91 And 92, Church Street

A pair of houses on Church Street, dating to the early 17th century, with a rear wing documented in owner's deeds as 1564. The front block was likely built in the early 17th century as well. The houses exhibit square-panelled timber framing, with close-studded panels and middle rails to the front, and have brick stacks and tile roofs.

The plan comprises a 2-bay, 2-room width, right-angle layout, incorporating a jettied wing to the left rear. These are long, narrow gable-to-street properties with a double jetty to Church Street. The entrance to No. 91 is from St Mary's Lane, on the left.

The exterior is three storeys high, with an attic and basement, and features a 1+1-window front. Each gable has a small, 2-light mullioned casement window at the top. First and second floor windows are 3-light casements dating to the 18th or early 19th century, fitted with horizontal glazing bars, set within the close-studded framing with middle rails. There are three moulded brackets supporting the upper jetty. On the ground floor, No. 91 has a 19th-century shop front with an 18-pane window and a part-glazed door to the left, framed by pilasters and consoles. No. 92 has 19th-century nine-pane shop fronts flanking a central glazed door, all beneath a fascia with a cornice supported by carved brackets.

The return to St Mary’s Lane shows small square-panelled framing with two rails at the first floor and one at the second. The ground floor has a rendered brick underbuild to the jetty. Second floor windows include two 18th- or 19th-century single-light casements to the left, and a single-pane light to the first floor far left. Ground floor windows are tripartite, with slightly Gothic heads to 3:9:3-pane lights. A 20th-century door is located to the left, integrated into the fabric of No. 2 St Mary’s Lane. The rear gable of No. 91 incorporates a large, square external stack.

Internally, No. 91 displays square-framed side walls and lateral floor beams with wide chamfers and ogee stops, along with a rear right-hand winder stair. The attic has three bays with re-used timbers, featuring two widely-spaced collar trusses linked by ridge pieces with paired common rafters to the end bays, and a Y brace over the collar to the front gable truss. The rear gable includes parts of an earlier collar truss and tie beam with joist mortices set on the first floor to the right of the stack.