12-13, Oxford Street

A pair of cottages forming part of a terrace, built between 1853 and 1854 for the Great Western Railway Company. The cottages are constructed from ashlar limestone, set in black mortar, and have slate roofs with brick stacks. Each cottage is two storeys high, with a single bay and a through passage to the side. They feature chamfered window and door surrounds, the door surrounds having splayed stops. The windows are C20 replacements, consisting of four panes per sash, and the doors are also C20, with fifteen panes. These cottages were part of a larger village designed by I.K. Brunel to house workers for the Great Western Railway works and were constructed in phases between 1842 and 1855, reflecting the financial difficulties of the building contractors. The village was acquired by the local authority in 1966 and subsequently restored. It is considered one of Britain’s best-preserved and most ambitious railway settlements.