Nos. 1-6 And Attached Railings

Nos. 1-6 Bennett Street and the attached railings form a terrace of houses and a shop, built circa 1773-1776 by John Wood the Younger. The buildings are constructed of limestone ashlar with Welsh slate roofs. The terrace comprises six three-bay houses, with No. 1 extended by three bays to the left, creating an overall frontage of six bays. The entrances are located to the left of each house, and the terrace steps down from left to right. The typical plan is double depth, though the additional bays of No. 1 have a single-depth plan with windows on the front elevation only.

The architectural style is typical of Wood the Younger’s work from the 1770s. The houses are three storeys high, with an attic and basement. Most of the windows are 20th-century reproductions, displaying six-over-six sashes with horns on the ground and second floors. The ground floor windows are set in plain surrounds, and the doorways are in a standard 1770s style, featuring console brackets above the entrance and a six-panel door. A platband runs along the first floor. The second-floor windows have moulded architraves with cornices and are six-over-six sashes with moulded sills resting on consoles; the original sill level is visible in blind openings on the No. 1 elevation facing Oxford Row. A modillion cornice tops the building, leading to a parapet and a mansard roof with two flat-topped dormers, each with a six-over-six sash. Ashlar and rubble chimney stacks are present to the right of each house, with a variety of chimney pots. Wrought iron railings enclose the basement areas, with bridges leading to the front doors, and matching sash windows. The Oxford Row elevation of No. 1 is blind except for paired window frames against the chimney stack. No. 2 has wrought iron window guards, and No. 3 has an inserted small window to the left of the doorway, alongside a downpipe with a lead hopper head. No. 5 displays a downpipe with a lead hopperhead to the left of its elevation, while No. 6 features a plain arched doorway, lacking an architrave, and wrought iron balconettes to the first floor.

A three-bay Saville Row elevation is present, with two of the left-hand bays blind above the first floor. The ground floor contains a bowed shop front of circa 1905, designed by G. Bryan Oliver and subsequently altered. The shop front has a dentil cornice. The upper floors have plain sashes in plain openings, with two recessed panels to the left, and a single six-over-six sash in the attic. A chimney stack with pots is located on the rear wall.

The ground floor was leased from Sir Peter Rivers Gay around 1770; building on Bennett Street commenced on the north side circa 1773 and the terrace Nos. 1-6 was completed around 1776. The interiors have not been inspected.