked tension brace pegged to the studs, along with a middle rail that has assembly marks. The 17th-century timber-framed rear wing is adjacent to this wall; it retains some original studding but has a rebuilt end wall in 20th-century brick. This wing was likely originally open to the roof, and the ceiling joists may be a later 20th-century addition. All roof timbers are concealed. On the south side, the house overlaps with a small timber-framed wing that is part of No. 24.