The Old Balcony House

The Old Balcony House is a row house likely of medieval origin, substantially rebuilt in the late 17th century with minor alterations in the late 19th century. It is constructed of squared and coursed dressed stone with stone dressings, and has a gabled stone slate roof with a rear stone stack. The house has an L-shaped plan and three storeys plus an attic, with a three-window front onto the High Street. A central, two-storey projecting porch with a balcony gives the house its name. Windows on the first floor, and at the same level on the porch, feature ovolo-moulded mullions with casements. The upper floor has two-light mullioned windows with hoodmoulds to the outer bays, and a central tripartite casement window opening onto the balcony. Glazed windows of a late 19th-century design are set into the ground floor either side of the porch. The porch has a gabled hood and includes a plank door and two keyed oculi to light the interior space on its side walls. A further plank door provides access to a side passage on the right-hand side. Moulded string courses run above the ground and first-floor windows. Further two-light mullions are present on the end walls at attic level, and to the rear range. The interior retains an original butt-purlin and collar beam roof structure in both ranges, alongside some 17th-century panelling in the first-floor passage. It is reputed that Queen Anne slept in the balcony room in 1705 during her journey to Bath.