7, Sadler Street

Offices, formerly a house. This timber-framed building dates mainly from the 17th century with some evidence of 15th-century fabric, modified in the 19th and 20th centuries. It features a jettied construction, rendered and colourwashed exterior, Welsh slate roofs, and brick chimney stacks.

The original plan appears to have been a single-depth range set at right angles to the street, with main heated rooms to the right (north) side and a long wing to the left overlooking a courtyard, with a return wing across the back. A through passage probably ran to the left, with the original stair positioned in a semi-cylindrical well near the rear. Two unequal gables face the street.

The building is three storeys tall across two bays. The ground floor displays a splendid shop front of late 18th or early 19th-century date, slightly projecting under a lead flat roof with timber cornice. On the left is a six-panel door providing access to a passage, followed by two 32-pane windows with canted ends containing much crown glass. Between these windows stands a pair of matching glazed doors.

The upper floors feature canted bay windows with a cornice that continues to link the windows together. The first floor has two-course slate roofs to the bay windows, and the second floor has hipped slate roofs. The 17th-century windows have ovolo moulds, with 1+3+1 lights each and transoms positioned almost at the mid-point. The upper corners of the windows have turned balusters on console brackets. Between the first-floor windows is a pair of 17th-century two-panel doors with a diamond-leaded fanlight above, slightly narrower than the doorway itself, surrounded by ornamental plasterwork. A double projecting sign at first-floor level between the windows sits on probably 19th-century brackets with long stays.

The ground floor front room on the left contains a deep embrasure in the party wall, either a former fireplace or a door connecting to the adjoining property. The room to the right has a thick rebuilt rear wall and a central lateral beam on a jowelled post with chamfer and run-out stops. A rear room contains two deep beams from the 16th or 17th century with stepped run-out stops. Towards the rear is a wide stair in a curved well with a small lantern above.

The first-floor landing features a 17th-century three-light casement with fixed glass, opposite which is a small 17th-century panel door. The first-floor front was originally one full-width room with a four-compartment ceiling, now divided by a partition; the central beam bears on the window head. The north end contains a stone fireplace with a deep lintel, with a further 17th-century small-panel door to its left. The stair hall contains various beams. The upper staircase dates to the late 17th century, with a pulvinated solid string and splat balustrade, though the balustrade is missing from the lowest four steps. At the quarter landing are remains of a multi-light casement window with evidence of cusping.

The second floor front room on the north side has a deep stone fireplace with a splayed surround and a very deep boxed central beam. The south room contains an 18th-century two-panel door with a nine-pane top-light featuring thick glazing bars.

The roof originally had high collars, now removed, and butt purlins, some with chamfers and run-out stops. The development of this building requires further study. The shop-front represents a particularly interesting survival.