169, 171, 181 AND 183, LONGWOOD GATE

5113 919/26/839 LONGWOOD GATE 919/32/839 LONGWOOD 29-SEP-1978 169, 171, 181 AND 183 (Formerly listed as: LONGWOOD GATE LONGWOOD 181 AND 183)

II Over-and-under dwellings. c.early C19. Hammer-dressed stone. Pitched stone slate roof. 2 storeys fronting Longwood Gate. 3 storeys to rear. Front: No. 181 to left and no. 183 to right. Rear: No. 171 to left at lower ground floor and no. 169 to right.

Stone brackets to gutter on both elevations. No. 183 has 6 light stone mullioned sashes to first floor (modern glazing), and bipartite casement and entrance doorway to ground floor. No. 181 has a 3 light stone mullioned window with C20 glazing, and blocked loading door to first floor, and one casement and bipartite casement to ground floor flanking the entrance doorway. To the rear nos. 181 & 183 have 6 light mullioned windows to the first floor with C20 glazing. Ground floor has a central casement window with bipartite casements to each side. Lower ground floor has 2 central doorways; that to the right belonging to no. 169 and that to the left belonging to no.171. No. 169 has bipartite casement window to the right of its door, and no. 171 has bipartite casement to the left of its door. All with C20 glazing. 2 stacks to ridge and chimney to rear, possibly for no. 169. Also altered stack to front of 181.

HISTORY: Over-and-under dwellings are a unique form of housing found in the textile districts of the S Pennines. Usually built to house mill workers these houses were the precursors to modern day flats enabling numerous families to live in a single building, and were also an effective way of utilising the steep hillsides of the Pennines.

SUMMARY OF IMPORTANCE: Four early C19 over-and-under dwellings with two dwellings of 2 storeys to the front and two dwellings occupying the lower ground floor at the rear. They represent an important survival of a building type that was a precursor to modern flats and an important physical reminder of the area's rich textile history.