The Crescent

The Crescent is a terrace of houses built in 1829 by T.E. Owen, intended as the centrepiece of a planned new town called Anglesea, named after the Marquis of Anglesey. Only half of the crescent and some surrounding houses were completed. The terrace is constructed of painted stucco, with a slate mansard roof. It comprises the centre and ends of the crescent, featuring prominent Ionic pavilions. The central pavilion has six free-standing Ionic columns and the end pavilions have four engaged Ionic columns, all standing on plinths with moulded caps and bases, and supporting an entablature. The ground floor is rusticated, and the end pavilions have three arched openings, while the central section has two. The end pavilions form single houses, and the central section consists of two houses, including one bay on either side, linked by fifteen bays. A colonnade of Greek Doric fluted columns with an entablature and blocking course runs along the ground floor, forming a balcony with a delicate cast iron railing on the first floor. Each house in the link section has two small dormer windows, two windows on the second floor, and two pairs of French casements on the first floor. The entrance doors are half-glazed with rectangular fanlights of various designs, and most of the upper windows have shutters.