The Bear Hotel

The Bear Hotel is a hotel that underwent remodeling around 1850, although parts of the building date back to the 18th century. It is constructed from coursed limestone rubble with freestone dressings and features a stone slate roof, along with brick stacks that have octagonal ashlar shafts at the gable ends. The hotel is designed in the Tudor Revival style and has a double-depth plan with rear wings that flank a courtyard.

The exterior consists of two storeys and attics, with a symmetrical three-window range. It has three forward-facing gables topped with tall cone-and-ball finials, which are supported by full-height semi-octagonal buttresses that also have similar finials above the linking parapet. The paired Tudor-arched sash windows feature hoodmoulds and switch tracery tops, while the windows above the door have cinquefoil heads. There are two canted bays on the ground floor, each with hipped off-set stone roofs. The central projecting porch is supported by columns that resemble the buttresses and features wide Tudor arches on the front and sides. A stone bear stands on a plinth at the center of the porch, and the sash windows above it also have cinquefoil heads.

On the right side, which also faces the Market Place, there is a four-window range with forward-facing gables at each end. The left gable has a stack at the apex and an entrance below, while the right gable features a finial and a quatrefoil above a two-light window on the second floor, along with a three-light window on the first floor that has a hoodmould leading to a gateway.

Inside, there is a dogleg central staircase with turned balusters and 19th-century joinery, including four-panel doors. Historically, the site was home to a house called Orwell House, originally built in the mid-18th century by John Provis, which was still occupied in 1812.