5&6 Church Street

5 and 6 Church Street is a building that was originally the stable range of the Royal Oak Hotel, built around 1860. It was oriented towards the hotel but was converted into shops around 1930, now facing the street. Originally designed to accommodate six units, it currently houses three shops.

The exterior of the building shows its original construction in the northern gable end and at the rear, featuring red brick with blue brick dressings and a slate roof. The Church Street frontage is rendered. The building is single-storeyed and consists of ten regular bays, which are highlighted by pilasters with rosettes at the capitals that support a plain cornice band. The three entrance bays are enhanced by rosette decoration in the moulded panel above the doorways. The windows flanking these entrances are set in arcaded bays, featuring blind painted fanlights that radiate from low relief acanthus decoration and stressed keys. The original design, which included splayed side doorways recessed in the main entrances, is still evident in Nos 4 and 5-6.

This building is an excellently detailed early 20th-century commercial development that retains a high degree of integrity in the strong rhythm of its original design. It is part of a group with the Royal Oak Hotel and other buildings on Church Street.