No.5 And Attached Railings And Vaults

No. 5 is a house, now a hotel, dating from around 1775, with 20th-century alterations. It was likely designed by Thomas Warr Atwood, who certainly developed the building. The front is constructed of limestone ashlar, painted to the basement level, while the rear is not visible. The roof is a double-pitched mansard style, covered with Welsh slate to the front, and incorporates two chimney stacks, one rebuilt in reconstituted stone and shared with No. 6 Oxford Row.

The house is three stories high, with an attic and basement, and features a five-window front. The first floor has five nine-over-nine sash windows set within splayed, ovolo-moulded architraves with stone sills and decorative friezes and cornices. The second floor mirrors this design with five six-over-six sash windows, also within splayed, ovolo-moulded architraves and stone sills. On the ground floor are four six-over-six sash windows with splayed reveals and stone sills, framing a six-panel door with fielded and glazed panels, a cast iron knocker, and a stone doorcase. A wrought iron footscraper is attached to the plinth block on the right. A crossover with new pennant paving leads to the front door, which has one step. The basement area has two probable former six-over-six sash windows, and another two with stone sills, alongside a door and two entrances leading to vaults, accessed via modern stone steps. One double and one single dormer window, each with six-over-six sash windows, are visible in the roof. The exterior also features a band course over the ground floor, a modillion eaves cornice, a coped parapet, a moulded lead hopperhead and downpipe shared with No. 4 Oxford Row, and a staircase to the rear. The interior has not been inspected.

Attached to the property are wrought iron railings and a gate with shaped heads on limestone bases. The houses were developed on Council land by Thomas Warr Atwood, who obtained the ground in 1773, as recorded in Council minutes. The design is a standard Palladian style from the 1770s, potentially the work of Atwood, John Wood the Younger, or Thomas Jelly, although Atwood is considered the most likely designer. He is described as a competent, conservative architect whose elevations are excellent examples of the English Palladian tradition. There are also entrances to vaults.