Pets Corner

The building, known as Pets Corner, comprises Market Chambers, incorporating 5-6 Market Street and The Arcade. It dates from the 18th century and is built in the Renaissance style, standing three storeys high with an attic. It is constructed of pale brick with red brick banding and freestone dressings, including the frontispiece, sill bands, cornices, and slate roof.

The symmetrical five-bay front has end and central bays topped by pedimented attic storeys. The outer bays feature oval-shaped windows, while the central bay has acroteria, urns, and a pair of lintelled windows. The central frontispiece projects forward and consists of a moulded segmental pediment over a traceried lunette with swagged ornament in the upper storey. An aedicule in the middle storey frames a tripartite window with a lintel sculpted with bucraniums, flanked by paired and cabled pilasters. Below the sill is a facial mask with scrolled enrichment. The lower storey has a dentil cornice over a round-headed entrance with pilasters, which taper at the top. Panelled double doors are set beneath a radiating fanlight.

Sash windows have margin glazing and overlights. The upper-storey windows are round-headed, while the middle-storey windows are square-headed. Triple windows are positioned in the bays offset from the centre, while double windows are in the outer bays. The shop fronts on the lower storey have been modernised, but retain the original fascia, with end consoles to the right of centre (at Nos 5c and 6).

The left side (Nos 5a-b) extends to Church Street, presenting a splayed angle containing a doorway and single windows above. It has a single-bay return with paired windows in the upper storeys and a pedimented attic, matching the front. Further to the left is The Arcade, originally a former hall. The Arcade's details are similar to the main Market Street front, but is only two storeys high. Its upper storey has four windows, and the gable features a broad round-headed window with radiating and marginal glazing bars. The Arcade retains its fascia with end consoles (altered on the right) and a pedimented doorway to the left of centre, with a modern entrance to its right.

The rear elevation faces a passage and the Market Taven Hotel to the north. The front of No 6 continues around this side, with a splayed angle incorporating the doorway, similar to the left side; beyond is a single bay with attic, mirroring the Church Street elevation. The Arcade beyond this has a round-headed doorway, added after it ceased use as a town hall. A triple window is in the upper storey.