34, 36, 36A, 38 Carter Gate

Three early-C19 houses with late-C19 shopfronts.

MATERIALS: brick with timber windows and shopfronts, slate roof.

PLAN: rectangular, orientated with shorter ends to north-east and south-west.

EXTERIOR: two storeys under a pitched roof with its gable ends to north-east and south-west, abutting neighbouring buildings. Numbers 34 and 38 have chimney stacks that were formerly on their rear walls, but now rise through the centre of their catslide-extended rear roof slopes. Number 36 has a central stack through the ridge of its roof. The rears of the properties are obscured by C20 additions.

The façade faces south-east to Carter Gate where numbers 34 and 36 are brick in Flemish bond and number 38 is brick in English garden wall bond, all under cream paint. The ground floor has a single shopfront to number 34 to the right (north-east), then centrally, under a brick segmental arch lintel, is a six-panel door to Carter’s Yard to the rear of the property. To the left (south-west) is a double shopfront for numbers 36 and 38 (now a single unit). Number 34’s shopfront has reeded pilasters topped by scrolled brackets holding a cornice under which are two large plate glass windows, between which is deeply recessed single door. The shopfront to numbers 36 and 38 is similar to that of number 34, though the central recess is wider allowing two separate glass panelled doors, and each of the two large plate glass windows to the street has stained glass top lights above a transom.

At first-floor level, there are three windows: a central six-over-six sash window in line with the door through to Carter’s yard under a brick segmental arch lintel, and flanking this, two six-over-six sash windows each with two-over-two margin lights.