St James'S Portico

This is an early 18th-century open arcade with accommodation above, built around 1745 by John Wood the Elder. It stands on Pierrepont Street, between numbers 13 and 14, and forms a significant feature on the west side of the street. The arcade provides a link to Pierrepont Place, projecting slightly to create a focal point within the terrace, though not centrally located within the row.

The structure is built of limestone ashlar with a Welsh slate roof. The exterior features a bridge supported by four unfluted Tuscan columns, dividing the space into two footways and a carriageway. Above the portico are two storeys and an attic. The bays are arranged with a blind central bay; the windows above resemble those on the street façade. A sill band runs along the first floor, and the windows have architrave surrounds and cornice heads. The windows in number 13 have six/six sashes, while those in number 14 feature plain late 19th-century sashes. A pediment crowns the construction, topped by an ashlar stack with decorative pots. The roof is a mansard, with flat-topped dormers on each side. The rear elevation is of very smooth ashlar.

The interior of the building has not been inspected.

The portico is part of an unfinished scheme by John Wood for the Duke of Kingston's estate, dating from 1740 to 1748. This scheme aimed to create a formal route from North Parade to South Parade, parallel with Duke Street, originally intended to lead to Wood's ambitious, but unrealized, "Royal Forum." The ground floor opening bridges an existing passage to Pierrepont Place, which already contained at least one house, while preserving the formal rhythm of the Pierrepont Street elevation. The structure includes early paving. It represents an unusual and successful feature within a larger urban improvement scheme, and the building has undergone some alterations.