Description

SD 52SW LEYLAND FOX LANE (north side)

8/29 Nos. 10 to 60
- (even nos.)

- II

Continuous row of 26 houses,with basement workshops, most (if not all)
built in or before 1802 by a terminating Building Society and known
originally as "Friendly Society Houses" (and formerly numbered
consecutively as such); slightly concave line following road.
Distinguished both architecturally and colloquially as "step-houses".
Brick with stone dressings, slate roofs with 4-flue ridge chimneys. All
are double-pile single fronted houses; some at west end have individual
2-storey rear extensions. Two raised storeys with basement workshops
beneath; each has front door on the right approached by a flight of
steps at right angles to the facade (except ground level door to No. 16),
one window at ground floor level and 2 above: all these openings have
splayed stone heads, all these windows have stone sills, and most
windows are boxed sashes (No.16 has large square shop window with canopy
and pilastered case which are probably original; some others have
casements). The basements, approached by steps from the footpath, have
a door and 2 windows, the arrangement of these varying slightly; Nos. 18
and 20 retain original stone flagged pavings, stone steps, and spear
railings with urn finials both at the front and on the steps to the front
doors; but basement areas of many have been altered, and step railings
replaced with brick walls. No. 22 has firemark over door. Rear:
separate rear entrances to basements; 3-stage stairlight windows
(original 20-pane lights at No.26); 3-light casement windows (mostly
altered). Interiors: all have entrance hall, most have no internal
access to basements; some basements still have earth floors. History:
although many of the basements were used for handloom weaving, they were
probably built to be let by the original owner-occupiers, who were
occupationally mixed and mostly of the artisan middle class: one was a
master manufacturer who subsequently built a cotton mill in Leyland.
(In 1846 No.22 sold for £167) Despite some alterations, an unusually
large and complete survival of a type of housing now rare in Lancashire,
forming an agreeable architectural composition in relation to the church
tower to the east.

Listing NGR: SD5380821545

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26505606

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Department for Communities Listed Historic Buildings of Northern Ireland: Information Guide for the 2nd Survey of Historic Buildings
• 
  Warwickshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Historic Environment Law: Planning, Listed Buildings, Monuments, Conservation Areas and Objects by Harwood, Richard (2012) Paperback
• 
  Somerset: South and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Handbook 2 Books Bundle Collection (Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair,Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability)
• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990