74 And 76, High Street

Nos 74 and 76, High Street

No 74. A mid-18th-century house, now used as offices, built in Flemish bond brick with a hipped roof of old plain tiles and brick end stacks. The building has a double-depth plan and is rendered in mid Georgian style with three storeys and a five-window range across the front. To the left of the facade is a porch with Doric columns and entablature, beneath which stands a 20th-century door with overlight and flanking strip lights, set in a reeded architrave with roundels. The ground-floor right features a gauged brick flat arch over an early 19th-century tripartite sash window, while the upper floors have 12-pane sashes also set within gauged brick flat arches. A raised sill band runs above the porch, and a moulded brick cornice tops the facade. To the rear right is an early 19th-century canted bay with sashes.

To the rear of the property are 18th-century two-storey ranges built in Flemish bond brick with gabled concrete tile roofs and brick ridge stacks. The first range bears a datestone of 1758 and features a segmental brick arch over an early 19th-century six-panelled door with four glazed panels, above which is a mid-19th-century horizontal-sliding sash with glazing bars and timber lintel, itself set above a pair of mid-19th-century 12-pane sashes. The second rear range has a bracketed early 19th-century hood over a six-panelled beaded door set in a beaded architrave, with a segmental brick arch above a mid-19th-century five-light window with glazing bars and an inserted 20th-century door; below this is an 18th-century five-light casement window with leaded lights.

The interior contains a mid-18th-century dog-leg staircase with landing, featuring a panelled dado and moulded handrail set on turned balusters. Early 19th-century panelled doors and shutters are present throughout, with early 19th-century reeded architraves and cornices to the first floor; the second floor retains mid-18th-century two-panelled doors and reset 17th-century panelling.

No 76. An early 19th-century building to the left of No 74, built in Flemish bond brick with a hipped Welsh slate roof, designed in late Georgian style. The front comprises a single storey with a three-window range. Each window features a gauged brick flat arch with cambered soffit, and the original windows are large late-19th-century plate-glass panes with patterned glazing bars to the top and frosted glass lettering reading 'THOMAS WETHERED AND SONS/LIMITED' to the bottom. The windows are set within revealed surrounds defined by a raised plinth, pilasters, and frieze beneath a carved stone bracketed cornice, with a cyma-moulded gutter above. The rear elevation displays similar brick arches over two nine-pane sashes with comparable bracketed eaves.

The interior is accessed from No 74 and opens into a large room featuring a fine early 19th-century classical fireplace, enriched plaster frieze, and ceiling boss.