Office and Showroom, Boundary Walls and Gatepiers at Berry and Vincent Builder's Yard

Office and Showroom, Boundary Walls and Gatepiers to Berry and Vincent Builder's Yard

This office and showroom, constructed in the 1880s, stands at the corner of Union Road and Church Street, adjoining the Grade II listed building at 1 Church Street. It forms the public-facing entrance to the builder's yard. The building is constructed from Posbury stone and sandstone with limestone dressings, half-timbering, and a slate roof.

The premises occupy a corner plot with the office and showroom as a rectangular range facing Union Road, while the yard itself is accessed through gates at the south-east corner and enclosed by boundary walls.

The two-storey, four-bay building has a pitched slate roof. The ground floor is primarily masonry, built from Posbury stone with Bath stone copings and quoins. The first floor is timber-framed with lath and plaster infill panels. The south elevation facing Union Road features four wide, full-height openings between stone piers on the ground floor, with chamfered timber lintels bridging the spans and resting on moulded stone corbels. The first bay contains a pair of timber garage doors; the remaining three bays have windows with glazing bars arranged in different geometric patterns. A wall plate with protruding joist-ends marks the storey division. Above, the first floor has pairs of casements in each bay within pointed arched openings, with timber crosses arranged beneath their sills. Timber studs have short braces forming pointed arches beneath the eaves. The east gable end has a pair of glazed double doors with margin lights, and on the first floor a pair of casements beneath a pointed arch flanked by single arched casements. The north-east angle is chamfered and under-built to allow vehicle access through the main gates. The north elevation has the eastern bay infilled with brick; the next bay has its lower half infilled with timber panelling and glazing above, containing a doorway into the building. A bay further west is open with a recessed doorway and panelling. The westernmost bay is partially obscured on the ground floor by a later shelter. A chimneystack rises between the easternmost two bays.

The ground floor contains four rooms. The easternmost, entered through large glazed doors, appears to have been the showroom; at the angles the masonry elevations remain exposed and painted. Internal partitions throughout are formed of fielded panelling. The principal room has a panelled partition with glazing to the lobby to the west and a panelled, half-glazed door. The lobby contains built-in panelled cupboards and shelving units, a panelled stair, and slate-flag flooring. On the first floor, the easternmost two bays were originally open but have been subdivided into two rooms. This appears to have been the principal space, fully panelled with a fireplace (now showing roughcast render on the chimneybreast) and a large cupboard in the west wall. The western half of the first floor is not accessible from the east and has a separate stair, with unpainted panelling throughout.

Entrance to the yard is via a pair of gates at the south-east corner. Low rubble masonry walls with intermittent piers are connected by timber railings, which replace earlier ironwork.