57 Vale Street

Elegant pair of 3-storey, 2-bay Georgian houses forming a unified group. Built of brown brick in Flemish bond on a high limestone rubble plinth, with a continuous slate roof hipped to the end wall of no.59. Sandstone quoins are present on no.59, and a large shared central chimney serves both buildings.

Both houses have their entrances on the raised ground floor, approached by long flights of stone steps. The steps to no.57 lead straight on, whilst those to no.59 approach from the side (a 19th-century alteration). Each entrance is framed by a tall classical wooden doorcase with colonnettes supporting a cornice and open pediment above. No.57 retains its original 6-panel door, whilst no.59 has a Victorian replacement featuring arched glazed lights to the top. Both retain their decorative fanlights.

No.57 displays broad 16-pane unhorned, near-flush sash windows to the right-hand bay on all floors, with the second-floor sash notably squatter than the others. Above the entrance are 12-pane sashes, again squatter on the top floor. All windows have segmentally-arched heads. No.59 retains windows in a similar arrangement but reversed above the entrance. The left-hand bay of no.59, however, features a large 2-storey rectangular bay with tripartite windows set within sandstone surrounds with slab mullions. The broader central sections have 2-pane upper and single-pane lower sections, with plainer sections flanking them. An iron balustrade surmounts the flat roof of this bay. The corresponding second-floor window to this bay is a 12-pane casement.

Between the two houses runs a wide basement entrance with a sandstone segmental arch and associated label, fitted with boarded doors.

The interior was not inspected at the time of survey.