Numbers 1-13 Including Cottage Behind Number 10 And Garden Wall To Numbers 8 And 9

Terrace of 13 houses on Barbican Terrace, Barnstaple, dating from the early to mid-19th century with minor later additions at the rear. The terrace comprises a group value listing including a detached cottage behind Number 10 and a garden wall between Numbers 8 and 9.

The houses are constructed of rendered solid walls, probably stone or brick, with slated roofs and red brick chimneys set on the ridges. Those chimneys at Numbers 1, 2 and 4 are rendered. The terrace is predominantly 2 storeys in height, except for a 3-storey block at Numbers 5, 6 and 7.

The frontages are largely uniform, presenting a 2-window range except Number 1, which is a 3-window range. Numbers 1 through 9 feature a raised band at first-floor level; otherwise the original fronts appear to have been entirely plain. Doorways are round-arched. Numbers 1, 5, 8 and 11 retain 6-panelled doors, though some panels have been glazed except at Numbers 1, 2 and 11. Numbers 1, 2 and 4 have fanlights with radial glazing bars, whilst Numbers 6, 7, 8, 9, 12 and 13 have rectangular fanlights with patterned glazing bars. Most other houses retain 19th-century panelled doors, except Number 10.

The windows are generally 6-paned sashes, with 9-paned lower sashes at ground and second storeys of Numbers 5, 6 and 7. Number 1 has 3-paned French windows at ground storey. Number 4 has late 20th-century PVC or aluminium windows in original openings. Numbers 3 and 11 have had mid or late 19th-century canted bay windows inserted at ground storey; Number 13 has a similar bay window rising through both storeys. Numbers 4 and 12 have moulded architraves added to all openings, as has the right-hand second-storey window of Number 13.

The 2-storeyed houses are finished with a simple moulded board below the eaves, while the 3-storeyed houses at Numbers 5, 6 and 7 have a modillioned eaves cornice. Numbers 6 and 13 have added dormer windows. The rear elevations, visible from Barbican Place, have been considerably altered but retain a number of barred sashes.

Interior inspection was carried out at Numbers 4 and 9 only. Number 4 features a panelled round arch at the end of the entrance passage. It has a wooden geometrical stair with thin, square-section balusters and shaped step-ends; the balustrade is voluted at the foot around a lily-shaped newel. A skylight above is set within an enriched modillioned cornice. The ground-floor front room has a 6-panelled door, panelled shutters, enriched cornice, and a grey marble chimneypiece with mantelshelf on brackets. A similar chimneypiece and cornice appear in the rear room. The rear wing has a 6-panelled door and larder with thin square-section balusters forming a grille. The first floor contains 2 front rooms, the right-hand room having a cornice enriched with flowers, and a moulded wood chimneypiece with circular panels in the top corners and cast-iron grate.

Number 9 has a ground-floor front room with a 6-panelled door, panelled shutters, enriched cornice and black marble chimneypiece. The stair has been rebuilt. On the first floor, the right-hand front room has a moulded black slate chimneypiece with round panels in the top corners and an ornate cast-iron grate.

The plans of Numbers 4 and 9, believed typical of the group, consist of 2 main rooms, front and back, with a staircase to one side of the rear room. An entrance passage on the ground floor opens to one side of the front room, and there is a short rear wing.

The garden wall between Numbers 8 and 9 is constructed of cob with a pantile coping.

The houses are believed, based on information from residents, to have been built at different times during the 1820s and 1830s, starting at the west end. Externally they follow a design common in Barnstaple during this period and are now the best-preserved examples of such work surviving in the centre of the town. The detached cottage behind Number 10 is reported to be earlier than the houses fronting the terrace.