66, High Street

66 High Street is a shop and house, now entirely a shop, dating from the 15th century with alterations from the 18th and 20th centuries. The building features a timber frame with brick cladding and a tiled roof. Originally, it served as commercial premises with a probable solar above, an open hall, and service rooms behind. In the 18th century, the timber frame was encased in brick, and in the 20th century, the building was refronted as a shop.

The exterior is two storeys high. The High Street elevation has a modern plate glass ground floor, with an early 20th-century four-light mullion and transom timber display window above, framed by reeded pilasters and a cornice. The roofline is aligned with the street and continuous with the adjoining property across Black Swan Yard. The elevation facing the yard has a lower roofline, painted brick with a toothed cornice, and two sash windows on each floor. The curved frontage is due to the concealed timber frame, and there is a modern stretcher bond gable wall. The roof is oriented at right angles to the High Street.

Inside, the medieval timber frame appears largely intact but is concealed on the ground floor, with indications visible in the right places. It was likely originally jettied to the street but is now underbuilt. On the first floor, the framing of a two-bay open hall is visible, featuring an arched braced central tie-beam with a moulded soffit and gunstock jowls on the main posts. There is evidence of patching and lighter infill framing from a later date. The framing diminishes behind the hall, but the roof reveals its full extent. The hall bays are separated by closed plastered trusses, and both these and the surviving original roof timbers are heavily soot stained. The roof consists of common rafters with couples halved and pegged at the apex, and plain crown posts above the main ties support collars. The roof structure shows signs of considerable later piecing in and modern reconstruction. A single ancient beam remains in the cellar beneath the front shop. This building is a rare and surprisingly complete survival in the historic core of Andover, and any alterations to the ground floor should be undertaken with extreme care.