55, The Close

No. 55 The Close is a building that dates from the late 18th century and is a recasing of a structure from the 16th century or earlier. It is two storeys high with an attic, built of brick and featuring a bracketed stone eaves cornice that extends over a central pediment, which has a slight projection and a circular light in the tympanum. The façade is three bays wide, with an old tiled roof that includes two hipped dormers. The first floor has five windows, while the ground floor has four windows and a central six-panel door with a segmental fanlight, all set within an architrave surround and topped by a segmental moulded hood. To the right, there is an additional bay without a cornice, featuring one circular window on the first floor and a panelled passage door below.

The rear elevation is three storeys tall and constructed of red brick, with bands between the storeys and a panelled parapet. It has four windows, with recessed sashes that are camber-headed on the second floor and tall on the first and ground floors, featuring flush keystones. The centre ground floor window has a panelled base, and there is some medieval stonework visible at the west end of the ground floor.

Inside, there is a notable staircase that rises through three storeys, featuring an open string, cut brackets at the tread ends, turned balusters, and a moulded handrail that sweeps up to the newels. The eastern rear rooms on all floors have good fielded panelling, with corner fireplaces flanked by pilasters; the ground floor room has fluted pilasters, an eared architrave to the panelled overmantel, and a bolection cornice above. The rooms also feature a moulded dentil cornice. On the second floor, behind the pediment, there are traces of an earlier roof structure that has been plastered over, including a collar, purlin, and tie beam, along with altered floor levels. The passage leading to the rear of the house, which provides access to No. 55A, has a cob outer wall and a wall that partially rests on a stone base.

All the listed buildings in The Close form an outstanding group.