2, HORNHILL (See details for further address information)

This is a merchant's house, now a cafeteria with accommodation above, situated on a medieval site. The building largely dates to the late 16th and early 17th centuries, with improvements made in the 18th century and modernisations in the 19th and 20th centuries. The construction is mixed, with stone rubble side walls, timber-framed front and back walls (mostly plastered), stone rubble stacks in the side walls with rendered chimneyshafts and some old pots, and a slate roof.

The house has a street-facing elevation with a probable original depth of two rooms, including a side passage to the right. A rear kitchen now fills the former courtyard. The exterior is four stories high, originally three, and features a one-window range. The ends of the original side walls corbel out to support a jettied second floor, indicating the survival of early carpentry. The ground floor contains a recessed 20th-century shop front in an 18th-century style, with bowed windows on low brick walls, small panes with glazing bars, and a part-glazed door. The first floor is also 20th-century but replicates 17th-century style, with exposed framing and an oriel containing three forward-horned 12-pane sashes. The second floor has a row of similar 12-pane sashes and the third floor has a tripartite sash with a central horned 12-pane sash. The roof has plain eaves and a hipped front end. The left side wall, visible on Hornhill, is painted stone rubble and incorporates 19th-century features, including a first-floor doorway with part-glazed double doors, an overlight, and a horned 12-pane sash. The rear gable end includes 20th-century windows and plaster over what is likely 17th or 18th-century framing.

The interior retains few original features, mostly due to 18th- and 20th-century alterations. The main staircase has three phases: a 19th-century section to the first floor with painted matchboard and a 17th-century panelled door from the ground floor; an early 18th-century balustrade with a moulded handrail and turned balusters; and an original newel stair with a mast-like newel and good late 16th-century linenfold panelling. Structural carpentry is largely concealed behind later plaster. The second-floor front room has an original beam ceiling clad with early 18th-century moulded plaster and a probably early 18th-century chimney piece. The roof has not been inspected.

The property's historical significance relates to its location along Lower Street, which was originally the waterfront. Land to the east was reclaimed in the late 16th century, and the street became a key trading route connecting Bayards Cove and the 17th-century New Quay, around the present Boat Float.