12, Newport Street

No. 12 Newport Street is a shop with accommodation above, dating from the 1820s. It is built using mass wall construction, featuring stucco with some areas of blocking out on the Newport Street side, while the Castle Street elevation is made of painted brick. The roof is hipped and covered with natural slate, with lead rolls at the corners of Newport Street and Castle Street. The building has cast-iron rainwater goods, and the chimney stacks are made of brick with corbelled cornices and crowned chimney pots.

The property is situated on a corner site with a canted corner and has an L-plan layout, consisting of two rooms facing Newport Street. The original staircase is likely located next to the stack in the right-hand room. There is a one-room plan wing on Castle Street, which is heated by a corner fireplace that previously served the left-hand room on Newport Street. The entrance is from Newport Street into a heated room. The property now extends into No. 14 Newport Street, which is not included in this listing.

The exterior features two storeys with an asymmetrical two-window front facing Newport Street. In the centre, there is a Tudor arch-headed doorway with a recessed plank door. To the left, there is a two-light plate glass shop window with a moulded mullion, and to the right, a 16-pane hornless sash window. On the first floor, the left window is a late 19th or early 20th century four-pane horned sash, while the right window is a 19th century two-light casement window with eight panes per light. A modern shop canopy is present. The Castle Street elevation has a lower roofline to the left and an internal front stack, with each floor featuring a two-light 19th century casement window with glazing bars. There is a blocked opening on the ground floor to the left.

The interior was only inspected on the ground floor, which reveals an exposed crossbeam of slender scantling with slender sawn joists. The fireplaces have segmental brick arches, and the fireplace in the right-hand room contains a large centrally positioned commercial bread oven with its iron door still intact. There is a new staircase in the main room.

According to the owner, the premises are reputed to have been a bakery at one time.