Trafalgar Lawn (Terrace) And Attached Rear Courtyard Walls

Trafalgar Lawn (Terrace) and Attached Rear Courtyard Walls

Terrace of seven houses on Newport Road in Barnstaple, dating from the early 19th century. The terrace is positioned at right angles to Newport Road with a large lawned area in front. It comprises a large centre house (No. 4) with a three-house terrace loosely linked to it on either side. On the left, the link takes the form of a single-storey corridor. On the right, it is the enclosing wall of a courtyard giving access to No. 4 through the latter's side wall.

The exterior is rendered with slated roofs and rendered chimneys on end and party walls, except that the end chimneys at Nos. 1-3 are of exposed red brick, probably rebuilt. The terrace is designed as a piece of architecture in the grand manner. The building is two storeys with semi-basements, with a garret at No. 4 and probably inserted garrets at Nos. 1, 2 and 5.

No. 4 (the centre house) receives considerable emphasis and has loftier storey-heights. The terrace ends (Nos. 1 and 7) are given slight projections. No. 4 is a four-window range, with the two centre windows set in a projection finished with a triangular pediment. In front of the ground storey is a portico with Greek Doric columns, breaking forward in front of the centrepiece where it is supported by paired columns at each end, with a further column supporting each end of the whole portico. Between its columns is a twentieth-century iron railing with Masonic symbols. The portico stands on a raised terrace with openings (two segmental-headed ones flanked by two with flat heads) giving light to the semi-basement windows. On top of the portico is a patterned iron balcony railing. The whole front is flanked by giant panelled pilasters rising to an entablature with triangular pediment over the centrepiece.

French windows throughout feature tall transom-lights, all small-paned with margin panes. Ground-storey windows have reeded architraves with flowers in the top corners. A doorway in the right side wall has half-columns with enriched capitals and an entablature with modillioned cornice.

Nos. 1-3 and 5-7 are three-window ranges with centre doorways, the latter accessed by flights of steps and reached by Doric porches. Giant panelled pilasters between and flanking the fronts rise to moulded cornices with parapets above. No. 7 has a modillioned top cornice. A raised band runs below the cills in the upper storey. Six-panelled doors are throughout; the top two panels are now glazed at Nos. 6 and 7, the top four at Nos. 2, 3 and 5, and the whole upper part of the door is altered at No. 1. Windows have sashes with 8 over 12 panes, except that No. 1 now has plain sashes in the ground storey and No. 6 has them throughout. No. 7 has sashes with margin panes and, to the right of the ground storey, a bay window with rounded top corners to the lights and a moulded top cornice.

The corridor between Nos. 3 and 4 is divided into three bays by Doric pilasters. There appears to have been a doorway with plain imposts in the wider middle bay. The right-hand bay still has a doorway and fanlight with radial bars. Above the pilasters runs a tall entablature and parapet.

The courtyard wall to the right of No. 4 has in its centre a gateway with tall square piers having ball finials. The coping of the walls ramps up to them at either side.

At the right-hand end of No. 7 is what appears to be a nineteenth-century extension, one window wide, with rusticated pilaster-strip and bracketed top cornice.

At the left-hand end of No. 1, adjoining Newport Road, is a single-storey lean-to. Its front is architecturally treated with a single round-arched window set in a deep round-arched recess with plain imposts. Above it is a tall parapet containing a blank oblong panel. Attached to the front of this feature, along the road frontage, is a short stretch of wall and a square gate-pier, the coping of the wall ramped up against the house. The end wall facing the road has no architectural treatment and was plainly not thought to be of interest.

The rear walls, visible from Trafalgar Gardens, have small-paned sashes and round-arched stair windows. The interiors were not inspected.

The rear courtyard walls include long stretches of roughcast cob.