3-5, York Street

Pair of semi-detached 18th-century townhouses converted into tenements in the 19th century, located on York Street in Liverpool. The buildings are constructed of mellow brick laid in Flemish Bond with a sandstone eaves cornice and Welsh slate roof. They comprise 3 storeys plus basement and attic, arranged over 5 bays. Nos. 3 and 5 are positioned to the left and right respectively.

Exterior features include paired arched doorways to the centre of the main elevation, accessed by a short stone stair and covered with fanlights, supported on carved consoles by flat hoods. No. 3 retains its original 6-panel door, though covered externally with plywood; the original door to No. 5 may also survive beneath later plywood cladding. Central windows to the first and second floors are boarded over, likely dating from when the building was converted into semi-detached houses. Original 6-over-6 sash windows survive to the ground and first floors of No. 3 (with lower sashes to the ground floor partially bricked up on the exterior to prevent vandalism), while all remaining windows have later replaced glazing. No. 5's ground floor windows have been replaced with a large opening containing partially glazed delivery doors beneath a timber lintel. Four small square windows have been inserted at attic level, with two dormer windows to the roof. All windows except those to the attic and ground floor of No. 5 have rendered gauged brick lintels and sandstone sills. Basement windows and steps are covered with metal sheeting. The right-hand ridge stack has been rebuilt and altered into a stepped stack. The rear elevation shows blocked and boarded window openings, with a large bow window to the ground floor of No. 3 now bricked up internally but retaining its 6-over-6 sashes externally, though the glazing has been lost. A 2-storey outrigger extends to the rear of No. 3, with a further outbuilding believed to exist to the rear of No. 5.

Interior Plan

The plan form follows a hallway alongside the party wall with a front reception room and rear reception room. Main stairs rise from the rear of each hall, with this plan replicated to the basement and upper floors, which feature rear stairs, large front rooms, and smaller rear rooms.

Interior Features

Original timber floorboards, lath and plaster ceilings, and door architraves survive throughout. Two main timber dog-leg stairs with stick balusters are present, though the stair to No. 5 has lost a small section of steps between the first and second floors. Original 4 and 6-panel doors and plank and batten doors (mainly to uppermost floors) remain, along with moulded cornicing to the ground floor rooms and nearly all original fireplace surrounds and ranges.

The entrance hall to No. 3 features an arch flanked by pilasters; that to No. 5 is plain. Front reception rooms to both properties retain moulded cornicing and original skirtings. No. 3's front reception room contains an altered 18th-century timber fire surround with an inserted mid-20th-century electric fire, and a temporary 20th-century partition wall has been inserted to the rear right corner. The rear room to No. 3 features moulded cornicing and a large bow window now bricked up internally, with a late 18th to early 19th-century fire surround. The rear room to No. 5 has a blocked window in the rear wall, with a hatch in the floor providing secondary access to the basement.

Upper floors feature doorways inserted into the party wall on each landing during the early to mid-19th century to create access between the properties. Arched entrances lead into the first floor front rooms. The front first floor room of No. 3 contains an 18th-century moulded timber fire surround with a covered hearth, and a 20th-century doorway in the south wall connects to the front room of No. 5. A large disused 20th-century ventilation pipe passes through the ceiling into the second floor room and then into the rear second floor room. The front second floor room of No. 3 has an altered 18th-century timber fire surround with an inserted 19th-century range, while the rear attic room of No. 5 retains its original 18th-century grate and hearth. Remaining rooms contain early 19th-century cast-iron ranges inserted when the properties were converted into tenements. Alcoves flank chimneybreasts in some rooms.

Outrigger

The outrigger is accessed through a ground floor door behind the main stair in No. 3. It has a stone flag floor and a curved wall to the left side. An intermediary floor has been removed. A first floor cast-iron range remains in situ with an adjacent doorway leading into the first floor of the rear part of the outrigger. A ground floor door in the east wall leads into the rear part of the outrigger, which is not accessible. A first floor door in the west wall originally provided access from the main stair half-landing into the outrigger but is now covered over on the stair side. Blocked window openings appear in the north wall.

Basement

A short timber basement stair beneath the main stair in No. 5 leads into the shared basement; the stair to No. 3 has been removed, though the entrance door beneath the main stair remains. The basement has brick floors. The front room of No. 3 contains a large brick range, while the rear room has a curved rear wall mirroring the ground floor bow window above. The front room of No. 5 contains an extremely large range with a decorative timber overmantle and carved consoles with foliage designs. The rear room features stone shelving.

History

Nos. 3-5 York Street are believed to have been constructed in the mid-18th century and are depicted on a map dating to 1769. The properties may originally have been constructed as a single 5-bay house, later converted into a pair of semi-detached houses by the time of Horwood's map of Liverpool in 1803. They are located near the site of Steers Dock, the first purpose-built dock in Liverpool, constructed in 1715 and now in-filled and built upon. During the early to mid-19th century, the two properties were combined through the insertion of doorways on the landings of each floor and were subdivided into tenements, with different occupants living in each room. Most former house bedrooms received kitchen ranges at this time. The properties remained in use as tenements until the mid-20th century, with part of the ground and first floors also serving as premises for a carpentry business. The tenements are believed to have been owned during the 19th century by sea captains who lodged on the ground floor, with the remaining rooms rented to seafarers including Irish immigrants and a small number of Liverpudlian families.