The following text is from the original listed building designation:
TQ 86 SE NEWINGTON HIGH STREET (north side)
5/5 Allsworth's Shop
GV II
House, now shop. C17. Timber framed and rendered with plain tiled roof. Two storeys and hipped roof with stack to rear-right. Two glazing bar sash windows on first floor, with 2 plate glass shop windows on ground floor with blind hoods. Entry by shop door on left return front.
Listing NGR: TQ8596264796 (1)

The building was considered for de-listing in 2017. It was decided to retain the listing but the case produced more information about the building.

From the report
"…The southern part of this building, the ground-floor comprising No. 53 and the upper- floor above which is part of No. 53A, dates from the late C16 or early C17, but it was then re-fronted and extended to the north in the late C18 or early C19. The upper-floor of this later addition comprises the remainder of No. 53A and the ground-floor beneath it is part of No. 53B. These properties are shown on the First Edition one inch map of 1809-1819 and subsequent editions. A 1904 photograph shows the ground-floor of No. 53 in use as a shop by that date. Subsequent to the property being statutorily listed in 1984 as 'Allworths Shop', listed building consent was granted in the 1990s for change of use from retail sales to a restaurant with its windows and shopfronts replaced. It is currently in the same ownership as Nos. 55 and 57 High Street. Only 15% of listed buildings in England date from about 1700 or earlier, as a result the south range of this building is one of a relatively small percentage of England's listed buildings that fall into this category and is therefore quite a rarity. The north range has fittings of late C18 or early C19 date and appears on the 1810-19 First edition one inch Ordnance Survey map, and therefore falls within the date range of 1700-1840 when most buildings are listed.

The original plan form of the south range is readable. The ground-floor comprises one room with no room divisions and the central beam has no trace of sockets to indicate any former divisions. The floor above this room has two bedrooms with late C16 or early C17 ceiling beams, and therefore probably reflects the original plan. The original means of access to this floor has not survived, although a late C18 or early C19 winder stair survives between the first-floor and the attic. The later north range has a sitting room on the ground-floor and two rooms above and an C18 full-height partition is visible internally.

Fixtures, fittings and decoration include ground floor substantial late C16 or early C17 oak ceiling beams,
including an axial beam with a two inch chamfer, and exposed late C16 or early C17 wall plates, corner posts, axial beams and floor joists on the first-floor. The first-floor rooms in the north range retain C18 or early C19 central spine beams, a corner fireplace with shelf and iron fire grate, plank doors and the winder staircase from the first floor to the attic.

Although the north range was a later addition to the original building, it is in itself of interest as it pre-dates 1840 and retains some original fittings. It is acknowledged that externally the shop fronts and some windows of the south range were replaced in the 1990s with listed building consent, in a more sympathetic style to previously, and also that the ground-floor fireplace in the south range was re-configured in the C20; this may contain some earlier fabric however.

It is quite usual for timber-framed buildings to have been re-fronted and to have lost their original ground floor walls. The first-floor of the earliest wing retains the original north exterior wall, which is now internal but shows signs of weathering and possibly includes a blocked original window opening. The survival of wall-plates and corner posts indicates that more wall fabric may survive. Together with the survival of ceiling beams on both floors this adds up to a significant proportion of pre-1700 fabric. The roof structure of the south range, of softwood rafters and collars, appears to be of late C18 or early C19 date and a number of late C18 or early C19 fittings and fixtures also survive well.

Nos. 53, 53A and 53B are situated in the historic core of Newington, on the Roman road which for 2,000
years was the principal route between England and the continent. Not only do they adjoin the listed Nos. 55 and 57 High Street but they are part of a group of seven listed buildings in the centre of Newington within High Street Newington Conservation Area. They form the longest run of historic buildings within the conservation area." (2)

<1> English Heritage, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest (Map). SKE16160.

<2> Historic England, 2017, Historic England Advice Report for proposal for de-listing (Unpublished document). SKE32427.