9 And 10, Wood Street

This is a pair of houses, originally built in the early 19th century, forming an L-shaped layout with the main facade facing Wood Street. The front facade is constructed of grey brick with red brick detailing around the windows and door openings, while the rest of the building is red brick. The roof is covered in Welsh slate, with a hipped end on the right side, which abuts the building at number 8 Wood Street.

The houses are two storeys high and have cellars beneath. The front has eight 16-pane sash windows. On the ground floor, from left to right, are a window, a six-panel door with a flat hood supported by shaped brackets, three windows, a blocked door, and an entrance to an internal passage. The passage features a reused late medieval two-centred stone archway with a hood mould and a studded double door. Above these openings on the first floor are four windows. The roof has three brick chimney stacks on the ridge – one at the left end and two in the right half of the roof.

The ground floor interior was stripped out in the 1970s. However, on the upper floor, much of the early 19th-century skirting boards, several doors, and two iron fireplaces remain.

The appearance of the front façade, with its grey brick and generously sized windows, suggests the houses were originally built for well-to-do artisans or tradesmen. In the mid-1970s, the two properties were combined into a single dwelling, causing one of the front doors to be blocked and the interior re-ordered.

The pair of early 19th-century houses now function as a single dwelling. Their plain elegance is enhanced by the grey brick facade, 16-pane unhorned sash windows with red brick arches, and the inclusion of a medieval stone archway and hood mould within the facade. The building appears largely unchanged since it was listed in the 1980s. While 1970s alterations have somewhat affected the original character, they did not substantially alter the structure or appearance. The frontage makes a handsome contribution to Wood Street, particularly due to the use of the locally distinctive grey brick.