4 And 5, Well Street

A pair of early 19th-century houses, with possible earlier origins and 20th-century alterations, located on Well Street in Buckingham. The houses were originally two shops and dwellings. They are constructed of red brick in Flemish bond to the front, with paler brick headers, and have a slate roof with brick ridge and internal stacks. The houses are arranged on a double-depth plan, and are three stories high with a two-window front. A six-panel, part-glazed door is located to the far left (No.5), set within a thin-pilastered wooden surround. A 20th-century door is on the far right (No.4) with a similar surround. Bay windows flank the centre, formerly shop windows, all set beneath a continuous fascia with a moulded cornice hood. The bay window to the right is canted, with 24 panes of glazing to the front, arranged in 4 rows of 6, and 4 panes to the sides. Twelve-pane sash windows are present on the first floor, and nine-pane sashes on the second floor, all with flat-arched heads. Projecting eaves are a feature. The rear wall exhibits thin timber framing in rectangular panels, with diagonal braces to posts and painted brick infill in stretcher bond. The interior of No.4 includes chamfered spine beams with run-out stops. There is a fireplace in the ground-floor front room with a reeded wooden surround, and a staircase separating the front and back rooms. A late Georgian cast-iron grate is in the fireplace of the first-floor back bedroom. The roof is of common rafter construction. The buildings are directly attached to the adjacent former chapel (No.3), with no other side wall. These were formerly a cobbler's shop.