30 And 31, St Mark'S Road

The property comprises a pair of semi-detached villas dating to circa 1860. They are constructed of limestone ashlar, with No.30 having a slate roof and No.31 a concrete tile roof. The compact, block-like design features gables facing the street, and small, recessed porches to the side. The sloping site allows for an additional storey to be incorporated at the rear.

The two-storey, attic and lower ground floor villas have a central pair of sash windows to each of the ground and first floors, with moulded cornices supported by console brackets above. A single window is located within each gable on the second floor. All windows are plain plate glass sashes, with brackets beneath sills, and continuous platbands at both the first and second floor levels. The recessed porches each contain a panelled door with a fanlight in a moulded archivolt, featuring a keystone and plain impost band.

The rear elevation has a single sash window above paired windows, and a tripartite sash window at ground and lower ground floor levels, all with cornices on consoles. Each rear porch contains a sash window above the door, framed by a wooden architrave. The gables and eaves have deep soffits, and two large square ashlar stacks are placed in the central valley.

The front walls feature an arcaded design of openwork masonry, with arch-headed gate piers bearing incised ornament. A high retaining wall, approximately 3 metres in height, runs along the rear of the property, on Claverton Street. It is constructed of coursed and squared stone with a weathered coping, and carries spiked iron railings in nine bays across the full width of the site. A plank door on the left side provides access to a flight of stone steps leading to No.31.

The interior of the properties has not been inspected. These villas were part of a development overlooking the railway station, consisting of Italianate style villas on a steeply sloping site.

Subsidiary features include boundary walls with piers and a balustrade to the front, and a boundary wall with railings to the rear. Opposite the entrances are widely spaced square ashlar piers with incised panels and rounded heads, linked by a low ashlar wall carrying a balustrade of multiple small arches beneath a moulded coping, stepped down at the central pier of similar design, with a short length continuing on each side beyond the openings to further piers, returning as a solid wall at the party boundaries. These elements are part of the original design and contribute to the overall architectural interest.