2, Holywell Street

No. 2 Holywell Street is a house that dates back to the early 17th century, with some parts remodeled in the 18th century. It features three stories of timber framing set on an ashlar base, with cellars that have windows above street level. The house has modern brick stacks and a Welsh slate roof. The south elevation has an overhang at the first and second floors. On the ground floor, there are two projecting and splayed stone bay windows, each with modern stone four-light moulded mullioned frames containing sashes. The front door is framed in plain moulded stone, accessed by five stone steps. Above the doorway, the first-floor overhang, which is roughcast, is supported by two modern wooden scrolled brackets, each adorned with a shield—one on the west side features three chevrons, possibly representing Merton College, while the east side is blank. There are also ancient brackets with blank shields at the east and west ends of the house at this level.

The first floor has two projecting windows, each supported by three wooden scrolled and enriched consoles with blank wooden shields. Each window features two 18th-century sashes at the front and one small sash on each return. The second floor has five sash windows, with the two outer windows having double sashes. This floor is boxed-out and roughcast, likely an 18th-century addition or remodeling. To the west of the main house is a single-storey stuccoed block on cellars, topped with an attic dormer under a modern red tile roof. The ground floor of this block includes a three-light stone-framed sash window set in a shallow recess with a segmental head.

Inside, the house contains an 18th-century fireplace and some 18th-century panelling. The exterior was drawn in 1822 by J.C. Buckler. All the listed buildings on the north side of Holywell Street form a group.