Numbers 1-24 And Attached Railings

HANOVER CRESCENT, NUMBERS 1-24 AND ATTACHED RAILINGS

Terraced houses built around 1822 by Amon Henry Wilds for Henry Brooker. The crescent is constructed of stucco with slate roofs, except Number 6 which has a tiled roof. The houses are arranged in eight blocks, mostly containing three houses each, apart from one block of two houses (Numbers 16-17) and one block of four (Numbers 21-24). The blocks were always of varying design, and almost all have been considerably altered, so each block requires separate description.

Numbers 1-3: Two storeys over basement, with Numbers 1 and 2 having attics. Numbers 1 and 3 each have two windows, Number 2 has three. The three-bay centrepiece at Number 2 features pilasters with scrolled capitals supporting an entablature and pediment. Numbers 1 and 3 have one window either side of the centrepiece and an outer entrance bay set back, though the entrance bay at Number 1 has been brought forward. Number 1 has a flat-arched entrance with a wooden, fluted doorcase with sidelights and overlight, set back behind a round arch carried on fluted pilasters with palm-leaf capitals, which is in turn set back behind a bracketed flat arch. Number 2 has a round-arched entrance with decorative glazing to the fanlight and a panelled door with Gothic detail, framed by fluted pilasters and a moulded archivolt. Number 3 has a round-arched entrance with decorative glazing to the fanlight. All windows are flat-arched, with those on the ground floor having bracketed balconies with cast-iron railings. Number 1 has a blank window over the entrance and a bracketed balcony with cast-iron railings to the main front. Number 3 has a similar bracketed balcony though with different railings to a shallow segmental bay at first-floor level. There is a circular window in the attic of Number 2. The main front has boxed eaves, with parapets to the outer bays, that at Number 1 surmounted by a couchant lion. The roofs are hipped with a dormer to Number 1 and stacks to the party walls. Number 2 has cast-iron railings to the steps.

Numbers 4-6: Two storeys over basement, Number 5 with an attic. Numbers 4 and 6 each have two windows, Number 5 has three. The three-bay centrepiece at Number 5 features Corinthian pilasters, entablature and pediment. Numbers 4 and 6 have one window either side of the centrepiece and an outer entrance bay set back. The round-arched entrances at Number 4 have a Greek key pattern to the cornice, Number 5 has decorative glazing to the fanlight with a panelled door of original design and moulded archivolt, and Number 6 has a Greek key pattern to the cornice and panelled door of original design. The main block has quoins. All windows are flat-arched, with those in the outer bays of the main front set back under an elliptical arch with bracketed archivolt. The first-floor windows to Number 5 and the inner bay of Number 4 have individual bracketed balconies with cast-iron railings. The entablature and pediment of Number 5 have a dentil cornice and a patera in the tympanum. The main front has boxed eaves, with parapets to the entrance bays; that at Number 6 has a curved parapet to the ground floor and the first floor set back. The roof is hipped with three pedimented dormers to Number 5 between cornice stacks. Number 5 has cast-iron railings to the steps.

Numbers 7-9: Numbers 8-9 are now one house. Two storeys over basement with attics, three windows each. The three-bay centrepiece at Number 8 has fluted pilasters, entablature and parapet. Numbers 7 and 9 consist of segmental bays of two windows each on either side of the centrepiece with outer entrance bays set back, though that at Number 9 has been brought forward and the entrance altered to a window. Number 7 has a round-arched entrance with Greek key pattern to the cornice, decorative glazing to the fanlight, and a panelled door of original design with the upper panel now glazed. The entrance to Number 8 has been altered with a late 20th-century porch. The main front has quoins. All windows are flat-arched, with those on the ground floor of Numbers 8-9 having a bracketed balcony with cast-iron railings, and those on the first floor of Number 8 having individual bracketed balconies with cast-iron railings. There are boxed eaves and 20th-century dormers to Numbers 8-9, with stacks to the party walls. Number 8 has cast-iron railings to the steps.

