102-103 Northbrook Street, and the former stables to 104 Northbrook Street

A former hall house dating to around 1497, with subsequent phases of extension, and an ancillary post-medieval timber-framed former stable block.

The principal range is timber-framed with brick infill, a 19th-century slate roof, and brick chimneystack. The ground floor features a modern glazed insertion with a brick plinth to number 103. Rear ranges are brick-built, rendered or painted, with tiled roofs. The former stable is timber-framed with brick infill and a tiled roof. Window frames are generally timber sashes.

The building stands just north of the River Kennet and the 18th-century Kennet and Avon Canal, facing Northbrook Street, bounded by Northcroft Lane to the north and an alley leading to the lock to the south. The principal three-storey range, the earliest phase, is oriented north-south with two ranges projecting perpendicularly to the west. The northernmost western range adjoins the former stable via a secondary phase of extension.

The principal facade has modern glazed shop fronts to the ground floor. Number 103 has a 19th-century moulded console in the centre of the fascia. The rendered wall above displays five bays to each floor. The first floor has three eight-over-eight pane sashes to the left with exposed sash boxes almost flush with the facade; the two windows to the right are blocked. The second floor has four-over-eight pane sashes with the second and fourth windows blocked. Irregularly spaced rafter feet project from the eaves beneath the pitched slate roof.

The northern return elevation is painted brick with exposed timbers in the gable showing the line of the original steeply pitched roof, beneath which are stepped courses of brick. The modern shop front turns the corner at ground floor level to the approximate line of the former jetty. Three regularly spaced blocked window openings with segmental arched heads and projecting cills run onto the rear extension elevation, which is single storey with an attic. Further west are two irregular high-level windows and a small pitched dormer. This extension terminates with a tile-hung gable. The roofline drops to a second phase of extension: a 20th-century utilitarian brick structure excluded from the listing.

The southern return elevation is rendered with a blind gable end of the principal north-south range, except for the modern restaurant window that turns the corner with a fascia console. The roofline steps down to the two-storey rear extension, which has a blocked doorway, two-over-two sash windows to ground and first floors, and two further irregular windows. The elevation steps forward indicating a second phase of extension with a blind elevation and wide chimneystack.

The ground floor room of the principal range has been opened up to incorporate the rear extensions. Number 102 has a barrel-vaulted ceiling with moulded plaster ribs; all other visible features are modern insertions. In number 103 much of the timber frame survives but appears heavily modified with various members removed and inserted; the timber in place of the jetty plate has no trenches or mortises. Toward the back of the room is a pair of closely spaced posts, one with shaped brackets. Timbers leading north and south bear evidence of former stud partitions and are chamfered with run-out stops. Above, on the first floor, the principal range has again been opened into the rear extension, which retains substantial roof trusses. The timber frame has undergone numerous alterations and insertions. In number 102's first floor much of the timber frame has been removed.

The second floor, originally an attic, retains timber frame well, illustrating the building's development through retention of steeply pitched original roof timbers and dormers. Doors and joinery are mismatched and typical of the 19th century. One door with fielded panelling appears to be an earlier example re-sited. The main range has three rooms; the northernmost has a 20th-century brick chimneypiece and built-in timber seat. The roof has three bays, each with eight pairs of rafters bearing carpenter's marks. In the northernmost bay a pair of rafters has been removed to accommodate the inserted chimney, with marks indicating alteration. Roof timbers display substantial smoke blackening. No historic stairs survive.

The former stable lies west of the rear extension of number 102. It has sections of box-framing timbers beneath the eaves; elsewhere it is rebuilt in brick. There is a taking-in door within the timber framing and a projecting plane with a double door with flat brick arch. The ground floor retains no historic features. The first floor lies within the attic space; the exposed roof structure consists of two principal queen post trusses with heavy purlins and roughly hewn rafters. Propping and stabilising of the roof has been attempted with numerous inserted timbers with butt joints. The western hip incorporates much modern fabric.