8 And 10, Lower Market Street

This is an early 17th-century town house, significantly altered in the early 19th century and later used as a shop and for town council meetings on the first floor. The building has a U-shaped plan, including a parallel range at the rear linked by a wing. The front two floors are stuccoed over studwork, while the ground floor is of rubble construction. It has a steep asbestos slate roof with projecting front eaves, and a brick stack at the rear. The house is three storeys high and has a five-window front. The second floor features early 19th-century sixteen-pane hornless sash windows, although one window (second from the left) is blocked and painted with thick glazing bars. The first floor has 20th-century transomed casement windows, and the ground floor a mid-to-late 20th-century shop front with a central doorway. The interior contains an early 18th-century open-well staircase with turned balusters and a moulded handrail. A first-floor room is distinguished by a 17th-century chamfered granite fireplace. The building also retains a rare early 17th-century oak roof structure, showcasing curved feet to the trusses, threaded purlins, and two tiers of collars, all pegged with halved and lapped dovetail joints.