Number 2 And Attached Railings

NUMBER 2 AND ATTACHED RAILINGS

This villa and its attached railings date to approximately 1825-1830, constructed by William Buddle Sr and Jr, and displays later additions and alterations. The building is of brownish-red brick with painted stucco facades to the front, garden, and right-hand sides, covered by a Welsh slate roof.

The main part of the villa is two storeys with a basement and attic, featuring four first-floor windows. A recessed wing to the right has just one first-floor window. The garden facade is also two storeys with a basement and attic, incorporating two full-height bows accommodating four first-floor windows.

The front facade displays stucco detailing, including vertical channelled lines on the ground floor and a first-floor band supported by five Doric pilasters, arranged at the ends and between the windows. A plinth is present. The centrally positioned entrance features three roll-edged steps leading to a part-glazed, four-panel door. The architrave is detailed with slender pilasters and narrow lights, topped by a cambered overlight with glazing bars, and simple reveals. A Doric porch incorporates pilasters and two fluted columns, a stepped frieze, a cornice, and a blocking course. To the left of the entrance is another four-panel door alongside two six-over-six sash windows. The first floor has two six-over-six sash windows, a blind opening, a six-over-six sash, all with tooled architraves and sills. The basement level contains an eight-over-eight sash window, a two-over-two sash, and another eight-over-eight sash. A frieze, cornice, a low parapet incorporating four fielded panels, and side and roof stacks complete the exterior.

The right-hand wing’s ground floor features a former elliptical carriage arch, now containing a multi-paned casement. The first floor has a one-over-one sash window with margin lights and a tooled architrave, accompanied by a moulded cornice. The garden facade has ten-pane French windows and cast-iron balconies on the ground floor, with six-over-six sash windows above, and a low parapet. Dormer windows are present in the roof.

The interior retains original plasterwork and joinery, including a dogleg staircase with tapered rod-on-bobbin balusters and a wreathed handrail. Shutters are fitted to some windows, including those in the ground-floor bows. The railings to the sides of the steps have bars and spearhead finials.

Originally envisioned as Bertie Circus with houses facing inwards, the building was constructed with the present garden facades as the main fronts. Historical records and surveys indicate a link to numbers 15 and 17 Beauchamp Hill as part of an architectural scheme. Originally named Back Lane, the area was renamed Clarendon Crescent around 1838 when the original plans for a circus were abandoned. The rear (garden) facade best illustrates the original architectural scheme for numbers 1-9 Clarendon Crescent and numbers 15 and 17 Beauchamp Hill, incorporating a series of full-height bows.