Merchant House

Merchant House is a house, now used as shops, offices, and a restaurant, dating back to the 16th or 17th century, with significant alterations in the early and late 18th century. It has a slate roof and an old red brick chimney on the left gable end. The building's plan has been altered over time; in the late 18th century, it was given a double-fronted appearance, one room deep, with a central passage leading to a rear wing, which is clearly a later addition to the original structure. Above the front door is the end of a 16th/17th century cross-beam, showing no partition marks on the underside, suggesting a complete 18th-century remodelling of the original plan. The arrangement of the cornice indicates the first floor was originally a single room in the early 18th century.

The building is three storeys high and has a three-window front. The central window is narrow with two lights, while the outer windows each have three. The central doorway is flanked by Roman Doric columns supporting an entablature, above a round-arched opening with moulded imposts and archivolt. It has panelled reveals and a half-glazed door with a cobweb fanlight. The sides of the doorway have horizontally-channelled render; the window on the right retains the remains of triple sash windows, with the original two-paned side-sashes still present. A small, half-glazed door is located to the extreme right. The upper storeys are flanked by raised quoins. The windows have late 19th or early 20th century wood casements, with patterned coloured glass in the transom light of the second-floor windows.

The interior has had ground-floor partitions removed. A central beam is stop-chamfered with run-out stops at both ends. In the former left-hand room, there are early 18th century boxed cornices. Similar cornices are on the rear wall of a first-floor room. Two early 18th century doors feature raised-and-fielded one-fillet ovolo-moulded panels and strap-hinges. The rear wing contains the remains of a staircase with thin square balusters.