52 and 52a, Britannia Square

This is a villa, built around 1820 and later altered, now divided into two separate dwellings at 52 and 52A Britannia Square. The exterior is painted stucco over brick, with a hipped slate roof and four chimney stacks, two on the front left and two internally to the right. A cast-iron balcony is also present. The building has a double-depth plan with a central hallway. It has two storeys with a basement to the right, and five first-floor windows, with a single-storey entrance bay to the right. The ends of the building project forward. The detailing includes full-height pilaster strips to either side of the windows at the projecting ends, incorporating cornices into a continuous crowning cornice. A blocking course is positioned above the pilasters, featuring an incised leaf motif, a raised and fielded panel with a fan motif, and incised scrolls. The ground-floor windows are framed by tooled architraves with a pulvinated frieze and cornices, while a moulded band runs across the first floor. The central first floor features a French window with Gothic-style glazing to the fanlight and margin lights; other windows are 6/6 sash windows, taller on the ground floor, all set in plain reveals with sills. All windows have hinged louvred shutters with original catches. The central entrance is sheltered by a distyle Doric porch with engaged pilasters, a frieze featuring triglyphs and rams’ heads, and a cornice and blocking course. It has steps leading to a five-panel door with raised and fielded upper panels, a flush lower panel, and a fanlight with circle and teardrop glazing bars. The surround consists of alternating plain and fluted voussoirs. A balcony above the porch has ornate balusters with scrolled anthemion finials. A 20th-century door and French windows are present in the basement. A further entrance to the right has a 20th-century panelled door with an overlight, a cornice, and a blocking course. A two-storey service range at the rear right has 6/6 sash windows. The rear of the building retains an arched staircase window with radial glazing to the head and 6/6 sash windows. Inside, the building was not inspected. A kitchen garden wall adjoins the outshut to the rear, with an elliptical arched pedestrian entrance containing a six-panel flush door. The wall is approximately 2.5 metres high and extends for roughly 5 metres. The rear walls of this property, and those of the neighbouring properties 49-53, are original features of Back Walk and contribute to the streetscape. This villa is part of a unified group of buildings in Britannia Square, which was started in 1820 and planned around a large green. It is comparable to other developments in Worcester, such as Lansdowne Crescent, Lark Hill, and Rainbow Hill Terrace.