149-169 Oxford Road

Terrace of eleven houses built during the 1820s, converted to various uses during the 20th century including shops and offices, now flats.

The terrace is constructed of red brick in Flemish bond with stucco dressings, slate roof covering, and iron railings. The buildings range from two to three storeys, all with basements.

The terrace consists of three distinct groups representing three different build phases. The easternmost group (149-161) is a terrace of seven houses of two storeys plus basements under a pitched roof. The central group (163 and 165) is a symmetrical pair of houses of three storeys plus basements under a hipped roof. The westernmost group (167 and 169) is a pair of houses of two storeys plus basement under a pitched roof.

149-161 Oxford Road

The eastern group is of standard design, though some have been altered through later interventions, most notably 155 and 157, where shopfronts have been installed at street level, infilling the basement area and merging the basement and raised ground floor. Each building is two bays wide with a cornice parapet unifying the group, and two courses of grey-blue bricks in header bond immediately above the flat arches of the basement windows running across the terrace, broken by the shopfronts at 155 and 157.

Aside from 155 and 157, each house has a raised ground floor with steep steps and matching iron handrails leading to a front door within a round-arched recess in the eastern bay, and a window under a gauged brickwork flat arch in the western bay. All front doors are recent replacements apart from at 153 and 157, which have six-panelled doors. Number 151 and 159 have batwing fanlights, 153 has a spiderweb fanlight, and 159 has a plain fanlight with mid-20th century glazing. The window in the western bay of 149-153 is a six-over-six sash, while 159 has an eight-over-eight sash and 161 has a uPVC casement. The window and door openings at 149 have, uniquely, moulded stucco surrounds.

On the first floor of each house, including at 155 and 157, there are two windows under gauged brickwork flat arches. They are glazing bar sash windows at 149-159 and uPVC casements at 161. At basement level, there is a single window in the western bay looking into a front area. All are uPVC casements apart from at 153 and 159, where they are renewed sashes. Numbers 149, 153, and 159 also have doors into the basement area.

The rear elevations of 149-161 have been variously altered and extended, but some retain sash windows, including round-arched sashes on the eastern bay of the first floor at 153 and 155, and partially blocked at 161. The rear basement area of all buildings has been either partially or completely infilled. At 149 there is a one-to-two-storey extension of brickwork with flat roofs along its eastern boundary, and a large dormer window on the western half of the rear pitch of the roof. At 151 there is a similar one-to-two-storey extension along the eastern boundary, as well as a long, single-storey extension along its western boundary, and a dormer window on the western half of the rear roof pitch. At 153, there is a single-storey, flat-roofed extension in brick along its eastern boundary. Number 155 has a large, single-storey, flat-roof extension along its eastern boundary and a dormer window on the western half of the rear roof pitch, while 157 has a full-height (three-storey) extension with a hipped roof along its eastern boundary and a large dormer window on the western half of the rear roof pitch. Much of the rear garden of 159 has been developed, with a flat-roofed and rendered, two-storey extension along the eastern boundary connecting the main house with a two-storey, full-width extension with separate access from the rear of the building. At 161, there is a two-storey extension along the western boundary in brick and a dormer window on the western half of the rear roof pitch.

163 and 165 Oxford Road

Numbers 163 and 165 are a symmetrical pair of townhouses, much larger and of finer detailing than the adjoining buildings either side. The pair are of three storeys across two bays under a hipped roof, with recessed, two-storey, single-bay wings to either side. There are two party-wall chimney stacks on the north and south slopes of the roof. There is a stucco plat band running at first-floor cill height across the entire façade, and a stucco string course running between each of the round arches on the raised ground floor.

On the three-storey element of each building, there are two windows on the raised ground floor, first floor, and second floors, and a doorway and single window into a generous basement area with the doors in an unusual, central location on the front elevation. On the raised ground floor, the windows are round-arched sashes; on the first floor are six-over-six sashes; and on the second floor, 163 has three-over-six sashes and 165 has casements, possibly steel-framed. All windows at basement, first, and second floor level are under gauged brickwork flat arches. There is a large shop sign obscuring the arched heads of the ground-floor windows of 165.

The main entrances are located within the two-storey wings and comprise a six-panelled door—partially glazed at 163—under ornate batwing fanlights, set within round-arched recesses and accessed via a flight of stone steps with iron handrails. Above the doorways are a single, six-over-six sash window at first-floor level. The roofs of the wings are concealed behind stucco cornice parapets.

All of the windows on the rear elevation appear to have been replaced with uPVC units. The rear basement areas appear to have been partially covered over. There is a single-storey extension along the western boundary of 165. The combined rear garden of the two buildings is in use as a car park.

167 and 169 Oxford Road

The design of 167 and 169 is similar to that of 149-161, although 167 and 169 are wider than the more easterly buildings. The pair are of two storeys plus basement across two bays each under a pitched roof, with a cornice parapet unifying the elevation. The main entrance of each building is in the eastern bay of the raised ground floor and comprises a six-panelled door under a batwing fanlight, set within a round-arched recess and accessed via a flight of stone steps with iron handrails. In the western bay of the ground floor is a single, six-over-six sash window. On the first floor of each building are two six-over-six sash windows. The basement of 169 contains a single casement window, while the basement of 167 has been converted into a shopfront with a fascia board and awning partially concealing the raised ground floor. All of the windows have gauged-brickwork, flat-arch heads. At 169, there are two courses of grey-blue bricks laid in header bond immediately above the head of the basement window, matching that at 149-161. There are tall, ridge chimney stacks of 20th century brickwork in stretcher bond on the western party wall of each building.

Both buildings have been extended to the rear along their eastern boundary, with that at 167 being of one to two storeys above ground level, flat-roofed and rendered or painted, and that at 169 being of one storey above ground level, in brick with a pitched roof. Each building has a single, late 20th century dormer window on the western half of the rear roof pitch.

Subsidiary Features

Numbers 149-153 have late 20th or 21st century low front boundary walls of red brickwork in stretcher bond. At 159 and 161, the front boundaries are low brick walls and piers mounted with railings. Numbers 163-165 have a low wall with iron railings to the front boundary.