Co Operative Chemist

This house, now a chemist’s shop, dates back to around 1730 and is constructed of ashlar and dressed stone with stone tile roof coverings and end stacks finished with brick caps. It is three storeys tall with an attic, and has four bays. Dormer windows with six-pane sashes are present in the attic. The upper two floors feature sash windows with six panes, set within moulded, rounded heads that have fluted keystones and prominent abaci. Four half-fluted Doric pilasters articulate the main two storeys, supporting a triglyph frieze and a plain parapet. The ground floor has four arched openings set within heavy rustication, separated by a string course from which the pilasters rise. A six-panel door from the 19th century is located in the right-hand opening. A glazed door from the 20th century is positioned in the third bay from the right, flanked by late 19th-century windows with reeded jambs and brackets.

The interior retains features indicative of a significant town house, including two rooms with 18th-century decorative schemes. The north-west room on the first floor has an ogee bracket and dentil cornice, two early 18th-century mirrors set within bolection moulded panelling, and raised fielded panelling within the window reveals. An adjoining room contains a similar cornice with paterae, a stucco overmantel decorated with swags in an egg-and-tongue surround, and a central rose motif entwined with leaves. Contemporary doors with raised fielded panels are also present. The chemist’s represents a notable example of the borough’s local Baroque style, inspired by the nearby Blenheim Palace, designed by Vanbrugh.