Dukes Cottages

Duke’s Cottages comprise six 2-storey cottages built in 1948. They were designed by Edwin Lutyens in 1941 as a memorial to those, including his brother, who fell in World War II. The design draws inspiration from older houses that formerly stood in Narrowgate. The cottages are laid out formally, with four central cottages projecting under a central gabled block which covers a through passage. Two flanking cottages are set at right angles and linked by short, single-storey wings. Constructed in brick with a raised stone terrace, the main block has three dormers on each side; two are hipped and the central one is built up in brick. The windows are glazing bar sash windows of two different sizes, with flat etches. Stone doorways feature Gibbsian surrounds, pulvinated friezes, and pediments, leading to two-panel doors. The roofs are pantiled, with six chimneys. The central cross gable contains two windows, kneelers, a segmental archway on the ground floor, and the inscription “Percy Crescent” in the gable. The flanking cottages are cross-gabled on a ‘T’ plan, with two windows on each side, aside from the entrance sides, and have parapets. Brackets support cast iron lamps on the corners nearest the front, each with wrought iron tops. A memorial stone is set below the terrace retaining wall.