29 And 31, Southgate Street

Two town houses, dating to circa 1740, now used as shops and dwellings. They are located on Southgate Street, Gloucester, with a rear wing overlooking the churchyard of St Mary de Crypt and a former service range attached to the rear of number 31, linked to Greyfriars Inn. The houses are built of brick with stone dressings and have a slate roof.

The building is a double-depth block with a five-bay front. The ground floor now features two 20th-century shop fronts, flanking a central pair of doorways. Originally there was a plinth of three courses of raised and chamfered ashlar, with raised and chamfered quoins at the outer corners of the ground floor. A stone band runs along the first floor, and there is a sill band at the first-floor window level. The original modillion cornice has been replaced with a brick parapet. The central doorways are arched with fanlights featuring radiating glazing bars, set within rusticated stone surrounds and framed by paired three-quarter Ionic columns supporting an entablature with a pulvinated frieze and pediment. Above the doorway is a Venetian window with a Gibbs surround and sashes with glazing bars. The other bays on the first floor have sashes with glazing bars (3x4 panes) in openings with moulded stone architraves, featuring raised and stepped triple key stones in the lintels. The second floor has five sashes with glazing bars (3x4 panes) in openings with moulded stone, eared and shouldered architraves.

The interior of number 31 has had all original internal walls removed to make way for the shop, but the original layout is suggested by the moulded cornices on the ceilings. A mid-18th century timber staircase is located to the rear right, featuring an open string, carved tread-end brackets, column newels, column-on-vase balusters, a curtail step, a ramped handrail and a panelled dado. Number 29 has not been inspected.