History

Built in the third quarter of the C19 as a market hall and shown on the 1891 Ordnance Survey. It was originally open-fronted in the lower storey. In the late C19 it was converted to shops when a bay window was added to the L side, probably for a grocery. The R-hand bay at some time became a butcher''s shop, as it has a typical sash window and marble sill of the late C19. The rear was said to have housed a cobbler''s shop. The second edition of the Ordnance Survey, of 1905, describes the building as the Town Hall, which probably refers to the use of the upper storey. This is said to have subsequently contained snooker tables, when it was used as a workmen''s institute.

Exterior

A 2-storey 3-bay shop with a snecked dressed stone front, and hipped slate roof on projecting plastered eaves. In the lower storey the openings are elliptical stone arches, hidden in the L-hand bay behind an added late C19 bay window. In the centre bay are replaced half-lit boarded doors. In the R-hand bay is an inserted late C19 2 over single-pane sash window and marble sill in the place of an original doorway. The upper storey has 12-pane hornless sash windows under flat stone arches.

The side and rear walls are rubble stone with darker grey quoins. In the L side wall is an added 2-storey brick lean-to of the mid C20. In the R side wall is, on the L side, an inserted boarded door with overlight, and a blocked window to the R (the former cobbler''s shop), both openings with blue-brick dressings. The rear has a central blocked doorway under a segmental head.

Interior

Interior partitions have been removed in the lower storey. The first floor is supported on 2 spine beams with wooden columns. Some slate flagstones are retained. The arches on the ground floor retain iron pintles, indicating original iron gates.

Reasons for Listing

Listed as a former C19 market building retaining definite architectural character in a prominent position near the centre of the town.

External Links

• Cadwr Listing
• Wikidata Q29504007

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

• 
  Gwent/Monmouthshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Wales)
• 
  Nottinghamshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Yorkshire: York and the East Riding (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  London 1: The City of London: City of London v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Sussex: West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Historic Environment Law: Planning, Listed Buildings, Monuments, Conservation Areas and Objects, Supplement 2014