1, Stanley Street

This is a three-storey town house, originally built around 1780 and later used as offices. It is located in Chester City. The front of the building, facing Stanley Street, is constructed with Flemish bond brown brick and has a grey slate roof. The corner where Stanley Street meets Watergate Street features rusticated stone quoins and a plain stone plinth. There are two replaced steps leading to a replaced double door, set within a doorcase with a cornice. To the north of the door is a replaced four-pane sash window. Stair windows, each with twelve panes, are situated on the first and second landings. To the south of the stair windows are two four-pane sashes on the second storey, two six-pane sashes on the third storey, and a blocked Diocletian window, formerly divided into four, six, and four panes, within a broad attic gable with a moulded cornice. The rear wing has a two-storey extension with a twelve-pane sash window on the second storey, and a dual four-pane sash window also on the second storey. The sashes have painted stone sills and rusticated wedge lintels with false keystones; the Diocletian window has a painted stone mullion and surround with a keystone. The Watergate Street elevation features two twelve-pane sashes on the first and second storeys, two six-pane sashes on the third storey, a coved cornice that returns at both ends, and two west gable chimneys. The rear of the main block has an altered first storey, a replaced four-pane flush sash on the second storey, and a replaced flush casement on the third storey. The west face of the rear wing has a twelve-pane flush sash on the second storey and a six-pane sash on the third storey, both under cambered brick heads. The gable end has a replaced door and a louvred vent to the loft. The cellar contains stone steps and a brick barrel-vaulted rear room. The first storey has mostly renewed features, including some plaster cornices. A dogleg staircase, spanning four flights, has an open string, shaped brackets (some damaged), stick balusters, and a swept rail; the treads and risers are covered. The front room of the second storey retains large horizontal panels below dado level, panelled embrasures with shutters, and a plaster cornice; the front room of the third storey has panels beneath the windows. The doors are generally of five panels, though many are now covered.