169, 171, 181 AND 183, LONGWOOD GATE

169, 171, 181, and 183 Longwood Gate are over-and-under dwellings built around the early 19th century. The buildings are constructed from hammer-dressed stone and feature a pitched stone slate roof. They stand two storeys tall at the front and three storeys at the rear. The front elevation includes No. 181 on the left and No. 183 on the right. At the rear, No. 171 is on the left at the lower ground floor, while No. 169 is on the right.

Both elevations have stone brackets supporting the gutter. No. 183 features six-light stone mullioned sash windows on the first floor (with modern glazing) and a bipartite casement window along with an entrance doorway on the ground floor. No. 181 has a three-light stone mullioned window with 20th-century glazing, a blocked loading door on the first floor, and one casement window alongside a bipartite casement on the ground floor flanking the entrance. At the rear, Nos. 181 and 183 have six-light mullioned windows on the first floor with 20th-century glazing, a central casement window on the ground floor, and bipartite casements on each side. The lower ground floor has two central doorways; the right belongs to No. 169 and the left to No. 171. No. 169 has a bipartite casement window to the right of its door, while No. 171 has a bipartite casement to the left of its door, all featuring 20th-century glazing. There are two stacks on the ridge and a chimney at the rear, possibly for No. 169, along with an altered stack at the front of No. 181.

Historically, over-and-under dwellings are a distinctive type of housing found in the textile areas of the South Pennines. Typically constructed to accommodate mill workers, these homes were early examples of flats, allowing multiple families to reside within a single building and effectively utilizing the steep hillsides of the region.

These four early 19th-century over-and-under dwellings, with two at the front and two at the lower ground floor at the rear, are significant as they represent a crucial survival of a building type that preceded modern flats and serve as an important physical reminder of the area's rich textile heritage.