Number 54 And Attached Railings

Number 54 is a house, now used as offices, built around 1840. It features grey brick with painted stone or stucco dressings and has a slate roof. The facade is symmetrical, consisting of three storeys and five bays, with the central bay and pilaster strips on either side slightly projecting forward. The second-floor windows have a deep sill band, and above the frieze, a timber gutter cornice extends outwards on ornamented brackets. The glazing bar sash windows are deeply recessed and have rubbed brick flat arches. The central window on the first floor is framed by an architrave. The attic is illuminated by two dormers. The entrance door has two glazed panels above six raised and fielded panels and is set within an architrave topped with a cornice on console brackets. The porch is supported by baseless unfluted Doric columns and features a dentilled cornice and a frieze decorated with roundels. There are chimneys on the gables in front of and behind the ridge. The interior has not been inspected, but records indicate that the original hall and staircase are divided by Corinthian pilasters and an enriched entablature, with original doorcases and an alcove off the half-landing featuring fluted columns. Surrounding the basement area are cast-iron railings on stone copings. A bronze plaque notes that the poet W.H. Auden was born here on 21 February 1907.