9-13, South Parade

Houses, now flats, built around 1743-1749 by John Wood the Elder. They form the western and central section of a twenty-bay Palladian terrace, arranged in a one:three:twelve:three:one configuration, with the three-bay sections projecting slightly. The buildings are constructed of limestone ashlar with Welsh slate roofs. They are three storeys high with attics and a basement, raised upon a substantial terrace that increases in height to accommodate the sloping land towards the river. Number 9 is five bays wide; the remaining houses are three bays each. Number 9 features a central aedicular doorcase with a pediment supported on consoles; the other houses have similar doorcases on their left-hand sides. All doorways have altered eight-panel doors. A platband is positioned at the first-floor level, and all windows are late 19th-century plate glass sash windows within moulded surrounds, with cornice hoods to the first floor; dropped sills are present on the first floors of numbers 9 and 10. A modillion cornice and pediments adorn the façade, and a mansard roof is topped with three flat-topped dormers to each house, except for number 9, which has two double dormers. Ashlar stacks, formerly with pots, are also present. The original balustraded parapet has been removed, and wrought-iron area railings have replaced it. The rear elevations are mostly of rubble, with some ashlar, featuring various windows, including six/six pane sashes and plate glass alternatives. A full-height ashlar three-bay rear wing extends from number 12. These houses were part of John Wood’s development of the Abbey Orchard between 1740 and 1749, a significant urban development. Building work began in 1743, but plots were still being assigned in 1749. Number 12 is associated with the surgeon John Hunter FRS, who resided here in 1783, a fact commemorated by a plaque. The four-bay return to Duke Street is deliberately set forward to visually balance the return elevation of number 8 South Parade; the windows here are not blind and feature dropped cills to the right-hand pair of windows on the first floor. The interiors have not been inspected.