Nos. 161 and 163 Magdalen Road

Nos. 161 and 163 Magdalen Road

A pair of early 19th-century villas dating to approximately 1820-40, extended and altered in the later 19th and 20th centuries.

The buildings are constructed of red brick with stucco render to the façade and rear, with slate-covered roofs. Both are three-storey structures with rectangular plans and rear additions.

Each building presents a three-bay façade with quoin pilasters and a cornice with parapet to the roof. No. 161 has a door in the left bay beneath a projecting canopy with peaked hood and cast-iron supports. The door features stained glass side lights and fanlight. The central and right bays contain a wide opening with five lights formed by substantial surrounds and decorative upper lights. The first and second floors have six-over-six unhorned sashes with slender glazing bars. Circular tie ends are visible on the first and second floors of the façade.

No. 163 has a glazed central door with fanlight and later 19th-century horned sashes to each side, all beneath round-arched heads. The peaked canopy is supported on cast-iron supports with a stone step, and a cast-iron boot scraper stands to the left of the door. The first floor has modified casements of later 19th or early 20th-century date, while the second floor casements appear to be of late 20th-century date.

The red brick flank wall of No. 163 is laid in Flemish bond with window openings to each floor; the second floor opening sits beneath a gauged brick flat head, and much of this brickwork is overburnt. The first floor opening has been rebuilt under a soldier course. Window frames to each floor have been removed. A 20th-century red brick rear extension stands forward of the building line. It is of lower three-storey height beneath a flat roof, partly tile hung and partly rendered. The right rear bay of No. 163 has a modified opening to the ground floor and two unhorned eight-over-eight sashes above. The rear of No. 161 features eight-over-eight and six-over-six unhorned sashes and a tile hung lean-to extension, with a pitch roof covered in slate and three truncated stacks.

To the rear of both buildings are adjacent single-storey brick structures, possibly former service buildings of later 19th-century date. They are rectangular on plan with hipped roofs and have machine-sawn timber lintels and timber casements. The service building to No. 161 has a local slate roof, whilst that to No. 163 appears to be covered in Welsh slate. Along the flank elevation and front garden to No. 163 by Barrack Road stands a section of 19th-century brick garden wall in Flemish garden wall (Sussex) bond.

No. 161 was not inspected in 2016, though photographs suggest extensive 20th-century refurbishment. Interior features such as stairs, fireplaces and joinery may remain in situ.

No. 163 largely retains its historic layout to each floor. A 19th-century stair towards the rear of the front hall features a slender handrail and newel post with modern replacement balusters. Some sections of the stair to the upper floors have been altered, although the flight from first to second floor landing retains a complete handrail and newel. The building retains 19th-century joinery with mouldings to many of the window reveals, skirting boards and ceiling cornices to the ground floor principal rooms. The roof has two 19th-century king post trusses with possible carpenter's marks to the west truss. The principal timbers including purlins date to the early-to-mid 19th century; other roof elements are later. The end walls are brick with wide relieving arches. Each floor is covered in pine boards of varying width and levels of alteration; those on the second floor appear to be of 19th-century date.