Listed Building: NOS. 20 TO 26 (EVEN) MARKET PLACE (1267895)

A row of shops. Late C18, with C19 and C20 alterations. Of regularly-coursed squared gritstone blocks beneath a hipped roof with a Welsh slate covering laid to diminishing courses and with a lead ridge and hip ridges. The range now accommodates 4 shop units, although early photographs show a different arrangement. There remain 3 units with stone stall risers, above which are set shop windows of differing designs. No.26 retains a 10-pane window, which conforms to the pattern of window shown in an early photograph of this shop front. The shop fronts are set beneath a substantial projection of the roof line, which provided the shops with a continuous canopy. Above the shop windows was a space occupied by ventilation louvres, which also appears to have been used to accommodate the raising of the vertical sash windows of the shop fronts. The end and rear elevations are devoid of openings. HISTORY: the shops formed part of the late C18 development of a market place, to serve the population of Sir Richard Arkwright?s industrial community at Cromford. They are a rare C18 example of purpose-built shops, and are an important component of The Market Place, forming an important group with the adjacent Greyhound Hotel (qv).