Portland House

Portland House, and Nos. 2 to 7, dates from 1855, with Nos. 2 to 7 likely built shortly afterwards. These are simple classical buildings with three-window fronts, although No. 1 is two storeys higher with advanced hipped end pavilions. The facades are of rusticated quoins (apart from No. 6, which uses end pilaster strips) and are finished with scribed render, cement render, and roughcast, set against slate roofs with wide boarded eaves. There are six chimney stacks of cement render and two of rubble. The windows are mostly 12-pane sashes, with 16-pane sashes to the ground floors of Nos. 1 and 7. No. 1 has lintels over the windows; Nos. 2 to 7 have lugged architraves, some with keystones. Decorative bands and cills are present on No. 2. The entrances are arched from Nos. 2 to 6, with a rusticated surround to No. 2, bracketed hoods to Nos. 3 and 5, and panelled architraves with keystones to Nos. 4 and 6. Nos. 1 and 7 feature open pedimented doorcases with slender columns. The recessed doors are 6-panelled to Nos. 2 and 4 to 7, 8-panelled to No. 1, modern to No. 3, and all have 5-pane fanlights, except for No. 6. The doorways of Nos. 1 and 7 have panelled reveals.

The rear of the building features plain scribed render to the right-hand wall, various cross ranges, and a rendered left-hand wall overlooking the River Aeron, with sash windows and a side entrance. A datestone at the base reads “Portland House built by Benjamin Evans in 1855”.