3, Bellaire

A small house, likely dating to the 18th century, with alterations in the late 18th and early 19th century, and substantial renovation in the late 20th century. A building on the site was documented as early as 1611. It is constructed of roughcast mass wall construction, with a natural slate roof gabled at the left end. Brick chimney stacks feature corbelled cornices. The house has a double-depth plan, with two rooms wide, and a central entrance passage from which the staircase rises at right angles.

The symmetrical facade has a three-window arrangement. A timber lattice gabled porch, likely from the early 19th century, features scalloped barge-boards with a pendant and finial. There are two ground-floor windows with 16-pane sashes, dated to the 19th century. Three first-floor windows retain their original 12-pane sashes, characteristic of the early 18th century. These windows have boxed frames and old glass.

The interior features attractive paving in the entrance passage, and some original 19th-century joinery survives, though the house was extensively altered in the late 20th century.

Historical records indicate that the house, along with the adjacent property at No. 2, was purchased by John Cutliffe from Lord Howard in 1611 and was then known as Cutliffe’s Tenement. Nicholas Tossell, a builder, acquired the premises before 1800, and may have been responsible for dividing it into two separate dwellings.