24 And 26, Albany Terrace

The houses at 24 and 26 Albany Terrace are a pair of semi-detached properties dating from approximately 1820 to 1840, situated on the north side of Britannia Square in Worcester. They are described from right to left.

The houses are built of painted stucco over brick, with a hipped slate roof. The front has two party-wall stacks. The stack at the front has a cornice and decorative pots, while the rear stack is of brick with an oversailing detail and pots. They are designed with a double-depth plan and entrances in the return elevations. The houses are two storeys high, with a basement.

The front elevation has four first-floor windows arranged as 2:2. The stucco detailing includes sills, a plinth, corner pilasters with capitals, a simple frieze with a moulded upper edge, and recessed rectangular panels. Stucco is scored to resemble ashlar stonework. The extension link to the left features incised curvilinear panels. A porch is located on the right return elevation. The three ground-floor windows at the front are 6/6 sash windows in plain reveals with sills. The right-hand opening contains a 5-panel glazed door with side-lights. Light wells illuminate the basement windows of the left-hand house.

An entrance to the left-hand house is located in a single-storey link, set back between the return elevation and the adjacent house at number 28. The door is recessed behind an archway and features five flush-beaded panels. The linking range has a curvilinear coped parapet with a central ball. A first-floor extension above the link contains a semi-circular headed fixed window with coloured glazing to the margin-lights. A dormer window has a flat lead roof and a 3/3 sash window.

The right return elevation, which faces York Place, has a break forward in the centre bay, featuring three first-floor windows. The stucco detailing matches the south elevation of Albany Terrace. A central Tuscan-style porch is partially recessed into the break forward and features a basket arch profile to the architrave soffit. Five roll-edged stone steps lead to a 6-panel door with raised and fielded upper panels and flush-beaded bottom panels, along with matching panelled reveals and an arch soffit, and a fanlight. An 8/8 sash window is located to the right of the entrance, a 6/6 sash to the left, and first-floor 6/6 sashes, all in plain reveals with sills. A small, single-light, semi-circular arch-headed window is situated to the immediate left of the entrance.

The interiors retain some original features, including panelled shutters and ornate plaster cornices. Numbers 24 and 26 share a similar appearance with numbers 6 to 22 (even) and 28 and 30 Albany Terrace. Albany Terrace sits on the north side of Britannia Square, and is part of Worcester's important Regency development.