7-20, Macaulay Buildings

Macaulay Buildings, Nos. 7-20 (West side)

Fourteen terrace houses in stepped pairs, built between 1819 and 1830. These houses are constructed in limestone ashlar with slate roofs, though Nos. 17 and 18 have concrete tile replacements.

The buildings are arranged as compact square double-depth blocks with lower set-back links, stepping up the hillside. No. 7 is positioned at the lower end, and there is a step at the centre between Nos. 15 and 16. Each house has three storeys plus a lower ground floor, with a full extra storey developed at the rear due to the drop across each site.

The original fenestration comprised sixteen-pane sashes on each floor, front and rear, with smaller versions on the top floor. This original fenestration survives on Nos. 7, 11, and 14 at the front. Other houses show variations: Nos. 10 and 13 have four-pane sashes to the top floor, while Nos. 8, 9, 12, and 17 have two-light casements to the top floor. Nos. 18 and 19 have nine/twelve-pane and twelve-pane sashes respectively, possibly original but with changed detailing from the earlier units. A blind centre light is present on each floor in all houses except Nos. 7 and 8. The set-back links have varied fenestration. Original doorcases were brought forward with pilasters rising to dentilled cornices and low pedimental blocking; these remain on Nos. 10, 11, 12, and 16.

No. 7 features a distinctive set-back bay to the right, approached by seven stone steps, with a six-panel door and radial bar fanlight. The return front to Widcombe Hill has twelve-pane sashes, and the extra bay has twelve-pane sashes on the two upper floors and a margin-pane sash at ground floor, with a door to the lower ground level. Each pair of houses has a cornice with blocking course and parapet, with short returns at each end and a double gable coping to the parapet. Each pair also has two large square chimney stacks centred to the roof.

The rear elevations feature coursed stonework to the lower ground floor with ashlar above. The original layout included dormers above the sashes at each level with a central blind stage to the top floor. Exceptions include Nos. 11 and 12, where the blind centre sash is set at an odd level, straddling the lower ground and ground floor. Original sixteen-pane sashes survive on Nos. 10, 11, 12, 13, and 17. No. 15 has French casements with a transom light and balconette to the ground floor. No. 16 features an attic with a twelve-pane sash and no dormer. No. 18 has a two-storey canted bay with a crenellated parapet. Each pair is articulated with broad panelled pilasters set slightly in from the corners through two storeys, with a lintel, frieze, cornice, blocking course, and parapet.

Several interiors have been inspected. No. 8 had all its original fireplaces removed in 1960 and the top panels of doors replaced with modern glass; it retains an original stone wash boiler in the vaults. No. 9 has had modern skirting and architraves replaced with exact copies of the originals in the drawing room and dining room. No. 12 has reeded diamond-motif panels above the library doors. No. 14 has a flagged stone floor in the basement, now covered with wooden floorboards. No. 17 has a flagged stone floor in the hall with brass-rimmed mat runners. No. 19 features fine twisted metal supports on the entire staircase locking the rails to the stone treads, and retains an original water pump with a stone trough in the vaults, now opened to form a courtyard; it also has original pine parquet flooring and a dresser in the lower ground kitchen. An original gas lamp stand outside No. 19 now serves as a private lamp.

The development was undertaken by Thomas Macaulay Cruttwell, a solicitor, on fields formerly called "The Nedges". He purchased the ground in 1819 and the first house was completed in 1825; the rest were finished by 1830. The houses were built by John Long, a mason, who constructed at least No. 9 and possibly others. These houses were developed at the same time as Nos. 1-6 and Nos. 21-22, representing the Late Georgian fondness for suburban developments positioned to take advantage of fine prospects outside the city centre.