8-12, MARKET PLACE

This is a building of 1838, located on the Market Place in Warminster, and extending to include number 1 Weymouth Street. Designed by Edward Blore, it’s an early example of the Tudor style and was originally opened as a Literary and Scientific Institute. The building is asymmetrical and constructed of ashlar, with a prominent facade facing the Market Place and a return to Weymouth Street.

The building is two and a half storeys high, with an ashlar plinth and a coved string course above the first floor, interrupted by gables and dormers. All have moulded copes, and the roof is slate-covered with ridge chimneys. The right-hand portion (number 8) features a full-height gabled rectangular bay with a 1-5-1 mullion and transom window arrangement on the first and ground floors, incorporating coved strings. A two-light mullion window is set within the gable, topped by a drip mould. A doorway to the left has an 8-panel door within a Tudor arch, with a moulded head and two square lights above. The left-hand portion displays a range of three cross mullion and transom windows on the first floor, framed by weathered buttresses on the ground floor. Three corbelled half dormers are positioned above, one retaining a finial, each featuring a single light. Two modern plate glass shop fronts are located on the ground floor; the left-hand shop projects to connect with the fascia of number 14, retaining traces of original Gothic detailing.

The return to Weymouth Street mirrors the style, displaying a gable with a two-light mullion window with a dripmould, and three-light mullion and transom windows on both the first and ground floors. Number 1 Weymouth Street continues in a similar style with a gable and a window matching the return of number 8. A coved string course runs across the parapet, supporting an angled oriel with a 1-3-1 mullion and transom window arrangement. This oriel is supported by a wide angled stem with a central window. A large cross mullion and transom window with a drip mould is positioned to the right, above which is a pair of sashes in a single frame. An elaborate doorway to the left features a 6-panel door within a moulded four-centred arch, also topped by a dripmould that rises to a point with an engaged finial in the centre. A lozenge-shaped overlight is above the door.