History

Early C19 town house of unusually fine detail. Built 1817 as the house for the town clerk. A private house in 1871, ground floor in shop use since later C19. Shop occupied by Equinox in 2001.

Exterior

Detached house, unpainted pebbledash with slate close-eaved hipped roof and end stacks. Three storeys with basement, 3 widely-spaced bays, with original hornless sash windows to upper floors and original centre door and doorcase flanked by late C19 shop windows. Small square 6-pane sashes on second floor, 12-pane sashes on first floor. Three steps up to large recessed arched doorway in fine painted timber doorcase. Doorcase has fluted pilasters, entablature with fluted frieze, and cornice on 2 scroll brackets. Arched doorway has fanlight with Gothic glazing-bars, and 8-panel door with central vertical bead, the top 6 panels raised and fielded, bottom 2 flush. Thin sidelights each side. Matching panels in reveal and arch soffit.
C19 shopfronts each side both with timber entablature and cornice, thin chamfered mullions between panes with small spandrel brackets. Left shopfront has 4 panes and then one canted in to recessed half-glazed panel door with curved heads to lights and plain overlight. To right similar shop window but with 4 slightly wider lights, the fourth is canted in to more deeply recessed door up 2 steps. Two openings to basement. Left end wall is roughcast with six, mostly C20, windows, one 8-pane hornless sash lighting stair. Right end has C20 1st floor window and rear outshut in angle to rear right projection with hipped S end to roof.
Right end wall to Cobb Lane has cast iron street name plaque.

Interior

Ground floor of front range had centre passage with room each side, but dividing walls removed. Good quality cornices and plaster detail. Former centre passage has 2 bays of plaster vaulting with moulded ribs on small corbels and acanthus rose. Right front room has cornice with oak leaves and vine ceiling border. Rear wall has ornate recess with elliptical arch, pilasters with fluting in panels, moulded caps, impost band carried around coved recess. Arch head has outer leaf moulding, vine-leaf border and fan back with acanthus centre. Arched entry to rear stair hall has reeded panels to pilasters, moulded arch and panelled reveal. Left room has undercut leaf cornice. Stair is on left wall to rear, 4 flights with ramped rail, scrolled at foot, stick balusters, reeded string with scrolled tread ends. Plain room to rear of staircase. First floor landing has 2 doors opening to right into front rooms, broad elliptical arch straight ahead and one door to left. Doorcases have fluted panels to pilasters and blind arches to heads. The 2 doors to the front rooms have panelled reveals and fluted impost band. Single front room, formerly 2, with plasterwork missing in centre and E. W part has moulded cornice, ceiling border and guilloche rose. Elliptical arch to rear wall recess with fluted panels to pilasters, moulded arch, and panelled soffit. Panelled shutters.

Reasons for Listing

Included as a good late Georgian town house with interior detail of quality.

External Links

• Cadwr Listing
• Wikidata Q29485510

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Bristol (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)
• 
  Setting up a Listed Building Heritage Partnership Agreement: Historic England Advice Note 5
• 
  For the Record
• 
  Churches: An Architectural Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  Oxfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Devon (Pevsner Buildings of England)