1-12, MARKET PLACE

This is a row of shops with a warehouse and living accommodation above, built in 1882 and with few later alterations. The building is constructed of painted brick with granite dressings, and has a slate roof with ridge tiles and gable ends. It features a gable end stack to the left and an axial stack with brick shafts.

The building has a double-depth plan and a nearly symmetrical five-bay front. The ground floor contains a pair of shops to the right, with an entrance to the left leading to the living accommodation above. The warehouse is located at the rear to the right. The ground floor features granite pilasters to both the left and right. The bay to the left has a plate-glass sash window with sidelights and a granite lintel. A plain fascia extends over the shop fronts. Three canted shop windows are divided by cable-moulded colonettes with foliate capitals, above granite ashlar stall risers. Two 20th-century double doors with overlights are positioned between the shop windows. A pair of granite pilasters support a narrower pair of 20th-century double doors with an angled overlight on the left end. A moulded granite cornice runs along the top of the building.

The first and second floors have two-storey canted bays at each outer end, featuring pilasters and plate-glass sash windows. Brick pilasters are positioned between the bays, and paired plate-glass sashes are present in the inner bays. The central bay is slightly set forward, containing paired sashes at both the first and second floors, topped with a gable featuring a triple lancet window. The central light of the lancet is taller, framed by a two-centred granite arch and a stepped gable with a finial. At first floor level, there is a cornice, and at second floor level a cill string. A datestone inscribed “CH 1882” with a shield displaying a mason's compasses and set square is located on the second floor of the central bay. The left end is constructed of rubble with brick dressings and random 19th-century sashes with brick segmental arches. The right end has a blocked double-width opening on the ground floor's left side, with two 20th-century doors on the right. The first and second floors each feature two 4-pane sashes to the left and one to the right, with brick segmental arches. Two 4-pane sashes are situated at attic level. The integral warehouse, located at the rear and to the right, has double doors and a 6-pane light at ground floor level. Three bays are present on both the first and second floors; the first floor has a central loading door alongside 12-pane sash windows to the right and left, with a granite arch over the loading door and brick segmental arches over the windows. The second floor has two loading doors to the left, including one with a pulley arm, and a 12-pane sash to the right, with matching dressings. The rear features random window placement.

The interior of the building has not been inspected.