The Oldest Chemist Shop In England

This is a shop dating back to the 17th century, with alterations made in the 18th century and later. It is located on the north-east side of Knaresborough Market Place. The shop has a timber frame and a brick facade constructed in a Flemish bond pattern, topped with a pantile roof. The building is two storeys high with attics, and has two gabled bays. The central entrance features glazed doors, flanked by shop bay windows with glazing bars, supported by wooden posts with geometric openwork panels. The first floor has two wide tripartite sash windows, each with a central pane of 16 panes and margin lights of one pane, all set under flat brick arches. The attic storey has a small four-pane sash window in a flush frame on the left and a square panel painted to resemble a window on the right. An examination by the North Yorkshire and Cleveland Buildings Study Group revealed a surviving timber frame including posts, partitions, and ceiling beams on the ground and first floors, plus principal rafters, tie beams, and purlins of the roof structure. Original 17th-century stairs and panelling remain, along with 18th-century shop fittings and cupboards on the ground floor. The North Yorkshire and Cleveland Vernacular Buildings Study Group documented the building in Report Number 262 (1977). The interior was not inspected during a later resurvey.