78, 80 AND 82, PROMENADE

This is a group of probably three, now four, houses, dating to circa 1820-40. They have been altered later, including conversion to shops, likely before 1845, and with replacement ground-floor glazing in the 1980s. The construction is ashlar facing brick, with a slate roof. The building is two storeys high, with a third storey to the right, and has nine first-floor windows. The left two sections and the right three sections project forward. The first floor has six-over-six sash windows, except for a two-over-two window between one-over-one sashes on the right side; it has a crowning entablature and a low parapet to the left. A casement window is on the second floor. The ground floor has two shop fronts. The shop front to the left, beneath three first-floor windows, has a panelled plinth, basket-arched plate-glass shop windows with slender mullions, and is canted with a glazed entrance door. It features a continuous frieze with a raised segmental-arched central panel. The other shop front, encompassing numbers 80 and 82, has end panelled pilasters and three dividing pilasters with ornate decoration. The continuous entablature has scroll decoration with masks and a dentil cornice. It also has renewed plate-glass windows and glazed doors. The interior was not inspected. The Promenade was laid out in 1818 as a tree-lined avenue and by 1826 was a carriage drive with a gravelled walk. Originally surrounded by "rows of elegant houses," by 1845 the southeast side had become predominantly occupied by professional or business establishments. The frieze on numbers 80 and 82 is an unusual surviving feature from the Promenade’s expansion in the mid-19th century.