97-100, Albion Street

SP0587SE 997/10322/10322 08-MAY-00

ALBION STREET

GII Terrace of houses,arranged in two pairs of dwellings, latterly printing works,and empty at the time of inspection.(28-April-2000).C.1845,with C20 alterations.MATERIALS:Red/brown brick with off-centre gable and ridge chimneys and a Welsh slate roof covering.PLAN:Linear range of 'three-quarter houses',arranged in pairs of dwellings served from a central entrance passageway,with individual doors sited within the passage.FRONT(north-west )ELEVATION of four bays and two storeys above cellars with attics.Two doorways to access passages located centrally to each half of the range,with semi-circular overlights above panelled doors.Flanking the doorways are stacked window openings beneath flat gauged brick heads First floor openings have undivided sash frames,attic floor with two-light casements.Ground floor windows now boarded up,and that to the left of the right-hand doorway has been enlarged.Right return shows asymmetrical roof profile and off-centre location of chimney stack.INTERIORS.Original plan form modified,but retaining evidence of original disposition of rooms.Each dwelling had two rooms to each level,served by a plain stair running parallel to the central passage.Rooms retain small cast-iron grates in hearth in plain surrounds,panelled doors and in No.99,an arched recess to the side of the hearth at attic level.Cellars with chimney bases with arched recesses.HISTORY:Directory evidence suggests that these houses were erected C.1840, in two phases,as indicated by the straight joint between the two pairs.They represent a superior level of working class housing,with more space than contemporary back-to -back and court houses.A public health report for Birmingham of 1841 included a plan and elevation of a pair of three-storey three-quarter houses,suggesting that this type of dwelling was considered to provide suitable accommodation for the working classes.A very rare surviving example of a distinctive type of working-class housing once found throughout Birmingham,which,despite internal alteration demonstrates the level and quality of accommodation considered to represent superior provision in a rapidly expanding C19 industrial community of national significance.

Listing NGR: SP0589487362