5, 7, 9, and 11 College Street

This is a row of four historic houses with shops, built in the early to mid-15th century, likely as a commercial development. The building has undergone alterations in the 17th, 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries.

Originally, the building was a single-pile range of six bays with cellars, divided by cross walls aligned with the roof trusses. A dividing wall ran along the central axis to create single-bay shop fronts with a solar (an upper room, likely used as a living space) above and an open hall to the rear. Chimney stacks and staircases were inserted into bays one, two, and four, and an attic floor was added later. In the 19th century, the building was divided into four shop units, two bays wide on the left, one bay, one bay, and two bays on the right. Additional staircases were added at this time, along with 20th-century additions to the rear.

The building is of timber-framed construction. The ground floor has been rebuilt in brick, and the first floor is largely concealed behind applied timber framing and render. The roofs are covered in plain clay tiles. Brick and stone stacks to the rear have been reduced in height.

The two-story facade, with a cellar and attic, features a continuous first-floor jetty supported on a brick underbuild. The shop fronts at numbers 5 and 7 date to the late 19th century, while those at 9 and 11 are 20th-century additions, topped by a corniced timber fascia. The first floor has a symmetrical 19th-century facing of applied timber framing with upright posts, intermediate rails, and curved tension braces set within render, concealing much of the original timber structure. Each of the six bays has a pair of 19th-century four-light casement windows. Five mid-19th-century gabled dormers, each with a pair of two-light casement windows, are visible in the attic.

The north gable end has been rebuilt in brick to ground floor level. The upper floor retains curved angle braces from the corner posts to the tie beam, and a central upright post; a 20th-century window is located to the right of this post. The original 18th-century attic window has been replaced with a 20th-century window, and there are scalloped barge boards.

The rear elevation has been partly rebuilt in brick and is largely hidden by later additions. A chamfered lintel and cill remain for a two-story hall window, along with mortices indicating the former location of two mullions.

The ground floor interior shows remnants of bridging beams and posts for the lateral walls. The first-floor timber framing includes main and intermediate posts and curved braces. Chimney stacks from the 17th century are found in bays one, two, and four, with original 17th-century staircases connecting the first floor to the attic in these bays. The roof features six clasped purlin and collar trusses with evidence of curved wind braces connecting alternate principal rafters to the purlins; one wind brace is retained in bays two and five. Many of the common rafters are retained. Most trusses retain wattle and daub infill above the collar, and trusses two to six show significant smoke blackening, most heavily concentrated in truss four.