2-5, Old Hall Place

A row of four cottages, numbered 2-5 Old Hall Place, was built around 1889 as staff accommodation for Browns of Chester department store. The design was by T.M. Lockwood and commissioned by Charles Brown. The cottages are constructed of Flemish bond brown brick with decorative hard red brick dressings and have a red clay tile roof.

The two-storey design includes a plinth and a moulded band at the upper level. Each cottage has a part-glazed framed and boarded door, and a mullioned casement window with three arched panes in the lower storey. The doors of numbers 2 and 5 are angled to create triangular canopies supported by timber brackets. Each cottage also features a timber oriel window with three 8-pane lights, set under a timber-framed dormer gable. Shaped brick ridge chimneys are present. The gable ends feature a mullioned window with two 3-pane metal lights in the upper storey. Rear offices were also included.

The interiors remain uninspected. The cottages are historically linked with numbers 24 and 26 Commonhall Street. Records from the Chester City Council Improvement Committee confirm the commission and construction date.