156, 158 AND 160, HIGH STREET

Nos. 156, 158, and 160 High Street are three houses that have been converted into shops and offices. They have origins dating back to the 17th century, with a front that was added in the late 18th century. The buildings have a timber-framed core that is covered in colourwashed render at the front, with fishscale tile hanging on the left-hand return front. The ground floor features wooden shop fronts, and above, there are three parallel-range, hipped roofs covered with plain tiles, which are obscured by parapets and oriented end-on to the street.

The buildings are three storeys high with a symmetrical five-bay facade that includes end stacks. A central canted bay oriel extends through the first and second floors, topped with a modillioned eaves cornice. The windows are 12-pane glazing-bar sash windows, with four windows on each floor—two on either side of the central oriel. The first-floor windows have no glazing bars in the lower sash light, and the canted bay features 12-pane glazing-bar sash windows as well, with a modillioned cornice across the first floor.

The ground floor has a deep fascia with architrave moulding and a zig-zag band, and the shop fronts are made of plate glass, with the right-hand shop featuring panelled piers. There is a 4-centre arched entrance supported by Jacobean style pilasters, leading to doubled glazed doors in the central recess.

Inside, the buildings have been largely altered, with the staircase moved to connect the first and second floors. This staircase was originally brought from Weston Lodge in Albury. Photographs of the buildings can be found in the National Monuments Record.