180-184, HIGH STREET

This is a late 19th-century bank, originally built in 1888 as butchers' premises and three other shops by Walter Albert Williams ARIBA, in a Flemish style. It is constructed of red brick in Flemish bond, with stone dressings and tiled roofs, featuring brick chimneystacks. The building occupies a corner location.

The High Street elevation features four gables. Number 180 is of three stories and includes a curved pediment with cherub and strapwork decoration. The second floor has two mullioned and transomed casements with brick pediments, separated by a stone high relief carving of a young girl. The first floor contains a large two-light oriel with pediments and mask-and-strapwork decoration, along with a mullioned and transomed window with a swan-neck pediment, swags, and an elaborate apron. The ground floor has a round-headed arch with a keystone and mask-and-strapwork tympanum, with a modern door. To the left is a segmented-headed carriage arch with pilasters and original seven-panelled double doors.

Number 181 is of three stories and has attics, with an elaborate triangular pediment with ogee moulding and octagonal ribs. The attic includes a casement with an ogee surround. The second floor has three casements with ogee surrounds, and two stone bosses. The first floor features a four-light mullioned and transomed window with a swan-neck pediment, and a modern shopfront supported by two massive stone brackets.

Number 182 has a Flemish gable with an enriched curved pediment. The inscription "ANNO 1888 DOMINI" sits beneath the attic storey. The attic has brick pilasters. The second floor has two mullioned and transomed casements flanked by pilasters. The first floor has a four-light mullioned and transomed window with an enriched carved and curved pediment flanked by terracotta carvings of a mermaid and merman. It also has a modern shopfront.

Number 183 is largely identical to number 181, but lacks the stone brackets to the ground floor.

Number 184 is a corner building designed with a curved corner to deflect traffic towards the Market Square. It is three stories tall with attics. A four-light dormer is present with a pediment featuring high relief carved fruit, and to the right, a pediment with a curved feature grasped by fabulous beasts, bearing the legend "established over a century". The second floor has four mullioned and transomed casements flanked by elaborate pilasters. The first floor has four mullioned and transomed casements; the end ones have terracotta carvings of mermen, while the central two feature masks, vines, and cartouches displaying the letters “C” and “H” – initials associated with Covell and Harris, the original butchers. A stone dentilled cornice is partially obscured by the later shopfront.