Nos 1-2 The Close

Nos 1-2 The Close is a pair of semi-detached Arts and Crafts style houses designed by W Alexander Harvey and W Graham Wicks, built between 1911 and 1913.

The houses are constructed of red brick with pale stone detailing and clay tiled roofs. Each dwelling is L-plan in layout, comprising a long range and a projecting gabled range. The pair is connected to the adjoining property by brick screen walls with pierced arches topped with hipped clay tiles.

The buildings are two storeys high. The long range has four bays with an off-centre door below a gabled timber porch serving one dwelling, while the other entrance is in a single-storey porch with a tiled cat slide roof located at the corner where the long range meets the gable end. Ground floor windows have either flat-headed or segmental brick arches. The projecting gable end contains three ground floor windows: a large central window beneath a segmental brick arch flanked by two narrow windows under flat-headed arches. Above this is a mirroring large window with segmental brick arch. The first floor fenestration comprises four dormer windows in tiled gables, with a single window positioned directly above the entrance on the long range.

Six chimney stacks serve the building, some partially external, including a mixture of straight stacks and coupled star section stacks that mirror the design of the central house in the wider complex.

The rear elevation similarly features a long range with a slightly projecting gabled cross wing. The long range is jettied with a segmental bay window at the end furthest from the cross-wing. The terrace below the jetty has been partially infilled with modern bricks, incorporating an entrance flanked by two windows. The cross wing has a ground floor window beneath a segmental brick arch with a smaller window above under the eaves. Four flat-roofed dormer windows are positioned along the long range.

The boundary between the two dwellings is demarcated by a timber panel and support adjacent to the infilled bay.

The principal door to each property leads into a large hallway. Timber staircases with surviving balustrades ascend to the first floor. Historic architrave survives in the hallways and leading into ground floor rooms. Ground floor doors have been replaced with modern fire doors.