2 And 4 High Street, Including The Former 1 Oxford Street And 1A Oxford Street

2 and 4 High Street, Malmesbury

These are houses now used as a shop and café with flats above. The buildings comprise two interconnected ranges: a late-18th-century range facing the High Street, and a mid-19th-century range fronting Oxford Street, with 20th-century alterations.

The late-18th-century range is constructed of rendered limestone rubble, whilst the 19th-century building is of coursed limestone with limestone dressings to its main elevation and brick to the rear. Both are roofed continuously in stone slates with brick stacks.

The buildings are double-depth on plan along the High Street frontage, with a further range running at right-angles to the rear of 4 High Street. The Oxford Street range is single-depth, with an additional single-storey range extending rearwards from its easternmost bay, creating a small courtyard at the rear.

The late-18th-century range comprises two storeys and an attic, presenting a three-window front to the High Street, a canted one-window corner bay, and a wide single-window range to Oxford Street. It features two-over-two horned sashes throughout, with six-over-six sashes to the southern two bays. The adjoining mid-19th-century range, also of two storeys and attic, forms an irregular four-window frontage to Oxford Street with similar two-over-two horned sashes set in segmental headed openings. The ground floors have late-20th-century shop fronts, except for the eastern bay of the 19th-century range, which retains a pair of double doors beneath a segmental arch. The first and second floors across both ranges house interconnected flats.

Originally, the High Street range ran back to Oxford Street, comprising numbers 2 and 4. During the 18th and early 19th centuries, the Oxford Street plot was partly occupied by the Red Lyon Inn, which was replaced in the mid-19th century by a new range attached to 2 and 4 High Street, designated as number 1 Oxford Street. This building featured dressed stone stonework in contrast to its rendered stone rubble neighbour, though the two were interconnected. In the late 20th century, part of the former number 1 Oxford Street was partially divided to create a separate address at 1a Oxford Street, though it occupies only the ground floor and remains partly interconnected with the main building.