53 55, The Woodlands

This is a pair of houses located at 53 and 55 The Woodlands, Birkenhead, dating from approximately 1840. They were likely designed by Walter Scott as part of the original Clifton Park development, which he laid out from the early 1840s.

The houses are constructed with ashlar facing and have a Welsh slate roof. Each unit has a 3-bay plan, with a separate entrance at each end. Each entrance is set within a projecting, single-storey porch with steps leading up to a door within a heavily emphasised architrave. The ground floor is rusticated, featuring pivotal windows with 15 panes, replacing the original sash windows. The openings have stressed voussoirs. Above, the 9-pane windows are similarly framed within stressed architraves, accompanied by aprons and a pediment over the central window. A continuous sill band runs along the facade, and the building is finished with a moulded eaves cornice, overhanging eaves, and axial stacks.