18,18A, RIBBLESDALE PLACE (See details for further address information)

This terrace of six town houses, now offices, was built around 1824-36, beginning with number 18 Ribblesdale Place. The terrace is located on Winckley Square, Preston, and includes numbers 18 and 18A Ribblesdale Place, and number 5 Camden Place. The construction is of red brick in Flemish bond, with sandstone dressings and a slate roof. The main facade, facing Winckley Square, has twelve bays and is relatively plain. The side facades return to Camden Place and Ribblesdale Place, which are single-fronted with only three bays each. A plain frieze and moulded cornice run around the building.

The doorways are located on the left of the Winckley Square facades, and centrally on the Camden Place and Ribblesdale Place facades. Each doorway has a doorcase with Tuscan semi-columns, a plain frieze, and a moulded cornice. The jambs have impost blocks, and the panelled doors are topped with elliptical fanlights. The windows have raised sills; most have wedge lintels, and those on the Winckley Square facade are sash windows without glazing bars. The side facades have a similar pattern of windows, but the front bay of each house has blind windows. Number 5 Camden Place has a service doorway at ground floor level, along with twelve-pane sashes on the first floor and nine-pane sashes above. Number 18 Ribblesdale Place has six-pane sashes on the second floor.

Cellar areas are present beneath the Winckley Square facade; most of the original cast-iron railings have been removed or replaced, except for those at the left end. The hipped roof is punctuated by ridge chimneys. Two-storey back extensions are present on both number 5 Camden Place and number 18 Ribblesdale Place (the latter occupied as a separate unit, number 18A). The Camden Place extension has sashed windows with glazing bars, while the Ribblesdale Place extension has an inserted doorway. The rear elevations have been altered, with some additions not considered of special interest.

The interiors feature dog-legged staircases with stick balusters and mahogany handrails. Number 5 Camden Place retains moulded plaster cornices, marble fireplaces in two principal ground floor rooms and a first floor front room, and a blocked fireplace in the front cellar room. Number 16 has a moulded plaster cornice in the front ground floor room. Nos. 16–19 are noted as being unusually long and narrow. Number 5 Camden Place was originally built for Thomas Leach, a hosier and draper.