Avenue House And Barracks House, Attached Walls, Gates, Gate Piers And Outbuildings

Avenue House and Barracks House, along with their attached walls, gates, gate piers, and outbuildings, were built in 1802 for the Marquis of Buckingham. The building was altered in the 20th century. Constructed of coursed squared limestone with 2-span and lean-to Welsh slate roofs, it features brick end and ridge stacks. The building follows a double-depth plan.

The main elevation, facing West Street, presents a symmetrical composition of a three-bay central block flanked by single-storey and attic wings with long, lean-to roofs. The central block has 9-pane sash windows with flat-arched heads on both the ground and first floors. The wings have similar windows on the ground floor with narrower, 6-pane sashes in the outermost bays and sash windows on the attic level with round-arched heads. Recessed bays are present under the roof at either end of the wings, and flat-topped roof dormer windows are visible. The building has a tall plinth, with a storey band to the central block that breaks forward slightly. The wings have hollow-chamfered wood eaves.

The rear elevation, facing the yard, has a wide, central panelled door with square glazed top lights, a moulded wood surround, a flat-arched head, and a hood on curved brackets. Panelled doors are also located to the right of centre and to the far left and right, while a 20th-century double-leaf plank door to the left of the centre provides access to a store. The fenestration is similar to that of the street elevation.

High attached limestone rubble walls enclose a long, narrow yard to the rear of the dwellings and connect the house to a single-storey outbuilding that runs the full length of the residential range. The walls are stone-coped and feature red brick gate piers with stepped stone caps at either end of the yard; tall double-leaf timber gates with wickets are also present. The outbuilding, originally partly stabling, is timber-framed with red brick panels in stretcher bond and a lean-to slate roof. The sides and rear walls continue those enclosing the yard and rise above the outbuilding with stone coping. The outbuilding’s roof is a 9-bay structure with tie beam trusses.

Inside the houses, spinal staircases rise in long, straight flights between walls from a round arch-headed opening and are lit by roof dormers. The barracks, built at the sole expense of the 1st Marquis of Buckingham, originally housed the Royal Bucks Militia and, later, the Royal Bucks Hussars. The main residence accommodated the Adjutant. A store formerly housed a 'Gatling' gun.