9 Mill Street, Nantwich

The present building stands on the site of an earlier house, which was identified by historian James Hall as the "very fine brick house of Mr. Wrights", one of the five principal houses of the town described by William Webb in 1622–23. The use of brick other than for chimneys was very unusual in Nantwich at this date. Other brick buildings include Townsend House, the demolished Wilbraham mansion on Welsh Row completed in around 1580, and the Wright's Almshouses of 1638. Local historian Jeremy Lake considers that the use of brick was an expression of wealth of the owner. The Wrights were one of the major Nantwich families between the mid-16th century and the early 18th century; Sir Edmund…

In red brick with stone dressings, the house has two storeys with attics and basements, under a tiled roof. The five-bay front (north) face has a central entrance bay, set slightly forwards, which is flanked by brick pilasters and capped with a pediment. At the level of the pediment is a cornice topped with a parapet, which is decorated with a pair of urns. The roof has a south-facing platform accessed via the attics. The main windows to both storeys feature arched heads. The entrance door is flanked by small paired windows and has an arched top, supported by two scrolls. The entrance and flanking windows were formerly surrounded by a stone porch supported by four columns; this was removed…