38 Cross Street

Nos. 37-39 Cross Street represent a building of group value, dating probably to the early 18th century. The front elevation is rendered and painted, although the original red sandstone is visible at the rear. The building consists of a single-depth range with gabled cross-wings at each end and small rear wings behind the central range. A 20th-century single-storey extension covers the entire ground floor. The street elevation is arranged in five bays, with a projecting gabled wing on the right.

Bay 1 features a late 19th-century shop or pub frontage, with a two-over-two pane sash window above, incorporating four smaller lights in the upper sash. A six-panel door, likely of 18th-century origin, is present in Bay 2, topped with a small pediment, and with a small iron balconette below the window, which is a feature documented in 1913. Bays 3 and 4 also have a late 19th-century shop/pub frontage, now housing two shops, with two similar windows above; the window on the left is a later addition. Bay 5 is the least altered section of the 18th century original, featuring a four-by-four pane shop window and a small doorway to the right, as seen in 19th-century photographs. A two-over-two pane sash with a balconette and a small attic window are present above, though the timber framing has been replaced. The gable displays plain bargeboards. Evidence suggests a probably early 18th-century modillion eaves cornice originally ran along the central bays. The steeply pitched roof is punctuated by a large truncated stack located between Bay 1 and No. 40, and a smaller one between Bays 3 and 4. A larger stack between Bays 5 and 6, visible in historical photographs, was removed in the late 20th century, leaving a mark in the slate.

The rear elevation displays random red sandstone rubble walling above a rendered, flat-roofed 20th-century extension. No. 37 has a blocked window on the left and a cross-framed casement on the right. No. 38 features two cross-framed casements, one within a gabled wing with a small attic casement above. The same applies to No. 39, with a slightly larger gable containing the main staircase. The age of these casement windows is uncertain.

The ground floor has undergone the most significant alterations, having been divided into three separate properties for at least two centuries. Nos. 37 and 38 now conceal original historic features behind modern cladding, obscuring the original layout.