5, Castle Street

The house at No. 5 Castle Street is likely of 16th-century origin, with significant remodelling around 1700, an extension in the early 18th century, and a raised roof in the mid-19th century. The front is roughcast render over rubble, with rubble and slate hanging at the rear, brick to the left-hand end, and rag slate roofs featuring brick end stacks, with one tall lateral stack at the rear right. It has a U-shaped plan, including a through passage to the left of centre and a truncated rear wing on the left, with another wing added in the early 18th century.

The house is two storeys high with a three-window front. The windows are mid-19th century hornless sash windows of varying sizes. A 18th-century six-panel door with fielded panels and a plain overlight is situated at the front. The rear wing on the right features flat arches over early 18th-century sashes with thick glazing bars, with four on the rear wall and one to the first floor of the inner wall. A mid-19th century glazed porch is located at the rear of the through passage, while the other wing shows evidence of previous alterations and lean-to extensions at the rear.

The interior of the front range preserves a 16th-century oak roof structure, with lapped dovetail joints to the collars in the three bays on the left and in the wing, and altered trusses to the right. Original timber framing with cob infill is visible to the left of the passage and in a chamber to the left, where the chamfered feet of trusses are jointed onto a chamfered wall plate. A possibly original or 17th-century heavy cross beam is present in the left-hand front room. Numerous late 17th or early 18th century features are also present, including bolection-moulded panelling with a moulded ceiling cornice and a chimney-piece with a pulvinated frieze and moulded architrave in the right-hand front room. The ground-floor room of the right-hand wing features fielded panelling and a dentilled chimney-piece. A deeply coved plaster ceiling, possibly the 1700 stair hall, remains in a space that is now subdivided. Turned balustrades flank the entrance to the central chamber. Several two-panel doors and a steep oak roof structure with slightly curved truss feet are evident in the 18th-century wing. The house retains a range of interesting structural and architectural features, and its rear elevation is particularly attractive, contributing to the character of this important group of buildings.