10, 10A AND 10B, HIGH STREET

Nos 10, 10A and 10B, High Street

An early 17th-century merchant's house of "deux corps de batiments" type, with early to mid-18th-century and early 19th-century rear additions. The building now accommodates six separate occupations.

The main front block consists of three storeys with three windows to the first floor. The front elevation and roof were remodelled in the later 19th century. The roof is of Welsh slate, pitched to a gabled front with bracketed, panelled bargeboards and a finial. The timber-framed structure has a slate-hung second floor with a jettied attic; the first floor features panelled treatment with a cornice at second-floor level. Masonry party walls divide the structure. Two paired 19th-century transom and mullion windows with leaded casements light the second floor. Early 18th-century sash windows with leaded casements occupy the second floor, while the first floor has early 18th-century sash windows with glazing bars flanked by panelled pilasters. The ground floor has a modern shopfront. On the east return, there is an early 18th-century sash window, and a doorway to No 10A with a bracketed hood and panelled door.

The interior retains exceptional quality. An early 18th-century dog-leg staircase with closed string, turned balusters and square newels occupies the ground floor. The ground floor front room, formerly a shop, has a chamfered ceiling beam. The ground floor rear room, formerly a parlour, preserves an original decorated plaster ceiling with ribwork, moulded beams, a cornice and a pulvinated frieze with strapwork guilloche. Bolection-moulded panelling with fluted pilasters and proto-Ionic caps carries plaster consoles. An open stone fireplace is present, though its original chimneypiece surround has been removed. The first-floor front and rear rooms, formerly the fore-hall and hall respectively, retain original decorated plaster ceilings with ribwork, fleur-de-lis and rosette motifs, and pulvinated friezes decorated with strapwork guilloche. Early 17th-century panelling survives on this floor.

A mid-18th-century extension at the rear replaces a former small court and kitchen block. This extension is two storeys, with irregular fenestration and a Welsh slate roof renewed in the later 19th century. The walls are rendered masonry. The ground floor features recessed sash windows with glazing bars and a doorway with edge-roll moulding to the frame, containing an old boarded door with wrought-iron pegs and cover battens, topped by a moulded stone hood. The interior contains a mid-18th-century dog-leg staircase with closed string, turned balusters, square newels and moulded handrails. Ceiling beams are chamfered, and doors are of raised and fielded panel construction.

This extension connects at its south end to an early 18th-century cottage (No 10B) with later extensions and additions. The cottage has a slate roof with massive old stacks and thick, coursed, Devonian limestone rubble walls, partly rendered. The south end features a slate-hung gable and an early 18th-century sash window with glazing bars. The west side has a Gothick window with arched lights. Elsewhere, later 18th-century and 19th-century windows and doors have been inserted. A first-floor entrance is approached by an external stone staircase. The interior retains an early 18th-century corner chimneypiece to the rear first-floor room with bolection-moulded surround and mantle; the hob grate is cast iron of Gothick design. An early 18th-century dog-leg staircase with closed string, turned balusters and square newel with ball finials provides access.

An early 19th-century addition is attached to the east side of the extension. This addition is two storeys with one window and a gabled front pitched to Welsh slate. The front is of roughcast. The first floor has a Venetian sash window with Gothick arched lights, while the ground floor openings have been altered. The first-floor room features a panelled dado and a dentil plaster frieze.