16a Palace Street

Cadw's description

Location

In a row of frontages near the S end of the street.

History

A small single-unit C17 house incorporating a passage to a court at the rear. The front wall was raised and a shop front with sash windows created in the late C19, perhaps when it was converted to commercial use. It was a watchmaker's shop in 1895.

Exterior

A 2-storey house of scribed roughcast walls and slate roof with added skylight. A panelled door is to the R, leading to an original passage, and a renewed horizontal sliding sash window is to the L. A similar sash window is in the upper storey.

The pebble-dashed rear has a large external stack partly taken down and capped. The passage is on its L side, above which is a 2-light casement.

Interior

The passage has a timber-framed partition with brick nogging. The roof retains a single queen-post truss abutting No 16. A lath and plaster partition is between the upper storeys of Nos 16a and 18, while in the lower storey a timber-framed partition is on a stone sill with sill beam, and retains wooden boarding.

Reason for designation

Listed as one of the few buildings in the walled town retaining vernacular detail from before the substantial redevelopment of Caernarfon beginning in the late C18, and for its contribution to the historic integrity of the walled town.