20, 22 The Cross, Beith

This is an earlier 19th century building, restored in 2003. It is three storeys high and has three bays, displaying classical architectural details. The ground floor features a traditional shopfront with an entrance to the right-hand side, framed by an architraved surround and bracketed cornice. Above the shopfront, a mutuled cornice acts as a base for the outer pilasters, which support an entablature and blocking course. The windows on the first floor have aprons, with the outer windows featuring cornices and a central pediment. The second floor has three windows, each with bracketed cills. The building is constructed from sandstone ashlar.

The rear elevation has two bays and three storeys and is harled with exposed ashlar margins. Replacement timber sash and case windows with 12 panes are present. The roof is covered with grey slates, with an end stack and a wallhead stack at the rear, topped with circular clay cans.

The interior was refurbished in 2003 and includes original shop fittings on the ground floor, such as a depressed timber arch between panelled pilasters, a deep en suite cornice, and two cast-iron columns supporting part of a corniced beam. The building was once occupied by Taylor’s ironmongery shop in the 19th century.

The building is part of a group of five buildings at the Cross and the beginning of Eglinton Street, which benefited from a Townscape Heritage Initiative completed in 2003. The smart, provincial appearance of the building is indicative of increased prosperity in Beith during the early 19th century and provides a contrast to the more traditional appearance of the neighbouring buildings at 24-28 The Cross. The building appears on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1858 and is pictured in Reid’s Old Beith (2000), page 53.