5 And 7, The Square

A house and bank, dating to 1881, now used as offices and a public library. The building is red sandstone ashlar on the ground floor, with tile hanging above, and has a steeply pitched slate roof. It is built in the Norman Shaw style and consists of three storeys and an attic, with a slightly curved facade and two bays on the left and three bays on the right. The ground floor has eight-light mullioned and transomed windows, with a 20th-century shopfront. Above, the windows are a mix of wooden oriels, projecting from carved grotesque corbels that support hipped roofs and carved decorative panels. Other windows are wooden mullioned casements, some with carved panels depicting stylised fruit, human figures, and mythical animals in a style inspired by Norwegian stave church carvings. Gabled dormer windows light the roof space. A two-centred arch doorway, originally for the bank, is situated in the right-hand bay on the ground floor. Inside, the wooden stair hall has a queenpost roof and curved wind braces, with galleries running along each floor. Access to the bedrooms and servants' quarters has been blocked.