Taw Vale Taw Vale Terrace Rear Yard And Garden Walls And Adjoining Stable Blocks

A pair of semi-detached houses known as Taw Vale Terrace, built in the 1830s as part of a development related to the Taw Valley Railway Company, alongside the Railway Inn. The houses are constructed of local volcanic trap rubble, with the front elevations plastered and the rear roughcast. They have slate roofs and brick chimney shafts.

Each house has a symmetrical L-shaped plan, consisting of two rooms wide with a central entrance and a projecting rear lavatory. There are outer, rear service wings extending at right angles, with roofs parallel to the main blocks. The front elevations have deep eaves supported by brackets and clasping pilasters with sunk panels on either side. A central Tuscan doorcase, matching that of the Railway Inn, frames the six-panel front doors, with stepped access and lower flush panels and upper glazed panels on number 1. Original 16-pane sash windows are present throughout, with a 12-pane window on the first floor centre. The outer returns, featuring two gables, also retain original sash windows and panelled doors leading to the service areas, with doorcases including pilasters and flat porch hoods. Small-pane stair windows, cut across by the stairs, feature margin glazing, with number 1 retaining stained glass in the margin panes of its stair window.

The enclosed rear service yards are largely intact; number 1 includes a small two-storey building, which was originally a coachman's residence and later converted into a wash-house and coal store. The rear garden walls are tall and unrendered, constructed of volcanic stone rubble, with doorways leading off Four Mills Lane. Two stable blocks are attached to the service wing of number 2, with roofs parallel to the carriageway. Each stable has a carriage door and two loft doors. The carriageway retains remnants of pitched stone paving.

The interior of number 1, the only one inspected, exhibits complete original features including decorated plaster cornices and arches, original joinery like skirtings, panelled doors, shutters, a marble chimney piece in the front left room, a stick baluster staircase with a mahogany handrail, and a small unheated room, possibly a butler's pantry or office, overlooking the service entrance. Comparison with number 4 indicates that each villa was fitted out with slightly different details. The overall plan of the development, including numbers 3 & 4, ancillary walls and stables, is unusually complete. A curving drive separates numbers 2 and 3.