45, St James's Parade

No. 45 St James's Parade is a house in a terrace with a shop, built around 1785, likely by John Palmer. The building is constructed of limestone ashlar and features a double Roman tile roof. It has three storeys, an attic, and a basement. The façade includes a single window and a paired casement dormer above three plain sash windows set in moulded architraves. There is a cornice drip at the first floor, and a balconette is present. The ground floor has a full-width 20th-century shopfront with a recessed doorway on the left. Above the ground floor, there is a plain platband, a modillion cornice with a blocking course, and a parapet. A large stack is located on the right side, which is shared with No. 44, and there is a 'stitched' joint in the ashlar to the right, indicating that this property, while part of the overall terrace development, followed in sequence. The rear of the building, made of rubble, features twelve-pane sashes in splayed surrounds. The interior has not been inspected. St James's Parade, originally known as Thomas Street, was developed from 1765 onwards by Richard Jones, Thomas Jelly, and Henry Fisher, who were granted permission to demolish the Boro walls next to the Ambry gardens to build new houses. The street was designed with bollards at each end and the houses faced a broad paved walk instead of a road. The elevations of the buildings, attributed to Thomas Jelly and John Palmer, reflect the influence of John Wood the Younger’s work. Most of the houses were built around 1768. Following bomb damage in the area, extensive clearance and redevelopment occurred, but St James's Parade was eventually preserved. This house represents a later addition to the 1760s street.