8 And 9, Town Hall Place

Nos 8 and 9 Town Hall Place are a pair of houses and a shop that were formerly a single large house, likely extending further east originally. This late medieval building features a ground storey of exposed stone, with granite and slatestone rubble on the right and granite ashlar on the left. The ashlar section has a projecting plinth with a hollow-moulded top. The rest of the front is cement-rendered, while the upper storey of No. 8 is said to be cob underneath, and No. 9 was also originally cob before it was rebuilt in the 20th century. The roof is covered with asbestos slates, and there are rendered chimneystacks on the right-hand gable and on the rear wall of No. 9.

The plan consists of a front range that is one room deep. The interior has been significantly altered, but evidence of the roof structure indicates there was an open hall at the east end, corresponding to No. 8. The building has two storeys and a four-window front. There is a single 20th-century door, off-centre to the left, which serves both houses. To the left of the door is a late 19th-century shop front. To the right of the door is a 20th-century casement window, and further right is a blocked window that is just detectable in the stonework. On the second storey, No. 8 has two 20th-century casements, while No. 9 features two late 19th-century sash windows, each with two panes and horns.

Inside, No. 8 has a heavy chamfered upper-floor beam in the ground storey, while No. 9 has a fairly large open fireplace in the rear wall of the ground-storey room, with plain stone jambs and a 20th-century lintel replacing the original wooden beam. The roof structure, which is shared by both houses, is late medieval and nearly complete, although a few common rafters have been cut back. The timbers are darkened, likely due to smoke from a former open hearth. A new roof has been constructed over the old structure. The early trusses, which are not fully visible, have cranked collars, threaded purlins and ridge, and triangular strengthening pieces in the apex. The truss over the centre of No. 8 was formerly arched-braced, and there is a closed truss over the division between the two houses.