7 And 8, High Street

A pair of mid-19th century houses with shops, located on High Street in Bideford. The buildings have solid rendered walls and slate roofs, with red brick chimneys on the ridge and at the rear of No. 8. They flank a cart entrance leading to a rear courtyard, which is enclosed on all four sides. A further cart entrance within the rear range appears to lead to a second courtyard. The buildings are three storeys high, each with a two-window range.

No. 7 has a prominent Art Nouveau shop front, likely dating to the early 20th century. The shop front features panelled flanking pilasters supporting elaborate paired brackets with shaped blocks. An entablature topped with a patterned iron cresting runs between the brackets. The shop door is recessed between two curved display windows, the right-hand window having a sinuous curve. The windows have chamfered black marble bases and large rectangular panes divided by glazing bars, with lily-patterned tops. A glazed shop door has a shaped solid panel at the bottom and a tall fanlight above. The front pavement is laid with a coloured mosaic featuring large red flowers at opposing corners and the inscription "GRIMES & CO." The ceiling above the shop is mirrored and framed with shaped wooden elements. Inside the shop, the floor is paved with a patterned mosaic, and the ceiling is covered with mirrors in shaped wooden frames. The shop front at No. 8 is largely late 20th century but retains some early 20th-century shaped wooden blocks. Above the shop fronts is an entablature with a cornice, supported at the right-hand end by an enriched console. Upper-storey windows have moulded architraves and bracketed sills, with sashes that have horns and upright glazing bars creating margin panes. The building has a wooden eaves cornice. The passage and front courtyard have an old cobbled surface, partially repaired with concrete. The rear range features windows with six-paned sashes. Edward Grimes, a gold and silversmith, watch and clockmaker, and optician, is documented as having moved into No. 7 at the end of 1908. The interior has not been inspected.