16 And 17, Risbygate Street

16 and 17 Risbygate Street is a house that was later divided into two, with a shop, dating from the early 18th century, although it has a fragmentary earlier core. The front is from the 18th century and there have been alterations. The building is timber-framed and faced in panelled plaster painted in squares, with exposed framing on the upper part of the north gable wall, which has a red brick wall built against it. The roof is covered with 20th-century plain tiles.

The exterior features two storeys and attics, along with two gabled rear wings. There are four 12-pane sash windows in flush cased frames on the first storey. The ground storey has two sash windows without glazing bars and one small shop window. There are two gabled dormers with 2-light single bar casement windows and three altered doors, which are partly panelled. The 18th-century gable-end framing includes widely spaced thin studs and primary braces. A plaque set into the brick wall indicates that the entrance to the cattle market was made by order of the Town Council in August 1852, with J.P. Everard Esq. as Mayor.

Inside, the front range consists of six bays with an internal chimney stack. The main beams are exposed in the three bays to the north of the stack, while to the south, there is a large chamfered transverse beam with run-off stops and widely spaced joists set on edge. On the first storey, one truss features long arched braces. The rear wall has a short length of wallplate with housings for rafter feet below an added section of wall framing. The front attic storey and the gabled rear range are all 18th-century additions, characterized by thin bisected studs and long straight primary braces. The upper ceilings still have joists set flat, and the rafter roofs are ceiled off at collar level. Much of the internal framing has been recently exposed.