25, High Street

No. 25, High Street is a mid-18th century house in a row, although it incorporates earlier fabric. It is constructed of Flemish bond brickwork with a tile roof. The building has a deep plan, comprising a hipped-roofed front block with a side entry to Wilkes Alley on the left, and a broad wing at the rear with a hipped roof and parapet. The house is three storeys and has a basement, presenting a two-window facade. The upper floors have 16-pane sashes set within brick voussoirs and stooled stone cills. The rendered ground floor features two square plate-glass display windows, a central glazed door, and a plain fascia. A plain arched opening provides access to Wilkes Alley on the left. The rear wall is rendered with central four-pane sashes set within segmental heads, a small stair light to the right at ground floor level, and a coped parapet. The inner wall to Wilkes Alley is constructed of light box framing with brick nogging, with two early two-light casements, painted over and sealed, visible beyond a covered section. The interior, partially inspected, shows on the ground floor two close-set longitudinal beams carried on a low transverse lintel beam approximately 3.5 metres from the shop front. The cellar, accessible by a winder stair with timber-faced brick treads, contains a very heavy transverse propped beam set on a brick floor and a splayed brick hearth support in one corner.