Cobden Terrace

Cobden Terrace is a terrace of workers' houses built in 1889 by G. J. Skipper for William S. Clark, with James Pursey acting as builder. The terrace was constructed during a period of significant expansion within the shoe industry in Street. It is built of irregularly coursed squared rubble with a double Roman tile roof and large red brick stacks, some singly, others in pairs or groups of four, all with oversailing courses, coped verges, and kneelers. A prominent central cupola features arcaded glazing and an ogee-shaped lead roof topped with a weathervane.

The design is in an elaborate Jacobean style, presenting an irregular frontage that is symmetrical around its centre. The terrace has two storeys, with 2:3:1:3:1:1:1:1:1:3:1:3:2 bays. Projecting wings with front-facing gables are located in the first, third, fifth, ninth, eleventh, and thirteenth bays. Most windows are 4, 5, or 6-light stone-mullioned windows with metal casements, set under stopped labels, particularly on the projecting wings. There are also 3-light casements, with cambered heads to those on the ground floor, and single-light openings in dressed stone surrounds to each gable face.

The central three bays are the most elaborately decorated, with gablets above the outer pair on the first floor, and a 2-light mullioned window centrally placed. Door openings have varied treatments; recessed doors are set within chamfered 4-centred head stone surrounds at numbers 20, 28, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42, 44, 50 and 58. Projecting hipped and gabled tile porches, supported by open timber and rubble plinths, front doors at numbers 22, 24, 26, 30, 32, 46, 48, 52, 54, and 56. The doors themselves are simple plank. A chamfered dressed stone opening with a 4-centred head provides a central throughway. The left return features a projecting gable with 2, 3, and 4-light stone-mullioned windows beneath stopped labels, with matching 3-light casements to the rear.

The attention to detail and spacious planning create an atmosphere reminiscent of a garden suburb. The terrace holds group value with Lawson Terrace and Wilfrid Terrace, the corresponding terraces on the north side of Wilfrid Road.