18, 20, 22 Eglinton Street, Beith

This is a three-bay, two-storey-and-attic building dating from the later 19th century, originally built as a bakery with shops at ground level. Located on Eglinton Street in Beith, the main street of the town, it was likely purpose-built as a bakery with living accommodation above.

The exterior is rendered and painted. The ground floor has shopfronts; the original three-bay shopfront on the left was restored in 2003, featuring segmental-headed openings with rusticated keystones and inverted anthemions above slim engaged columns (possibly cast-iron). A more modern shopfront occupies the right-hand side. The central door has a keyblocked round-arched surround, a fanlight, and is flanked by pilasters. Pilasters also support a dentilled cornice above the shops. The first floor features a central window flanked by tripartite windows, all with segmental heads, bracketed cills, and architraves. A dentilled cornice and blocking course sit above. Later bipartite attic dormers have been added.

Inside, the shop interiors are modern. A central staircase has a consoled arch and a decorative cast-iron balustrade with a timber handrail leading to the attic. Cornicing is present on the first-floor flat. The ground floor on the left may contain original windows, whilst the first floor has UPVC windows.

At the rear of the building, a Scotch oven once existed (covered over around 2002), and a later annex now houses modern bakery equipment. Grey slates cover the roof, with straight skews to the right gable. A tall, corniced ashlar stack with cans is also present on the right gable. The restored shopfront has significantly improved the building and creates an attractive façade on Eglinton Street. The building appears on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1858.