12 High Street

Town house, now solicitors' office, painted stucco with imitation slates to roof and brick joined ridge chimneys, at apparent break between the roofs to left and right, and brick right end stack. Three storeys, five- window range, with centre doorway and two-window range each side. Close eaves with eaves board. Sill band on first and second floors. Four square 6-pane hornless sash windows on second floor, hornless 12-pane sashes elsewhere, four each floor. Ground floor right windows are closer spaced as arched doorway is not quite central, so that window to right is not aligned with the one above. Plain arched raised stuccoed surround to recessed 6-panel flush-panelled door with plain fanlight. Rendered left end wall with no chimney. Rear shows two builds, the left half continuous with no 14, two-window range with hornless sashes to left: 6-pane attic over 12-pane to first and ground floors, with long range running N attached at basement level. Long narrow stair-lights to right each floor. Right side is stepped in with varied roofs and rear wing attached running N, two-storey, the roofline stepped down.

Ground floor has six-panel doors. Rear staircase with scrolled tread ends, square balusters and continuous rail, scrolled at foot. Similar rail to basement stair, but with turned column newels. On left of basement stair is painted grained cast-iron 4-panel strong-room door giving access to strong room with two tall narrow chambers with plastered round vaults and each with seven tiers of slate shelves each side with brick piers for document storage. Under front range, parallel to street is long broad barrel-vaulted cellar, divided into two rooms, with three well-formed arches to blocked openings to street, possibly former coal chutes. Upper floors not inspected.