25 Market Place

25 Market Place is a Grade II listed commercial building with accommodation above, situated on the market place. It comprises a complex of structures spanning from the 15th century to the present day.

The building's rear wing dates to around 1471, with dendrochronological evidence from roof timbers indicating felling dates of Winter 1468/69 and Winter 1470/71. The front range is of probable 16th-century origin but was substantially remodelled and re-fronted around 1835. Outbuildings of 18th-century and later date complete the complex.

Both the rear and front ranges are timber-framed structures, later supplemented with walls of red brick. A timber-framed outbuilding to the rear combines brick and timber walls, while a detached timber-framed building to the south features tarred weatherboarding on a brick plinth. Plain clay tiles cover most roofs, with the exception of the front pitch, which is slate.

The street elevation, dating from circa 1835, presents three storeys of red brick laid in Flemish bond. A late 19th or early 20th-century plate glass shop front and fascia occupy the ground floor. The upper storeys contain three bays of sash windows with slightly cambered heads and rubbed brick voussoirs. The central bay is blind with painted glazing bars, while the eastern attic window is glazed but bricked up from the inside. The front pitch, of slate, is markedly shallower than the rear elevation. The rear elevations are mostly rendered with casement windows. A tile-hung addition to the south-east and a flat-roofed single-storey extension beyond are 20th-century additions.

The front range comprises two bays running parallel to the street. In its original form, it may represent a 16th-century replacement of an open hall with a ceiled structure, possibly providing upper chambers over an inn and passageway. 20th-century infilling of the passageway and removal of most ground-floor partitions have created a largely open-plan shop floor, though historic fabric such as ceiling beams and fireplaces remain in places. The west wall incorporates a chimney breast, and a winder staircase adjoins the rear wall; a straight-flight staircase that originally rose from the ground floor was removed in the 20th century. On the first floor, the ceiling of the eastern front room stands approximately one metre higher than that to the west. An early 21st-century ensuite bathroom has reduced the size of this room.

The second floor's western room, created by 19th-century heightening, retains a 19th-century cast iron fireplace. A small hatch in the partition provides access to the eastern attic space, which has an inserted raised floor and a brick-blocked window, suggesting an attempted conversion to a second habitable chamber that may have been abandoned due to structural concerns. The roof displays evidence of at least two construction phases: a steep-pitched 16th-century roof heightened around 1835. The eastern truss features raking queen posts and a collar, while the central truss has a cambered collar and short arched braces. Wind braces connect purlins and principals. The purlins, collar, and arch brace are chamfered, indicating that at least part of the roof was originally open to the first floor. When the front eaves was raised, new rafters were installed at a shallower pitch, supported by struts nailed to the old purlins. The circa 1835 work involved removal of the western truss and the front rafters.

The long timber-framed rear wing comprises two storeys across five bays of irregular length. Dendrochronological survey confirms a construction date of 1471. The wing may have provided storeyed accommodation to an existing open hall running parallel with the street, though the northernmost bays may originally have been open to the roof. The frame is partially exposed, with posts displaying jowled heads and tie beams and wall plates retaining peg holes for removed braces. The ground floor is now a continuous shop floor. Upper floors, presently in separate occupation, are accessed from the rear yard via 20th-century external stairs. The two rear bays have been heightened by insertion of ceilings at collar level. The two northern reception rooms are divided by a late timber-framed partition with a long raking strut; tenons for the stud wall it replaced remain visible in the soffit of the tie beam. The northernmost bay is partially occupied by an inserted staircase and flanking back-to-back cupboards.

The rear wing roof is of tenoned purlin type, with purlins clasped by collars and stiffened with wind braces. Six visible trusses, designated A through F, define five bays numbered I (southernmost) to V. Trusses B and C feature queen struts between tie and collar. Truss C is closed by inserted studs, laths, and plaster between the tie beam and cambered collar, relating to the heightened ceiling of the southern bays. Sooting is visible on the rafters of bays I and II, particularly toward the south gable end. Truss D has two raking queen posts clasping the purlins and a raised collar forming a doorway, with lath plaster retained to the east. Sooting marks the south face of the queen posts, and lath grooves cut into their upper faces confirm the truss was intended as a closed form.

Truss E is a fine scissor-braced truss. Bays IV and V show no evidence of an early floor and no smoke blackening; the chamfered soffits of Truss E suggest it was open to a two-bay hall or first-floor chamber. If so, Truss F, now concealed behind the inserted staircase, was likely of similar form. The central bay (III) displays smoke-blackened lath and plaster panels, and truncated rafters suggest a louvre opening, possibly indicating use for smoking meat or fish or drying hops.

Adjoining to the south is a single-storey heated outbuilding of 18th-century origin, possibly representing rebuilt stables documented in 1771. It is timber-framed with arched braces and raking struts to the principals. The brick and timber east wall is of later date, and the gable wall of the rear wing has been partially removed to create internal through access. A brick fireplace with timber lintel occupies the central range. A modern timber shed adjoins its end wall. Toward the rear of the plot stands a probable 18th-century detached outbuilding of industrial character, possibly a workshop. It is timber-framed with black tarred weatherboarding on a low brick plinth.