Premises Of Horne And Sons The Gateway The Steps

This is a mid-18th century ashlar town house of regional Palladian style, situated on the High Street in Moreton-in-the-Marsh. The building consists of a central three-bay block with lower two-bay wings containing offices, one of which is now a separate premises. It is two storeys and an attic in height, with a high rusticated basement. The front elevation has three windows to the main block. The ground floor features a Venetian window on either side of a partly glazed door with a fanlight, architrave, and pediment, with a double flight of stone steps leading up, complete with an iron railing. Above, three-light semi-circular windows are set within an eared architrave. All original glazing bars have been retained. A modillion cornice runs along the top of the building, topped by a balustraded parapet behind which is a round-headed dormer. Shaped gables feature ashlar stacks at either end. The two-storey wings both have cornices and parapets. The north wing has a good late 19th-century shopfront with half-round windows above. The south wing has a central carriage arch with imposts and a keystone; this is now blocked in a recess and houses tripartite sashes with lunette windows above, featuring flat stone mullions. To the rear of the building, on the first floor, is a window with an eared architrave and a porthole window.