4 Fore Street

4 Fore Street is a former merchant’s house built in 1603, which was remodelled, extended, and re-fronted in the mid-19th century. The building is constructed from local Culm sandstone rubble that has been rendered, with a roof covered in slate tiles and gable-end brick chimney stacks.

The two-storey front elevation has four bays, featuring dressed rusticated stone quoins. The three bays on the right are part of the original 17th-century house, while the bay on the left is a mid-19th-century extension. A late-19th-century recessed doorway includes a four-panel door set within a glazed surround and panelled reveals. The doorway is supported by pilasters and console brackets that hold up the entablature, above which is a mid-20th-century five-light oriel window. The other windows are two-pane hornless sash windows with margin glazing, except for the narrower ground-floor window in the central bay, which indicates the position of an earlier doorway. All windows have moulded architraves and bracketed sills. A plat band runs along the first-floor level, and there is a dentilled eaves cornice beneath the moulded gutter box. A wide panelled door, dating from the late 19th or early 20th century, is located at the far left of the façade, providing access to the rear of the property.

The rear wall of the 17th-century house remains intact, with additional structures from the 19th and 20th centuries added at the back.

Inside, notable features include a plaster ceiling in the style of the 17th century, a 19th-century staircase with turned and fluted newel posts and balusters leading to a scrolled handrail, 19th-century marble fireplaces in the front and rear ground floor rooms, and 19th-century pedimented doorcases.