4 Howe Street

This is a terrace of seven houses built in 1836, confirmed by a slate dated slab near the gable apex and a tithe map of 1840. The terrace was originally shown on the 1840 tithe map as a row of back-to-back cottages, although by 1889 the Ordnance Survey map showed only the top house as such. The unusual arrangement of the terrace, with the top house facing the road as a wider, two-unit gable-entry house, while the others are stepped down behind it as single-unit, double-depth plan dwellings, may relate to its possible original design as a back-to-back terrace. The houses are constructed of rubble, rendered on the front and upper gable elevations, with the rear left exposed. They have slate roofs and brick stacks. The top house has a doorway to the right of the gable, and paired 6-pane sash windows on each floor. The houses behind have doorways to the left and a single window on each floor, predominantly 4-pane sashes, although some 12-pane sashes survive in the rear elevation, and some windows have been replaced. Brick stacks are positioned at right angles to the ridge line on the gable ends. The location of the terrace, alongside others in the village, suggests a higher than usual concentration of workers’ housing, likely linked to the presence of a textile factory in 1840. The terrace belongs to a group of seven.