No. 1, Well Street, Holywell, Flints is a mid-C18th, brick-built, rendered, 3-storey, town-house, with 4 window facade, and an early-19th century, 2 ? storey rear-wing, all built on a stone plinth. The facade's first and ground-floor sash windows have sandstone details, including fluted keystones, sills, moulded lintels, and copings to gable. Behind the rendering of its right front gable-end, are remnants of a tie-beam collar truss and a principal-post partition, of early-17th century form. This defines a former 2-storey timber-frame structure, one of few known in Holywell.

The present ground-floor plan has an off-centre entry with six-panel door with narrow fan-light, and 3 transverse ceiling-beams with diagonal cut stops. The central beam is boxed, possibly on the line of a former partition dividing the space into two rooms. Although the interior is modernized a fireplace opening in the rear right lateral wall is served by a corner chimney stack. A doorway in this wall leads into the modernised rear-wing, which has a diagonal-set fireplace (blocked) at the right end-corner, and used the same stack. The rear-wing is divided into two rooms by a central partition with doorway. A stair, of uncertain date, rising in the left end, is reached externally from the alley and provides access to all the floors. A timber-frame casement window of two-lights (blocked in brick) over this entrance retains evidence for leaded lights, held by horizontal iron bars, one light formerly with an opening metal frame. A window opening in the gable-end of this wing was probably also of the same type.

Timber-frame truss-partition
The main front gable-end wall on the interior of the second floor retains remnants of a collar truss. Other remnants are visible externally, including the principal-post, which has a tapered and jowled head and a short diagonal brace to its tie-beam. There are mortises for a girding-beam at former first-floor level, both across and lengthwise. The post has been cut back below these mortices. An external mortise for a rail indicates the timber-frame structure continued beyond the present gable-end. The only carpenter's assembly mark was an arrow shape on the principal-post at the tie-beam. There are auger holes for staves, and there were probably large wattle and daub panels as there are no visible mortises for studs or a mid-rail.

Development
1, Late- 16th century timber-framed
structure of 2-storeys, and of 2/3-bays wide.
2, A mid-18th century, 3-storey, sash-window fronted brick building of 2-bays on a stone plinth, replaced the timber-frame structure.
3, Brick rear-wing added in the early-19th century on a stone plinth.
4. Blocking of timber casement window to rear wing in late-19thcentury
5, Mid-20th centry internal modernization with partition to stair and some replacement of brickwork to front facade.

Geoff Ward, visited, 18/10/2007.