Royal Crescent (Terrace) With Area Railings

A terrace of 15 houses, built circa 1792 to 1805, on the Esplanade in Weymouth. The houses are rendered with slate roofs. They form a straight terrace with mansard roofs.

The exterior presents three storeys, an attic, and a basement to each house, with three windows per property. The windows are plain sashes, with those on the first floor extended down to ground level, and most incorporate balconies. Dormers are present in each house, with raking dormers on Nos. 101, 103-105, 108, 110 & 113, and Victorian gabled dormers elsewhere, featuring shaped bargeboards and finials. The parapet of Nos. 106 & 107 has been reduced in height opposite the dormers. The ground floor is rusticated, channelled to No. 101. Decorative cast-iron balconies are present, replaced at No. 101 and removed from No. 112, and are of two patterns, with anthemion or heavier infill. To the right of each property is an arched opening with a fanlight, set in a stepped reveal, above a door. The panelled doors are located at Nos. 101, 107 & 111-113; the fanlight to No. 113 has Y-tracery. A second-floor sill band, moulded cornice, blocking course, and a parapet are present, as are 15 deep ridge stacks, many with chimney pots.

The doors are generally accessed via four steps, with nosings to Nos. 104, 109 & 111-115. Spearhead railings with standards return to the doorways, with a gate and stone steps providing access to the basement on the left side of most properties, except at Nos. 110 & 112, which display inserted shop fronts and lack basement access. The left return to King Street is plain, while the right return features three windows and a small square light, alongside a two-storey wing with a slate mansard roof, 6-pane sashes, and a central basement light.

The interior has not been inspected. The terrace remains relatively unaltered, except for the loss of glazing bars from the sash windows. It is notable for lacking height variations or projections, and for originally being intended as part of a large crescent of 49 houses north of Gloucester Row, an intention that explains the building’s name.