55 Westgate Street

Formerly a medieval merchant's house, now a shop and dwelling. It dates possibly to the C15 and has a C17 rear wing. The building was re-fronted along with other alterations in the mid- to late C18 and further altered in the C20 and C21.

MATERIALS: the structure is an encapsulated timber frame, rendered to the sides and rear. There is an ashlar-walled cellar, a stuccoed brick front, and slate roof with a hipped dormer and a tall brick stack.

PLAN: a double-depth block, with parallel pitched roofs and an end-gabled C17 wing at the rear. The front left corner of the rear wing has a mortice for a horizontal rail, possibly indicating the position of a former gallery connecting the front and rear blocks.

EXTERIOR: three storeys with an attic and cellar. The rear wing is two storeys. The principal elevation includes a C20 shopfront with C19 fascia on the end brackets. The upper floors are of two bays with a string course at the first-floor window sill level a crowning cornice with close-set modillions and a parapet above. On each of the upper floors, there are two plain horned sash windows of similar size, in plain openings, with projecting sills on the second floor. The roof dormer has a pair of plain casements.

INTERIOR: in the cellar, the side walls are in ashlar, with vestiges of stone springers to a former barrel vault replaced by a timber floor. Within the shop, there are exposed lateral bridging beams and an early-C19 dog-leg staircase with winders at the turns and a stick balustrade. On the second floor is a C18 two-panel door. The alignments of walls and floors indicate timber framing concealed by later linings.