25, Market Place

No. 25 Market Place is a house with a shop that has been converted into offices. It dates back to around 1453 and was built as part of the "New Works" by Bishop Bekynton, with modifications made in the 18th century. The building features Doulting ashlar stonework, a rendered and lined parapet, a Welsh slate roof, and a brick chimney stack.

The exterior consists of three storeys and a single wide bay. There is a plinth and traces of string moulding above the door and below the parapet, which is pierced by second-floor windows. A shallow canted bay window extends the full height of the building, with 12-pane sash windows on the ground and first floors, and 6-pane units on the second floor. The doorway is located to the left, accessed by three steps, and features a six-panel door set in a deep recess, topped by a three-pane rectangular fanlight under a simple timber hood supported by four cantilevered brackets. On the second floor, against the boundary of No. 23, there is a fragment of a small blocked window with a cinquefoil-cusped pointed arch. The parapet on the right side of the bay is supported by a corbel and has an angled return that connects to the adjacent Penniless Porch. A chimney stack is positioned to the right on the coped gable.

Inside, the ground floor has early beams with deep chamfers and an 18th-century timber cornice, while the center section features a coved ceiling from the early 19th century. The rear rooms have 18th-century cornices. An early 19th-century staircase leads to the first floor, which has late 18th-century doors and corniced ceilings in the rear rooms. The front room boasts a panelled ceiling and early 17th-century panelling, including a safe cupboard. The second floor contains 18th-century doors and doorcases, some ceiling cornices, and plaster vaulting above the stairwell.

Historically, this building is significant as it is the only one in Bekynton's 'Nova Opera' terrace that has retained its unplastered ashlar front wall, along with a fragment of an original window. It is part of an outstanding late medieval planned urban group.