1, Lower Street

A merchant's house, likely dating to the first half of the 17th century, with 19th- and 20th-century alterations. It is now a shop with offices above. The construction is mixed, with a stone rubble party wall on the south side, and other walls of plastered timber framing. The building has a slate roof and a brick chimneyshaft. It forms the front block and gallery of a 17th-century gallery-and-back-block house. A first-floor gallery originally connected the front block to the rear block, now located at No.1 Mansion House Street, across what was formerly a courtyard, now filled in and incorporated into the shop. The ground floor has been cleared for the shop, but the original two-room plan likely survives on the upper floors, with a newel staircase on the left side. Three storeys with attics; the front has a one-window facade with a window to the curving front corner and an irregular two-window front onto Mansion House Street. The walls are plastered and feature a blocked-out effect simulating ashlar. The only elements predating 1989, when other windows were replaced with uPVC windows lacking glazing bars, are the stair window containing early 20th century stained glass and the dormer above it with casement glazing bars. A 19th-century timber shop front has been altered, extending one bay down Mansion House Street. A recessed doorway now contains a 20th-century door. Plain eaves and a hipped roof to the front, with gable ends at the rear. The gallery is weather-boarded and sits above a flat-roofed infill of the former courtyard, which includes a 20th-century door providing access to the offices. The interior largely reflects the results of 19th- and 20th-century modernization. The ground floor has been cleared of partitions. A short section of a 17th-century beam with multiple mouldings is visible beneath the 20th-century staircase linking the ground and first floors. A 17th-century newel staircase rises around a pine newel post. Other early carpentry or joinery is not exposed, and fireplaces are blocked by 19th- and 20th-century grates. The roof has not been inspected. The building is a rare surviving example of a gallery-and-back-block house with its original gallery.