39-57, WEST CLIFF

A terrace of ten town houses, numbered 39-57, West Cliff, Preston, was built around 1850-60 and has been altered since. The houses are constructed with sandstone ashlar at ground floor level, red brick in Flemish bond above, and sandstone dressings, topped with slate roofs, although some rear slopes are tiled. Number 51 has a rendered front. The buildings follow a double-depth plan, with each house having a single front and individual rear extensions. They rise three storeys over cellars, presenting a 20-window front, with a slight step in the elevation between numbers 41 and 43 and between numbers 49 and 51. The ground floor is articulated with channelled ashlar. Decorative cast-iron balconies are present on the first floor, except at number 39 and those at numbers 53-57 (where the brackets for the balconies remain). Narrow round-headed slots are located between the houses on the upper floors. There is a second-floor sill band, a plain frieze, and a moulded gutter cornice. The doorways, situated to the right of each house, feature plain set-in jambs with large, non-functional consoles, and panelled doors with rosettes in the corners of the panels (the door at number 55 has been altered). Each house has a large tripartite sash window at ground floor level, two tall four-pane sashes at the first floor (with unusually tall lower sashes, except at number 49, which have been altered), and smaller windows at the second floor. These upper-floor windows all have flat-arched heads. Ridge chimney stacks are present. Tusked brickwork is visible at the left end, matching a continuing range. The interior of number 41 contains a dog-legged staircase extending to the full height of the house, with stick balusters and a mahogany handrail with a wreathed curtail, including a three-room cellar.