77 AND 79, HIGHAM

A pair of adjoining houses dating from the mid-18th century, located in the parish of Shirland and Higham. The houses have an ashlar facade, with coursed sandstone rubble elsewhere, and gritstone dressings. They feature a plain plinth, four full-height fluted corner pilasters, and a moulded eaves cornice that projects and is dentilled over the pilasters and a central archway. The roof is covered with 20th-century concrete tiles, with brick gable end stacks and two ridge stacks. Stone coped gables feature moulded kneelers.

Each house is two storeys high and three bays wide, with a central joining bay. Number 77, on the east side, has a central moulded doorcase with a dentilled pediment on scroll brackets, now containing a 20th-century glazed door. Flanking this are glazing bar sashes set within moulded aedicules, each with a fluted raised keystone. Number 79, on the west side, has a flush quoined doorcase topped with a broken segmental arched pediment on brackets. It also has 20th-century casements within moulded aedicules with raised keystones. Above these, there are similar windows with a blocked circular opening between them.

The central joining bay has full-height fluted pilasters on either side and a segmental arch leading to a passageway. Above the arch is a semi-circular headed glazing bar sash window with Gothic tracery, set in a moulded aedicule with moulded imposts and a keystone. At the rear, a flat arched passage doorcase is present, with a blocked transomed stair window above.