Park Lawn (Number 31) And Springfield Lawn (Number 33) And Attached Railings

A pair of semi-detached villas, number 31 Park Lawn and number 33 Springfield Lawn, were built around 1833 to 1850. They are constructed of ashlar over brick, with a concealed roof, a stucco central ridge stack, and iron balustrades. The villas are two storeys high with a basement, and have attics at the rear. The front elevation has seven first-floor windows arranged 1:1:3:1:1, with projecting wings on the ends; a further recessed bay is set back on the left. Flights of five roll-edged stone steps lead to the entrances, which feature four-panel, part-glazed doors with margin-glazing overlights, set within porches. The porches have paired pilasters, an architrave, frieze, cornice, and a balustrade with a pierced X-motif, forming a balcony to the first-floor window. Six-panel sashes are present throughout, with taller windows on the ground floor. Cornices on consoles adorn the sills of the three central ground-floor windows and the window in the recessed bay on the left. A crowning frieze, cornice, low parapet, further frieze and cornice, and blocking course complete the exterior. The basement has smaller six-panel sashes. The left return has a full-height canted bay with a six-panel sash on the first floor, and two-panel sashes between a blind window and a six-panel sash, both with cornices on consoles. The rear retains six-panel and eight-panel sashes; the attics have casement windows. The interior of the villas has not been inspected. Subsidiary features include area railings with a similar X-motif. A verandah to the canted bay on the left return features slender Doric columns, and the balustrade has the Carron Company's heart-and-anthemion motif. The dividing railings are arrowhead-shaped and have bars and dogbars. General Sir James Grant (1808-75) resided at Park Lawn. The Park itself had been laid out by 1833 by Thomas Billings as an oval, tree-lined drive with a central park that briefly served as a zoological garden in the mid-19th century. Samuel Daukes acquired the development in 1839 and continued construction. The design of the villas was influenced by the schemes for Regent’s Park in London developed by White and Nash in 1809-11.