Nos 5, 6, 7 And 8 Including Front Railings

A row of four former estate cottages, dating to circa 1877 and built for the Honourable Mark George Kerr Rolle. The cottages are constructed of snecked grey limestone with ashlar quoins, incorporating bands of red sandstone ashlar for stacks and chimneyshafts, including projecting bands of red sandstone. The roofs are slate, with No. 8 retaining original scallop-shaped slates.

The cottages were designed with a plan consisting of a row of four contemporary dwellings facing east, numbered 5-8 from left to right. The left and right-hand pairs are mirror images of each other. Each cottage is one room wide and two rooms deep. An axial stack is located centrally between Nos. 6 and 7, serving back-to-back fireplaces, with projecting end stacks serving Nos. 5 and 8. The ends of the cottages are articulated to resemble crosswings and project slightly forward. The two-storey cottages have single-storey service outshots to the rear.

The front facade is symmetrical, featuring a 1:2:1 window arrangement. Ground floor and outer first-floor windows have low segmental arches with alternate red and grey voussoirs; the ground floor arches have projecting keystones. The central two first-floor windows have arch-headed relieving arches of a similar voussoir design, with gables above them. Paired doorways, sharing gabled porches, are present at Nos. 5 and 6 and Nos. 7 and 8. These doorways contain original part-glazed plank doors, and each gable is adorned with a cross made of red sandstone. A band of red sandstone runs across the front at first-floor level. The gables above each end bay, the inner first-floor windows, and the porches are decorated with open shaped bargeboards, while the crosswings feature gables to the rear.

The interiors were not inspected, but the exterior suggests that No. 8 is the best preserved. A narrow strip of ground along the front is enclosed by original cast iron railings, which are plain with bulbous standards and fleur-de-lys finials. Original gates in the same style are also present. This was a Rolle estate village, with the main house, Stevenstone Court (now ruined), rebuilt in 1872-3. The village, including the Church of St Giles, was remodelled shortly afterwards.