Victoria Terrace

Victoria Terrace, Weymouth

A terrace of houses built in 1855–56, comprising fourteen units arranged symmetrically around a central block (the Hotel Prince Regent, separately listed). The building is constructed with a Portland ashlar front, brick returns, and rendered backs beneath a slate roof.

The terrace rises three storeys with attic and basement, featuring a continuous balcony at first-floor level. The rear elevation extends to full four storeys and attic, with small three-storey hipped service extensions to most properties and additional extensions particularly at the south end.

Each house occupies three windows across its width. All windows are sashes set in moulded architraves with keystones. At first-floor level, small moulded cornices support central raised panels. Ground-floor doorways, approached by steps, are typically positioned to the right, with basement area steps at the opposite end. The end units (Nos. 132 and 146) feature a raised attic storey with six-pane sashes; the remaining houses have two small flat-roofed slate-cheeked dormers behind the parapet, except No. 141 (Marina Court), which has a large hipped Victorian canted dormer.

Many windows retain their original glazing bars: nine-pane to second floor, fifteen-pane at balcony level, twelve-pane at ground floor, and sixteen-pane in the basement. No. 132 has two-light casements with a deep transom light at first floor. At ground floor, most units have lost glazing bars, though some retain bars to the upper sash only. Basement-level glazing bars survive to bays 7, 8, and 10–13 and 16.

Doors are generally panelled with side lights and plain transom lights, set in moulded architraves atop five stone steps. No. 132 has a projecting flat-roofed portico on Ruskinian Byzantine columns to its left. Doors at Nos. 135 and 137 are blocked and contain plain sashes; No. 138 is blocked with a small six-pane sash. The terrace retains original spearhead railings returned to the doorways, with a gate to the basement steps.

The end units feature alternating rusticated quoins. Plain sill bands mark each floor, a moulded cornice runs across the elevation, and a blocking course with serpentine fluting crowns it. The projecting end pavilions display plain corner pilasters and moulded cornices at attic level. The first-floor balcony balustrade is cast-iron with anthemion decoration. Large brick stacks rise at the party walls to both front and rear roof slopes.

The left-hand return has dressed stone walling to basement and first floor, with brick or rendering above, incorporating various windows including arched sashes with glazing bars at four levels centrally. A narrow full-height brick extension rises to the left. The right-hand return, facing Lennox Street, also features stone to basement and first floor, with yellow brick above. It includes a blind light to the left and central arched sashes with bars at four levels. The rear elevation is rendered and retains mostly original dormers—two to each unit—with glazing-bar sashes above plain flush stone lintels, plus the small service extension. The end units return with an attic storey in stone with rusticated quoins.

Internal inspection of No. 146 revealed two main rooms with a transverse dogleg staircase between them to the left of the lobby. The inner lobby glazed door has side lights and a large transom light with margin panes. Many doors throughout feature moulded architraves. Small-scale cornices with egg-and-dart enrichment appear throughout. The staircase has stick balusters and a mahogany swept handrail. The ground-floor front room contains a large stone arched fire opening with keystone and fielded panels over a cast-iron grate; the rear room has a bold console fire surround. Cellars extend beyond the basement area under the pavement, reportedly common to the entire terrace.

This early Victorian terrace retains the general layout and proportions characteristic of earlier seaside developments across its seven units on each side of the raised centre block, with very little modification. Its stone frontage makes it among the finest presented units on the seafront.