27 AND 27A, FORD

27 and 27A Ford is a house, now divided into flats, dating from around 1840. It was refurbished and divided around 1985. The building is constructed of plastered stone rubble, with the front blocked out to resemble ashlar. It has rear lateral stacks with plastered brick chimney shafts and old pots, and a slate roof.

The house has a single-depth plan, originally two rooms wide with a central front doorway leading to an entrance hall and staircase, though the layout was altered when it was divided. The exterior features two storeys with an attic and basement, and originally had a symmetrical three-window front with replacement 12-pane sash windows on the first floor. The central doorway has a fielded six-panel door flanked by French windows with glazing bars. There is a late 20th-century additional bay to the right with French windows, and a verandah that was rebuilt around 1985. The deep eaves have a plastered soffit, and the hipped roof at both ends contains 20th-century dormer windows.

The left end wall descends to basement level, which includes a 20th-century part-glazed door and a 6/9-pane sash window. A canted bay window extends through the ground and first floors, featuring forward 12-pane sashes with side 8-pane sashes. The interior was modernised around 1985 but is said to retain original joinery and other features.

This house is part of a group of residences built in the second quarter of the 19th century alongside New Street (now Victoria Road), which was constructed in 1825 to allow horse-drawn carriages to enter and exit the town for the first time.