34, New Street

This is a merchant's house, originally one of a pair, dating from the 17th century with alterations likely made in the mid-19th century. The front is stuccoed, while the rear and right-hand side wing feature a timber frame with close-set studs, originally slate-hung on the second floor. The rear wall of the wing is built of rendered brick, and the building is roofed with steep dry slate tiles, with a shared gable roof with the adjacent property at the front and a hipped dormer on the wing. Large stone chimneys are located at the rear left and on the left-hand side of the wing.

The building has an L-shaped layout, incorporating a front room containing a newel staircase and a deep rear wing that has been truncated at some point. The front elevation has three stories over a basement, with a two-window range on the first floor and a central window above. The first floor features 12-pane hornless sash windows. The ground floor presents a particularly fine, original oak doorway with ovolo and ogee moulded details, strapwork over bulbous bases, and an ogee-arched head. A 20th-century triple sash window obscures part of the original timber frame structure which includes a turned post, smaller windows, and evidence of a former oriel window. Squat basement windows, one originally a loading hatch, are also present. The rear has a 20th-century 2-light casement under the gable, a replica 3-light mullioned window on the first floor, and a four-panel door within a moulded oak frame on the ground floor. One original 8-light mullioned window remains on the first floor of the wing, with four surviving lights of a similar window on the right. A C20 replica mullioned window occupies the central ground floor position. All mullioned windows display ovolo mouldings. A moulded oak doorway is found on the ground floor to the left of the wing, with evidence suggesting another doorway existed further to the right. The rear gable of the wing has hornless sash windows on each floor: a 16-pane sash, a 12-pane sash, and a 4-pane sash.

Internally, much of the original structure remains, including a wooden newel staircase and roof trusses with threaded purlins. A notable feature is an early 18th-century eared chimneypiece with a moulded and pulvinated frieze and dentils in the front second-floor room. Two simpler wooden chimneypieces are also present, one featuring a 1900s iron grate. A narrow 18th-century cupboard with H hinges is found in the rear wing, while original joists are visible in the basement and along the stone staircase. The building is situated within a street characterized by a high proportion of fine 17th and 18th century houses.