5 And 6, St Marys Square

A pair of interconnected houses of early 16th-century origin, substantially altered and enlarged in the early 18th century, then divided and further extended in the early 19th century, probably by Francis Sandys who owned the building from 1803 to at least 1816. The building is timber-framed, faced in dark grey brick with red brick sides and dressings, and features chamfered rusticated quoins. A 20th-century flat roof, concealed behind a plain rebuilt brick parapet, sits above two gabled ranges set parallel to the street.

The exterior rises three storeys with cellars. A nine-window range is arranged in the pattern 2:5:2, with the centre section breaking forward slightly. The first-storey windows are 12-pane sashes and the second-storey windows are 6-pane sashes, all in plain reveals with flat gauged arches and red brick surrounds. The ground storey has no glazing bars. The middle window of the central section shows slight alterations to surrounding brickwork where an entrance door was removed. A moulded and dentilled cornice runs below the parapet. Matching slightly recessed six-panel early 19th-century entrance doors are positioned at each end of the projecting centre, with moulded architraves, rectangular fanlights featuring vertical glazing bars, and modillion cornice hoods on console brackets. To the north of No. 5, set back slightly, is a large two-storey red brick extension with a range of three small-paned sash windows along the east side, added by Francis Sandys in the early 19th century.

The cellars are mostly brick-lined with 19th-century wine bins, though No. 6 features stone blocks along the main beam with joists on edge. The centre of the building contains the original early 16th-century timber-framed house, now irregularly divided between the two properties. This centre comprises three bays, jettied along the front, originally containing two rooms with the partition wall now removed. The two northern bays, now mostly within No. 5, contain a fine timber ceiling on the ground storey with double ogee-mouldings to the main beam and joists. An early 17th-century brick fireplace with original mortar joints has a rounded back and cambered timber lintel. The adjoining southern bay within No. 6 features plain heavy joists. In the early 18th century, a two-bay extension was added at each side of the centre and a second storey was constructed: the ground storey rooms are panelled, with No. 6 featuring a corner fireplace. No. 5 contains an early 16th-century rear wing with a main beam displaying double ogee-mould and intricate leaf stops. The early 19th-century stair has stick balusters, open strings, and ramped handrails. One front upper room contains reused Jacobean panelling and a bolection-moulded fireplace surround. Within the roof, the bressumer of the former jetty, with double ogee-moulding and housings for studs, has been reused as a purlin. The early 19th-century wing contains a large panelled upper ballroom or music room with a moulded plaster cornice decorated with acanthus-leaf ornament.

No. 6 features a fine early 18th-century dog-leg stair at the rear rising through two storeys, with barley-sugar twist balusters, closed strings, moulded handrail, and panelled dado. Panelled internal shutters are fitted to all windows. One small panelled upper room has raised fielded panels and four-panel doors. The front second-storey room retains a dado of reused Jacobean panelling.