25-39, CROMFORD HILL

This is a row of eight houses, numbered 25-39 Cromford Hill, Cromford. They were likely built in the 1790s for Richard Arkwright to house workers for his textile mills, with subsequent alterations. The houses are constructed of rendered, coursed rubble with Welsh slate roofs. They are similar in plan to Arkwright's Phase I type housing, originally comprising a single unit with rear service areas. Each house has three storeys, with side stairs against the end and party walls behind and to the side of the front entrance. The front elevations have two bays; the entrance bay has no windows above the ground floor, while the other bay has a window to each floor. All windows originally had cambered arches and were timber-framed with 36 panes and small central opening lights. These original windows survive on all floors of numbers 31 and 37. Number 39 retains 4-pane horned sashes. Modern 2-light casements are present in all other windows. Number 25 has a 19th-century shop window. The doors are half-glazed or panelled. A moulded eaves cornice and plinth are present. There are red and black brick ridge stacks, two of which have been reduced. The rear elevation is largely original, featuring small, single-light windows to upper floors and some to the ground floor, as well as low, lean-to sculleries attached to all houses except the end properties. Two sets of privies at the ends of the gardens, believed to incorporate early thunderboxes, are included in the listing.