127 and 128, High Street

Builder's offices and showrooms with a cartway to a yard, now used as a shop, office, and residential accommodation, were built in 1884 (as indicated by a datestone). Minor alterations occurred in the 20th century. The building is constructed of local volcanic trap ashlar, Flemish bond brick, and Ham Hill and granite dressings, with a slate roof and brick stacks featuring corbelled caps. It is designed in an eclectic style, principally Tudor and Gothic.

The building is partly four storeys, partly three storeys, and includes an attic. The front elevation has a 2:1:2 bay arrangement, with a cartway centrally located. The two left-hand bays are grander, constructed of stone ashlar and gabled, featuring kneelers. The central and right-hand bays are of Flemish bond brick, topped with a mansard roof running parallel to the street.

The left-hand block incorporates a showroom on the ground floor. Plain pilasters frame the façade below the gable, which is slightly corbelled. A moulded string runs at second floor level. Granite pilasters with carved gabled detail are positioned on either side of the ground floor, framing a recessed six-panel doorway on the right and a plate glass showroom window on the left. A canted bay window with a stone slate roof and stone mullion and transom windows with small panes above the transom sits above the showroom. Two second floor two-light stone mullion and transom windows with Ham Hill lintels are present. A three-light stone mullioned window with “1884” carved into the deep Ham Hill lintel is found in the gable. The two left-hand bays feature similar framing with brick pilasters and a corbelled parapet with Ham Hill stone decoration, along with a Ham Hill sill band at second floor level. The ground floor has been altered with a 20th-century plate glass shop window. The original first-floor oriel, of an Arts and Crafts character, has a hipped tiled roof with coved eaves, a roughcast corbel, and moulded oak mullion and transom windows with stained glass above the transom. Two first-floor casements, reglazed in the 20th century, are fitted with Ham Hill lintels and keyblocks. Two gabled attic dormers, featuring bargeboards and 20th-century windows, complete the elevation. The central bay contains the cartway, with a gabled granite pilaster to the right (matching the left-hand one) and a granite lintel carved with the name of the firm. A two-light transomed casement, with a stone lintel with keyblock, is positioned on the first floor, with a similar window above, reglazed with a 20th-century casement. An attic dormer matches the others.

The interior was not inspected but may contain features of interest.

Dart and Francis, the contractors, were involved in construction projects in the Crediton area, notably houses and several 19th-century Devon churches designed by national architects, including St Davids in Exeter by Caröe. They continued to provide ecclesiastical fittings on a national scale until the 1980s.