13, Sadler Street

This is an early 19th-century shop and offices, originally a house. The front is constructed of ashlar stonework, with rendered rubble to the side gable, and a Welsh slate roof hidden behind a parapet. A brick chimney stack is also present.

The building has a double-depth plan with a through passage to the left and a straight principal staircase to the right. Large extensions were added to the rear, primarily in the mid-to-late 20th century.

The exterior is three storeys high with an attic and basement, featuring a single wide bay. A late 19th-century shop front occupies the entire ground floor, with four large vertical panes, thin deep mullions, curved returns, a small fascia, and a shallow cornice. A six-panel door is set beneath a rectangular fanlight with margin panes. The first floor has a large tripartite sash window with 6+24+6 panes, the outer sashes having margin panes, and two 16-pane sash windows are present on the second floor. A band course and parapet top the facade, with two flat-roofed dormer windows visible behind.

The interior features large rooms with high ceilings, particularly on the first floor, and limited decorative detail. The property appears to have been completely rebuilt, with no earlier fabric or detail remaining. The stone-flagged throughway leads to an inner lobby with a panelled door and transom-light mirroring the exterior detailing. The staircase has an open string with scrolled ends, a stick balustrade, and a mahogany handrail extending through two floors, reducing in scale at the top. A large 16-pane sash window is located on the first-floor landing. The principal first-floor room includes a ceiling rose, moulded cornice, and a dado and frieze decorated with embossed varnished paper. The front top-floor room has a coved ceiling. The extensive basement has rubble walls, a stone-flagged floor, and is accessed by a straight flight of stone stairs. A wide opening, originally framed by a fluted surround and containing a pair of doors, has been blocked with concrete blockwork at the rear.

A historical note suggests that the large first-floor window may have indicated a former use as an assembly room or similar, potentially connected to the adjacent Swan Hotel.