2 and 4 London Street

Shop at 2 and 4 London Street

This shop was built in the early to mid-19th century and extended during the late 20th century. It is currently in use as a restaurant.

The original 19th-century range is constructed of painted white brick with some areas of white stucco, topped with a stone or concrete parapet and clay tiled roof. The late 20th-century western extension is built of red brick on its south-west elevation and buff brick on the north elevation and rounded southern end. A glazed link connects it to the rear of the 19th-century range.

The original building is a two-storey structure with a basement and rectangular plan, with its principal elevation facing east onto London Street. A two-storey, single-bay addition sits at its southern end. The later western range has a triangular plan with a rounded southern corner and a curved northern elevation onto the River Kennet.

The principal east elevation onto London Street comprises five bays. The four original northern bays sit beneath a hipped roof, while the later southernmost bay has a flat roof. The three northernmost bays are set within arched recesses: the two outer bays have round-arched heads whilst the wider central bay has a segmental-arched head. The two northern arched recesses are rendered rather than painted. Rendered plat bands mark the springing point of each arch.

The southernmost of the three arches contains a modern half-glazed door within a historic timber doorcase with pilasters and flat canopy, with an arched timber sash window above on the first floor. The central archway contains a timber sash window with six-over-six glazing at ground level and a timber sash window with two-over-two glazing on the first floor. The northernmost arched bay contains a plain modern door at ground level and a round-arched timber sash window on the first floor. The southernmost bay of the 19th-century building projects slightly forward. It has timber sash windows on each floor: three-over-three glazing on the ground floor and two-over-two on the first floor.

A stucco cornice and stone or concrete parapet with step-ups over the first and third bays from the south runs across the four bays. The cornice and parapet continue around the north elevation, which is otherwise blank except for a single small casement window at ground level and an iron pattress plate at first-floor sill height. A brick chimney stack rises through the western roof slope immediately adjacent to the ridge line.

The west elevation of the 19th-century building is largely concealed by the late 20th-century extension. The two northernmost bays remain visible and show evidence of extensive alteration or reconstruction. They are of exposed red brickwork in Flemish bond, each with a modern door at ground level and a modern timber sash window on the first floor.

The late 20th-century extensions to the south and west of the original building are generally in keeping with its character, both being two storeys in brickwork with ranges of timber sash windows. The ground floor of the south elevation of the southern extension has a replica 19th-century-style shopfront.