29,29a and 29b, Queen Street

This is a terrace of three houses located in Queen Street, Leek. Built in 1877 by William Larner Sugden for himself and his family, the houses are constructed of brick with terracotta dressings and a plain-tiled roof, and are designed in the Queen Anne style.

The asymmetrical facade features an advanced gabled front, which originally belonged to Sugden’s own house (number 27), and a two-window range forming numbers 29A and 29B. The gable of number 29 features paired sash windows with leaded and stained glass upper panes within a canted bay, incorporating small side lights in the angles. The first floor is corbelled out and contains a tripartite window with terracotta mullions and stained glass, dated with the initials WLS and JMBS above. A round-arched attic window is divided by two mullions and sits beneath overhanging, enriched bargeboards with a pendant finial at the apex. Stone brackets are likely to have formerly supported a balconette. Stylised floral terracotta panels flank the upper windows. Recessed, round-arched porches with stone canopies shelter paired doorways in the right-hand range, with doors featuring leaded lights in the upper panel. A terracotta medallion featuring the initials WS on a foliate ground is located above the doorway of number 29B. Single small windows are present to the right of the doorways on each floor. A deep terracotta eaves band runs along the length of the building. Beyond this, a two-window range features paired two-pane sashes within squared bay windows with shallow lean-to roofs, a terracotta frieze, and similar sash windows above. A deep terracotta cornice tops this section. Gabled dormers with fretted wood bargeboards pierce the roof. Axial and end wall stacks are enriched with terracotta panels. A narrow bay to the left of the gable provides access to a rear passage, with small windows above. The interior remains uninspected. Original cast-iron railings with fleur-de-lys on the principal posts, scrollwork, and a decorative central panel run in front of numbers 29A and 29B. The buildings represent a restrained, finely detailed example of Queen Anne style architecture and are attributed to a notable local architect, whose work improved the town's architectural quality.