Nos. 4 And 5 With Railings

Nos. 4 and 5 with railings are a pair of houses, now offices, dating from around 1760. They were constructed as part of the St John’s Hospital complex and are likely designed by William Sainsbury, a carpenter. The property underwent alterations in the 20th century.

The houses are built of limestone ashlar, with double Roman tile roofs. They are three storeys high, with an attic and basement, and have a five-window front. The windows are twelve-pane sashes, set in moulded architraves, with a sill band at the first floor level. Two wide 20th-century dormers are visible, each with a four-light, small-pane casement. Bays three and four feature a blind window at the first and second floors respectively; bay four is blank to the second floor. The basement windows consist of two twelve-pane sashes on each side, overlooking a small area with railings. Centrally, a broad flight of three stone steps leads to a pair of panelled doors with moulded architraves, topped with a single cornice hood. The building has an offset plinth, a moulded cornice above the first floor, a further cornice with a blocking course, and a parapet above the second floor. Deep ashlar stacks are present on each gable.

The right-hand return elevation has a blind window and a twelve-pane sash at each level. The main cornices extend only over the window heads on this front, which adjoins the main hospital frontage in Chapel Court. No. 4 has a long wing projecting beyond the north front of Chandos Buildings, featuring a single small dormer in a mansard roof and one plus two twelve-pane sashes in architraves at upper levels, consistent with the main front. The ground floor windows have plain reveals. The wing has a ridge stack and an eaves stack at its outer end.

The rear elevations are of rubble construction, with some rebuilding or extension in ashlar. The original rear wall, set back in a narrow court, features a twelve-pane sash at three levels; in one brought-forward wing a glazed and blocked early twelve-pane sash is present. The interior of the properties were not inspected. No. 5 contains an unusual serpentine-railed staircase, reflecting the house's construction by a skilled carpenter.

Historically, the building was inserted between the main hospital range and the formerly free-standing Chandos Buildings, and its somewhat old-fashioned appearance reflects the involvement of an artisan in its design.