18 And 18A, High Street

Two shops with accommodation above, likely dating to the late 18th century, with shopfronts dating around 1900. The building is stuccoed with a slate roof; the roof of number 18A has a corrugated asbestos section at the rear of the ridge, and a stack with rendered shafts. The plan is a "U" shape, featuring a central passageway leading to a narrow rear courtyard flanked by rear wings.

The building is three storeys with a symmetrical four-bay front. The roof has deep eaves and paired brackets. Left and right pilasters incorporate moulded sunk panels. A platband runs along the second floor. First-floor windows have keyblocks and contain early 19th-century 12-pane sashes. Second-floor windows have early 19th-century 3/6-pane sashes.

The ground floor front has pilasters to the left and right, and flanking the central passageway, each displaying two tiers of sunk panels with faceted decoration, more elaborate on number 18A. Both shops feature pairs of elaborately moulded consoles with gables and a moulded cornice above the fascia. A massive five-panel door leads to the central passageway, featuring a drop latch and recessed into the passageway wall. The shop fronts are largely uniform, although a modern fascia board partially conceals the cornice moulding on number 18. Each shop has windows with moulded frames and rounded upper corners, incorporating a glazed central door with a low panel and overlight; the upper corners of the door pane and overlight are also rounded. Originally, the shop windows were two-pane to the front, with one to the return, but a slender mullion has been removed from number 18A. Number 18 has encaustic tiles in front of the door.

A 19th-century four-panel door with an overlight and panelled reveals is located on the return of number 18. Various rear additions exist, with one near the shop likely dating to around the mid-19th century, featuring a first-floor canted bay window and two ground-floor 12-pane sashes. The rear of number 18A contains a cob rear wing with a pantile roof, potentially predating the 1743 fire in Crediton.

The ground floors have been altered for shop use, but features of interest may remain on the upper floors. The narrow rear court is a well-preserved example, once common on the south side of High Street.