82, High Street

No. 82 High Street, formerly the Kingsley Hotel, is now a shop with accommodation above. Built around 1897 by RT Hookway of Bideford, the building features a solid rendered front with wooden bay windows and a slate mansard roof. It has a red-brick chimney at each end wall, with the upper courses projecting to form entablatures. The structure stands four storeys tall, including a garret, and has a three-window range. The shop front, dating from the mid to late 20th century, is complemented by canted bay windows in the upper three storeys. The second-storey windows are foreshortened to fit beneath the shop front's entablature. Each storey is adorned with moulded cornices that extend across the front, while the top storey features a panelled frieze. The bay windows have sashes with horns, although the second-storey sashes have been altered. The middle sashes include margin-panes, with the upper sashes forming round arches. The middle windows are topped with triangular pediments that rise from the continued cornices and are flanked by fluted pilasters on the second and fourth storeys. The front is finished with a parapet, which supports a large dormer gable featuring fluted pilasters and a segmental pediment. On either side of the gable are fluted pedestals carrying urns, and there are two round-headed dormers with moulded archivolts and keyblocks, with sashes that include margin-panes and round arches in the right-hand dormer. The rear wall, visible from New Street, has a large slate-hung projection, possibly containing a staircase. This building is an important part of the townscape, especially when viewed from The Quay along High Street, and is included for its group value.