No 5, Gates House Including Front Area Railings

No. 5, Gates House, including its front area railings, is a large house dating from the mid-19th century, with later 20th-century alterations. It is constructed of stucco, likely over brick, with brick stacks featuring plastered chimneyshafts topped with decorative crests, and a slate roof.

The house is laid out with a double-depth plan, facing southeast, with front and back rooms on either side of a central entrance hall and staircase. Heating is provided by axial stacks serving front rooms and a stack between back-to-back fireplaces in the right front and back rooms. The principal rooms are located at the front, while service rooms are situated to the rear.

The house is two storeys high with a basement. The front facade is symmetrical, featuring a three-window central section flanked by three-window sections set within full-height canted bays. The windows are 19th-century, four-pane sashes, each with a stucco architrave. Continuous sills are supported on fluted brackets, and the first-floor band has a dentil frieze. Ground floor windows have shouldered architraves. A recessed panel contains the central first-floor window. Basement windows are also recessed within the bays. The basement windows are protected by plain iron railings. The central front doorway has a 19th-century part-glazed four-panel door with an overlight, set behind a porch accessed by five stone steps. The porch features Ionic columns and a moulded entablature, also including a dentil frieze. The roofs have a low, parallel pitch and are hipped at both ends.

The interior has not been inspected, but original joinery and other detailing is believed to be present.

Original spear-headed iron railings set into stone coping fence the front courtyard. Gates House is positioned as the central property of three detached, high-quality 19th-century houses on the northwest side of The Green. Formerly known as Sunnyside, it was the residence of John Betts, a partner in the railway contracting firm of Peto and Betts, in the early 20th century.