Nos 26, 28 And 30 And Railings To Front

A terrace of three houses, now used as offices, flats, and a restaurant, built in 1823 for and by Paul Nixson, a Carlisle architect who also had his own marble works. The houses are constructed of calciferous sandstone ashlar, with rustication on the ground floor, sill bands, and a modillioned eaves cornice. They have a graduated greenslate roof with skylights and dormer windows at the rear, along with 19th-century brick chimney stacks, some of which are rendered and painted. The terrace is three storeys high and has nine bays, with each house consisting of three bays, and being double-depth.

Three left-hand railed gates in a railed void provide access down stone steps to cellar doors located beneath each entrance. Each house has steps leading to a panelled door and overlight featuring a Greek-key pattern, set within a prostyle Ionic porch. The ground floor and cellar windows are sash windows with glazing bars in plain reveals, while the first-floor windows are sash windows with glazing bars, set within stone architraves with cornices and panelled aprons; those above the doorways have console brackets. Smaller attic windows are also present.

The interior features moulded plaster ceilings on both floors, some decorated with roundels and panels, and a rib-vaulted hall in No. 26. Panelled internal shutters are found at the front and rear. There are good 19th-century white and black marble fireplaces in most principal rooms; a particularly fine white marble fireplace with a figured frieze, likely carved by David Dunbar (Nixson's principal sculptor), is located in the first-floor room of No. 26. Nixson was known for his carved fireplaces. Panelled doors are set within panelled reveals, some made of mahogany. Original staircases remain, including a spiral staircase with patterned cast-iron balusters in a domed well within No. 26.

Historical records in the Carlisle Patriot of 5 July 1823 stated that the houses would be “a great ornament to the town” with their beautiful white stone and architecture. This identification has been confirmed by BC Jones. An initial misattribution of the construction date to 1829 was based on incorrect land tax assessment records.