Numbers 31 And 33 And Attached Front Gates And Railings

A pair of houses, numbers 31 and 33, with attached front gates and railings, were built around 1855, with alterations in the later 19th century. The design is attributed to G.T. Andrews. The houses are constructed of pink-cream mottled brick, with a Flemish bond pattern at the front, rendered on the right side; they feature painted stone sill bands, timber doorcases, a modillion eaves cornice, and a slate roof with brick stacks.

The front elevation is three stories high, with two windows to each house. The doorcases have sunk-panel pilasters and cornice hoods supported by foliate consoles over friezes with paterae. They contain six-panel doors and semicircular fanlights within round-arched architraves, featuring moulded imposts and transoms. To the right of each door is a three-light canted bay window with a four-pane centre sash. The first-floor windows are four-pane sashes, and the second-floor windows are twelve-pane sashes, all set within cambered brick arches; those at number 31 are painted. Sill bands are present on both the first and second floors. At the rear, there are two-storey projecting wings with pent roofs, and the rear windows to the front range are twelve-pane sashes.

The interior of number 33 includes four-panel pine doors. The ground floor front room features a crinoidal limestone fireplace with a cast-iron firebasket. The staircase has a turned bobbin balustrade. The first-floor front room has a cast-iron firebasket in a marble surround and moulded ceiling cornices. Number 31 was only partially inspected but includes a decorative-tiled hall floor and a staircase similar to that of number 33, with a newel post.

The front gates and railings are turned, with flower-bud tips fixed to low stone plinths. Numbers 31 and 33 appear in Nathaniel Whittock’s “Bird's-eye View of the City of York in the 1850s” and were likely part of G.T. Andrews’ planned scheme for the newly opened-up Priory Gardens, previously the grounds of Holy Trinity Priory.