The Stores

The Stores is a house and shop located in Coln St Aldwyns, dating from the mid to late 16th century, though it was mostly rebuilt and enlarged around 1870 for Sir M.E. Hicks Beach. The building is constructed of random rubble limestone with ashlar chimneys and has a stone slate roof. It is two stories high, with a shop situated at the east end.

The front features a parapet gabled end facing The Green, complete with gablets on the kneelers. The ground floor has a projecting late 19th-century shop front with a hipped roof. There is an attached iron railing enclosure topped with spears. The upper floor includes a three-light casement window with round arched lights, a bold hood moulding, and a segmental relieving arch, along with a carved Hicks Beach monogram above, although the date is now illegible. A gable-mounted chimney features carved corbels and a moulded cap.

The sides of the building display a mix of two and three-light chamfered mullioned casement windows. The upper floor has fixed-light windows with Gothick glazing bars, which likely date from the early 19th century and are earlier than the 19th-century enlargement. There are signs of blocked window openings on the north side of the oldest part of the building.

At the west end, the parapet gabled end retains an original 16th-century three-light mullioned upper floor casement with four central arched lights, and some roughcast render is present. The interior does not retain any earlier features due to the 1870 rebuilding. The building is said to stand on the site of a former church house, and the structure at the west end may be a remnant of this. It occupies an important position at the center of the village.