Premises Of Ae Ruddy And Son

The premises of AE Ruddy and Son is a town house with a late shop, dating from the 17th century, with the front remodeled in the 18th century. It features incised stucco on a timber frame and has a steep asbestos slate roof with a modillion eaves cornice. There is a rubble end stack on the left and a cast-iron ogee gutter. The building has a fairly deep plan, including a rear wing at right angles, and stands three storeys tall with a regular two-window range. The windows are late 18th century or early 19th century 16-pane hornless sashes. The ground floor has an altered 19th-century shop front with a doorway under the left-hand windows.

Inside, the ground floor retains original 17th-century chamfered hardwood ceiling joists with tongue stops, and there is a mid-18th-century dog-leg staircase with turned balusters. A second-floor room features original pine panelling with small panels and moulded muntins and rails, although only one side of the room was visible at the time of the survey. The rear wing has two large fireplaces on the ground floor in the former bakehouse, along with stone flags in the former rear passage.