Briar House And Under The Hill

Briar House and Under The Hill are a symmetrical pair of houses built around 1820. They are constructed from limestone ashlar with a rubblestone semi-basement and feature a double pitched slate roof with moulded stacks at the gable ends. The buildings rise three storeys above a semi-basement and have a three-window front, with a blind window on the first floor of the party wall, resulting in each house having a single window front.

The exterior includes a continuous coped parapet, cornice, cornice band, second floor sill band, ground floor platband, and plinth. The openings are framed by recessed panels. On the first floor, there is a balcony supported by brackets, featuring a swept canopy and fine cast iron supports and railings with strigillated decoration. The second floor has small three-pane casement windows on either side of the party wall. The ground floor has serpentine flights of steps leading up to six-panel doors with fanlights set in semicircular arches.

Briar House, located on the right, has plate glass sash windows and a plain fanlight. Under The Hill has an entrance on West Park, with a three/three-pane sash window on the second floor, a nine/nine-pane sash on the first floor, and a six/six-pane sash on the ground floor, along with radial glazing bars in the fanlight.

The interiors have not been inspected. These houses are notable examples of Late Georgian architecture, showcasing fine ironwork. The strigillation decoration is a style that originated from Roman sarcophagi and was also used on the façade of Sir John Soane's house in London in 1812. A photograph from 1945 shows the houses referred to as 'Donnington' and 'Underhill'. Briar House underwent alterations in 1957 and was extended and partially demolished in 1975.