53, 54 AND 55, SHIP STREET

This is a row of three early 19th-century terraced houses, now used as shops and offices, located on Ship Street in Brighton. The buildings are constructed with mathematical tile, stucco, and brick in Flemish bond, with gauged brick lintels. The roofs are tiled, with a hipped roof to number 53 and to numbers 54 and 55.

The exterior presents three storeys over a basement. Number 53 has a single-window range. Numbers 54 and 55, when considered together, have a two-window range facing Ship Street, a curved corner range with one window, and a two-window range facing Union Street. The facade of number 54 angles back and curves around the corner to Union Street, breaking the join with number 53. Each property has a 19th-century shop front at ground floor level; only the entablature remains on number 53. The shop fronts on numbers 54 and 55 incorporate a flat-arched entrance on the corner, with thin Tuscan pilasters framing the entrance and shop windows, and a further flat-arched entrance at the left party wall of number 54. Number 53 features a shallow segmental bay with tripartite windows to the first floor. The spandrels of this bay are faced with mathematical tile, capped by an entablature and covered by a semi-domical metal roof. The sash windows are of an original early 19th-century design, with 6x6 panes to the centre and 4x4 panes to the sides on the ground floor, and a 4x8 pane to the single second-floor window. All upper-floor windows have projecting sills. The corner window range has tripartite windows, with a 3x6 pane to the centre and 2x4 panes to the sides on the second floor. A first-floor segmental bay with tripartite windows is located adjacent to the party wall with number 10 Union Street, where the jambs of the side and centre windows are treated as Roman "fasces," with 6x6 panes to the centre and 2x2 panes to the sides. Blocked windows are visible on the Ship Street elevation. A continuous entablature and parapet tops all three buildings.

The interior was not inspected during the listing process.