The Museum

The Museum, located at 9 Church Street, is an early structure that was refaced in the first quarter of the 18th century. It was formerly the Grammar School and has a date of 1719 inscribed on the rainwater heads. The building is two storeys tall with an attic and is primarily constructed of red brick, featuring some vitreous brick in panels. It has a projecting plinth with a moulded capping and string courses above the ground floor windows and below a tall parapet.

On the first floor, there are five windows and four panels arranged in a sequence from the left: window, panel, window, panel, circular window above the door, panel, two windows, and panel. The ground floor has a similar arrangement. The central entrance features a tall six-panel door with a rectangular fanlight composed of three panes and narrow side glazing, all set within a stone architrave and outer stone strips that have carved console brackets supporting a broken curved pediment, all designed on a large scale.

The return front facing St Mary's Square has a similar architectural treatment with slightly flanking projections, each containing two windows. The central section includes two outer circular panels, two segmental-headed niches with moulded stone cills, and a square blocked window in the centre on the first floor. The ground floor has four tall segmental-headed four-light mullioned and transomed windows, which appear to be modern, and a very tall eight-panel central door with a rectangular fanlight of eight panes, also with a stone surround matching the Church Street entrance. Above the pediment, there is a small niche made of vitreous brick. The upper part of the front features panels of vitreous brick, and there is a range of six gabled dormers.

The building has contemporary cast lead rainwater heads of rectangular shape, with the date 1719 on the front and a similar undated pattern on the other front. Although the interior has been considerably altered, two contemporary staircases remain, along with doors and other features in Church House, which was formerly the Headmaster's House. The Museum is part of a group with Nos 7 and 7A, which include railings and a coach house.