8, The Square

No. 8 The Square is a house and shop located in South Petherton. It dates from the 17th century or earlier and was modified in the 19th century. The building is constructed of ham stone ashlar and features a Welsh slate roof with high stepped coped gables, which may have replaced thatch. It has brick end chimney stacks and stands two storeys tall with attics, comprising three bays.

The eaves course continues as a cornice along the north return. Above, there are three-light hollow-chamfer mullioned windows set in wave-mould recesses with labels. The heads of the horizontal-bar casement infills have three-centre-arched heads with incised spandrils. Below, there is a late 19th-century shopfront in the first bay and most of the second bay, featuring a pair of angled bay windows with one, two, and one lights, set on stall-risers. These windows have imposts and semi-circular arched heads. Between the angled bay windows is a recessed doorway with a 20th-century door under a plain fanlight. Above the shopfront is a shallow fascia with a moulded top and a lead flat roof. To the right of the second bay is a simple 19th-century opening with a pair of 20th-century doors in a recess, and below this bay is a three-light shop window that matches the angled bay windows, also with a shallow fascia above. There are two roof lights in bays one and three.

The north return elevation has a 12-pane sash window in a plain opening at the lower level. The interior has not been seen, but there are reports of indications of a former crosswing plan, with some chamfered beams featuring scroll stops and collar-and-tie roof trusses. Some parts of the building may have been timber framed in the past.