10 Church Street

10 Church Street

A shop with apartment above, comprising two bays dating from the 15th century and an 18th-century bay to the north.

The front range is rendered ashlar limestone and brick, with two timber-framed ranges behind featuring timber-nogging, a tiled roof, and red brick stacks. The building fronts onto Church Street and extends southward as a linear arrangement of three connected ranges with a single-storey extension to the rear.

The principal elevation facing Church Street has two bays over three storeys with a stepped cornice and parapet. At ground floor is a late 19th-century shopfront with narrow pilasters, moulded cornice, and shallow fascia. A plain stallriser and thin cast-iron columns support symmetrical plate-glass windows and transom lights flanking a central recessed entrance lobby with glazed door and square fanlight. The first and second floors each have two sash windows; the first-floor windows have plate glass with no horns, while the second-floor windows are two-over-two sashes with horns.

The east and west elevations of the front range abut neighbouring buildings. The two ranges behind are visible from Lilley's Alley and Packer's Court. The second range retains close studding on the second floor of its east elevation, though the framing of the lower floors has been rebuilt. Its west elevation is painted brick with a nine-pane fixed window at ground-floor level under a flat brick arch and three-light casements at first and second floor. The third range features box framing with later brick infill to the east and painted brick to the west, with a three-light casement window on the first floor and a two-light casement window on the second floor.

The rear elevation of the third range is of three storeys with painted brick. The ground floor projects forward due to the single-storey extension and contains a three-light multipaned window. The first and second floors have exposed timber-framed jowled posts supporting the gable, which was formerly an internal truss of principal rafters, tie beam, and collar beam. At first floor is a canted oriel window, and at second floor a four-light multi-paned window.

At ground floor of the 18th-century front range, the space is open as a commercial area with panelling of varying dates and styles, much of which is ex situ. A stair bulkhead projects from the east wall, and a step flanked by a post provides access to a modern shoulder-arched doorway leading into the second range.

The second range contains a full-width room on the ground floor with three axial beams, probably ex situ. The two westernmost are chamfered with scroll stops to the south but not the north; the easternmost has ogee and crenelated mouldings with the ogee mouldings cut off part way along its length and empty peg holes. A central doorway to the south leads to the third range, with a protruding stair bulkhead above.

At ground-floor level of the third range, a modern glazed partition subdivides the space. To the east is a 20th-century open-well staircase with plain balusters and newel post. A central doorway to the south opens to the extension with a modern cusped timber screen to the east. The late 20th-century extension comprises a showroom space with exposed ceiling beams and joists.

The first floor stair landing in the third range opens into a hallway with a canted oriel window to the south and partitions creating a small toilet and utility room with a modern Tudor arch doorway. A central doorway to the north leads to a kitchen and dining space spanning the building's width. This room has a decorative ceiling of moulded timbers with hollow-chamfered joists and a moulded axial beam featuring hollow mouldings either side of a quarter round moulding, all interspersed with fillets. A blocked chimney breast and central doorway open to the 18th-century stairwell to the north.

The landing of the 18th-century stairwell has been divided by a part-glazed partition creating a small room to the west, which includes a fanlight with glazing bars forming a round arch containing two pointed arches and one ogee arch. An 18th-century closed-string staircase with stick balusters, Doric newel posts, and a ramped handrail (now blocked at ground floor) stands to the east. Large coving to the south is presumed to encase truncated floor joists of the second floor. A central doorway to the north leads into the living room fronting Church Street, which has simple moulded cornices and a central chimney breast to the east with a reproduction 18th-century fire surround.

The staircase rises to the second floor of the front range, landing at a narrow passage with bathroom to the west. The southern wall of the bathroom exposes the timber-frame of the northern wall of the second range with curved braces and taper burn marks. A northern door opens into a full-width bedroom fronting Church Street with plain cornices and a blocked chimney breast to the east, with cupboards built into its recesses. A southern doorway provides access to the second range via two steps.

The second range is subdivided into two bedrooms, with the partition running along the line of the 15th-century axial ceiling beam. All walls expose timber framing, including the partition itself. The east room reveals the junction between the frames of the second and third ranges at its south-east corner. A central doorway in the east bedroom leads into the third range.

The third range is a full-width room open to the roof with exposed timber framing throughout. Access between the second and third ranges is negotiated by two steps. The roof structure includes a closed queen post truss to the north; the southern truss has been partly rebuilt in brick but retains a cambered tiebeam. There is a single row of purlins and a single tier of curved wind braces. A blocked-up timber window may exist to the west.

The roof of the second range has two surviving trusses, both with raking queen struts rising to the collar. The northern truss was altered during reconstruction of the front of the range, but the tie beam remains in situ and evidence suggests it was originally closed at roof level. The southern truss is open with a slightly irregular arrangement designed to accommodate the projecting purlins of the pre-existing roof of the third range. Between these trusses, the original roof largely survives, including wall plates along the external walls, rafters, and purlins. The rafters are coupled, without a ridge piece.

A cellar runs beneath the first and second ranges. The walls of the northern portion are stone with much brick patching. The stack has a stone base to the north side and brick-facing to the south.