72-82 Mantle Street

MATERIALS: It is built of dark red brick to the front and random stone rubble to the rear; Nos. 72-76 have been rendered and painted. The roof is hipped at the east end (No. 72) and clad in slate, and there are four ridge chimneystacks. The fenestration is a mix of styles and dates, including some original sashes with glazing bars, all with incised lintels and keystones, though the lintel to the ground-floor window of No. 74 is a painted imitation.

PLAN: The six cottages are of two storeys, though some have attic rooms and basements, and all are double-depth on plan. Several have rear additions.

EXTERIOR: The main (north) elevation fronts onto Mantle Street with Nos. 72-74 having a higher roof line; moulded eaves cornice. The left-hand pair of cottages (Nos. 72-74) have round-headed entrances with rusticated heads and foliage capitals. The doorway to No. 74 also has panelled pilasters and reveals and a six-panel door with fanlight over. It also has a later shop front projecting on brackets with round-headed lights; the first floor window is a C19 horned sash with glazing bars. No. 76 has a late-C20 porch and uPVC windows. Nos. 78 and 80 have original door surrounds and late-C20 doors, and No. 80 has three horned sash windows with glazing bars. No. 82 has a doorway and Georgian-type window set under a lean-to hood. The right (west) return is of brick with slate hanging to the upper half. There are pairs of windows to the ground and first floors; those to the ground floor have lintels of rubbed brick, and a single attic window in the apex of the gable; all are late-C20 or early-C21 uPVC replacements. The rear elevation of the terrace is more altered, with single-storey additions and around half of the windows being modern replacements; No. 76 has a gabled roof dormer, while Nos. 74 and 80 each retain a C19 timber casement window to the first floor. However, as designed, the rear elevation was clearly of lesser significance, employing stone rubble in contrast to the finer brickwork of the front elevation.

INTERIOR: Half of the terrace was inspected internally. Although there has been extensive (but far from complete) loss of original fixtures and fittings such as fireplaces, internal doors and other features, there is enough surviving to indicate the original internal layout of the cottages. Inside, No. 72 was found to have few original features, except for a fireplace with cast-iron grate and wooden surround and the stair in the building's south-east corner which appears to be original. No. 76 retains no historic fittings, while No. 78 is understood to have some C19 doors and architrave. The internal layout of No. 82 remains largely intact with straight-flight staircases leading to both the first and attic floors. It also retains a C19 ledge and braced door to the cellar, and two fireplaces with wooden surrounds; that to one of the bedrooms retains its cast-iron grate.

The roof carpentry appears to survive substantially intact.