14,16,18, GREAT AVENHAM STREET

A row of three small townhouses located at 14, 16, and 18 Great Avenham Street, built around 1825 and subsequently altered. The construction features red brick in a 4+1 English garden wall bond, with alternating stretchers in the header course, complemented by sandstone dressings and a slate roof. The houses follow a double-depth plan, with each having a single front elevation. A through-lobby links houses 16 and 18, an unusual feature as there are no rear extensions. The buildings are two storeys high with basements, and each has two bays. A first-floor sill band and a moulded gutter cornice are present. A rendered plinth features on number 14, and a vertical joint is visible between numbers 14 and 16, although this does not align with the rear joint, which is between 16 and 18.

The doorway of number 14 is situated on the left, while numbers 16 and 18 have doorways arranged in a triplet, with a lobby door between them, all accessed by three steps. Each doorway has a round-headed architrave with a raised moulded rim and moulded imposts, topped with a semi-circular fanlight. The fanlight at number 16 retains its original radiating metal tracery, while those at numbers 16 and 18 have been restored. The lobby doorway has a plain lintel and board door. Each house features one window at ground floor and two above; number 14 has altered glazing, number 16 has restored 16-pane sashes, and number 18 has a 4-pane sash at ground floor and sashes without glazing bars above. All ground-floor and upper windows have raised sills and wedge lintels. Basement windows also have wedge lintels, with number 16 featuring a grating.

The rear of each house has back doors leading to both the ground floor and basement, accompanied by steps protected by altered bar railings at number 14. A tall stair-window is also present at the rear.

Inside number 14, the basement comprises two rooms, originally a kitchen at the rear and a wash-house at the front, both now altered. This arrangement, substituting full service basements for back extensions, is unusual for the area. The houses form part of a formerly complete set of late 18th-century lower-middle-class houses built along Great Avenham Street, which was laid out in Great Avenham Field and advertised for sale as building plots in 1825.