Numbers 10-12: Two storeys over basement, Numbers 10 and 12 with two windows each, Number 11 with three. The three-bay centrepiece at Number 11 has fluted Corinthian pilasters supporting an entablature and pediment. Numbers 10 and 12 consist of one bay in the main front either side of the centrepiece and an outer entrance bay probably originally of one storey only. Numbers 10 and 12 have round-arched entrances set back under a round-arched porch with decorative glazing to the fanlights. Number 11 has a flat-arched entrance with overlight and panelled door of original design. All windows are flat-arched; those at Number 11 have slim architraves. Continuous bracketed balconies with cast-iron railings run along the ground floor. The entablature covers the whole of the main front, with a parapet over Numbers 10 and 12. The roof is hipped with stacks to the party walls. Numbers 10 and 11 have cast-iron railings to the steps. A plaque over the entrance of Number 11 records that Sir Rowland Hill lived there from 1844 to 1846. Hill was chairman of the London and Brighton Railway Company from 1843. The novelist Horace Smith lived at Number 10 from 1826 to 1840. This block and Numbers 18-20 are the least altered in Hanover Crescent.

Numbers 13-15: Two storeys over basement, Number 14 with an attic. Numbers 13-14 have three windows each, Number 15 has two. The main front broadly resembles Numbers 7-9. The three-bay centrepiece at Number 14 has fluted pilasters with ammonite capitals. Numbers 13 and 15 have shallow segmental bays of two windows each in the main front with single-storey outer entrance bays set back, though that at Number 13 is now of two storeys and has been brought forward. Number 13 has a round-arched entrance with decorative glazing to the fanlight and panelled door of original design. Number 14 has a flat-arched entrance with decorative glazing to the overlight. Number 15 has a round-arched entrance with fanlight. The main front has quoins. All windows are flat-arched, with those on the first floor of Number 13 having a continuous bracketed balcony with cast-iron railings. Number 15 has individual replacement balconies. There are boxed eaves and a hipped roof. Number 14 has a dormer between stacks to the party walls.

Numbers 16-17: Two storeys over half-basement, Number 16 with two windows, Number 17 with one. The original design probably consisted of a main front with two windows framed by pilasters with abaci carrying a shallow segmental arch over each window, and a single-storey outer entrance bay set back. The entrance bay of Number 16 is now of two storeys; that of Number 17 remains of one storey with a stepped blocking course surmounted by a couchant lion. Number 16 has a flat-arched entrance with overlight, Number 17 has a round-arched entrance with fanlight and Greek key pattern to the cornice. Number 16 has a two-storey segmental bay, Number 17 has a single-storey segmental bay with cornice. All windows are flat-arched. There are boxed eaves and a hipped roof with a stack to the party wall.

Numbers 18-20: Two storeys over half-basement, Number 19 with an attic. Number 18 has two windows, Number 19 has three and Number 20 has one. The three-bay centrepiece at Number 19 has fluted pilasters with ammonite capitals supporting a rudimentary entablature and pediment. Numbers 18 and 20 consist of one window in the main front either side of the centrepiece and a single-storey outer entrance bay set back, though that at Number 18 is now of two storeys. The main front has quoins. All windows are flat-arched, with those on the ground floor of Numbers 19 and 20 having blind boxes and bracketed balconies with cast-iron railings. There is a flat-arched window in the tympanum of the pediment. The roof is hipped with stacks to the party walls. This block, like Numbers 10-12, is less altered than the rest.

Numbers 21-24: Two storeys over half-basement. Number 21 has two windows, the rest have three. Numbers 21-23 form a symmetrical group with a pediment to Number 22 and segmental bays to Numbers 21 and 23. The entrances are round-arched except at Number 24 which is flat-arched. That at Number 21 has decorative glazing to the fanlight and reeded cornice. The porches of Numbers 23 and 24 have been considerably altered. Number 21 has sashes of original design. Number 22 has a blank window to the first floor and a patera in the pediment. Number 24 has quoins and a full-height segmental bay with individual bracketed balconies with cast-iron railings to the ground floor. There are substantial additions to the rear of Number 24. The crescent has boxed eaves and stacks to the party walls.