57, 58 AND 59, FRONT STREET

A group of three houses and one shop, dating from the mid-18th century to the early 19th century. The buildings are constructed of English bond brick with ashlar dressings, a wooden shop front, and a Welsh slate roof. They have a basement, two storeys and an attic, arranged in three wide bays. A round brick passage arch is located on the left-hand side. A shop has been inserted into number 57. The houses have six-panelled doors with overlights and bracketed elliptical hoods. Sash windows are positioned above the shop and on the left of numbers 58 and 59. The glazing bars have been renewed in number 58 and are late 19th century elsewhere, all under wedge stone lintels with projecting stone sills. Three dormer windows with bargeboards are set into the steeply-pitched roof, which has a low gable parapet on the right, and massive central and taller right banded brick chimneys are present. The interiors of numbers 57 and 58 feature a staircase with a ramped handrail and shutters in number 58. The interior of number 59 was not inspected. The political writer and economist Harriet Martineau lived at this location between 1840 and 1845 during a period of convalescence, and was visited by literary figures including Thomas Carlyle and Charlotte Bronte.