4-7, PUMA COURT

A row of four houses at 4-7 Puma Court, dating back to approximately 1740, with alterations made in the early 19th century. The rear of the houses is constructed of 18th-century Flemish bond brick with string courses, while the front and part of the rear elevation are clad in early 19th-century (circa 1830) Flemish bond brick. The rear wing of No. 7 has a timber frame hung with slate. The roofs are a mix of plain tile, slate and pantile, with brick ridge stacks defining the party walls. The houses are arranged with a double-depth plan, standing three stories high with attics, and have a four-window front. Nos. 4 and 5 have an early 19th-century shop front, with a dentilled cornice. No. 5 has a pair of panelled doors with an overlight, while No. 4 has a half-glazed door and late 19th-century plate-glass sashes framed by pilasters. No. 6 features a pair of 20th-century doors flanking a late 19th-century shop front, and No. 5 has a cambered brick arch over a 20th-century door with an overlight. All windows have cambered brick arches, some with horns. Panelled shutters flank the ground-floor window of No. 5, and the third-floor window has been replaced with a plate-glass sash. Some 18th-century sashes with glazing bars remain at the rear. A rear wing to No. 4 was raised in the early 19th century. Internally, No. 4 has 18th-century plank and muntin screens, a quarter-turn staircase with winders, a panelled partition to a closed string, straight-cut panelled dados to the first and second floors, and similar panelling to the front room on the first floor. No. 5 similarly has panelled dados, a panelled room at the rear on the first floor, and a panelled stair hall with H-hinges, a panelled door and a quarter-turn staircase with stick balusters to a closed string, and engaged column-on-vase balusters to the newel posts. No. 7 contains a circa 1830 staircase, an early 19th-century archway leading to a room at the rear left, which has a reset 18th-century panelled dado, and another 18th-century panelled room on the first floor. This is a rare survival of small-scale 18th-century urban dwellings, and notable as the last remaining alley of small weavers’ houses in Spitalfields. The development of this side of Puma Court began in the late 1730s.