History

Two houses of an unusual stepped castellated stuccoed terrace of 1839, known as Spring Gardens Terrace. Built for William Rees, solicitor, probably to designs by William Owen, the terrace, now Nos 5-9 originally comprised six two-bay houses and one, No 9, of three bays. Nos 8 and 8a, two houses with exceptional two-storey cast-iron verandas were joined and owned by Rees himself. Each house has a mansard roofed attic behind battlements, and the windows in a sunk panel to right of the door bay. They have full basements and the doors reached up steps over the basement areas. The heavy two-panel doors are similar to doors in Victoria Place by Owen. William Rees was a leading non-conformist, and stood as a Liberal in the 1857 Parliamentary election.
Nos 8 and 8A are disused and in poor repair 2005.

Exterior

Two stepped terraced houses, now one, unpainted stucco with slate mansard roofs behind battlemented parapets and each with rendered brick right end stack. Two storeys, attic and
basement, each house is of two bays, the right bay set in a large square-headed recess which extends upwards from ground floor sill level. Attic windows hidden by parapet. Main windows were small-paned hornless sashes with margin lights and slate sills: narrow sash to first floor left over arched doorway with door of two heavy panels under radiating-bar fanlight. In sunk panel to right on each house is a broader sash to first floor over very wide tripartite sash. Cambered-headed basement window below each tripartite sash, with marginal glazing. Flight of broad stone steps up to each door with iron side railings. Basement door is under steps.
No 8 has later sashes with marginal glazing bars but original basement window, original door with plain fanlight, No 8A has earlier C20 casements with top lights, but original basement window, and door is later C19 four-panel with plain fanlight. Ornate scrolled cast-iron uprights to side railings to No 8, simpler to No 8A.
Exceptional two-storey veranda of wrought and cast iron, comprising on the first floor two narrow arched centre openings flanked by two wide openings, elliptical-arched, and the ground floor similar, but only one narrow arched opening, framing the door of No 8, while No 8A has a single wide opening across the whole front. These openings are framed by a trellis of scrolled cast-ironwork, five uprights on the upper level, four below, with identical members used as the lintel pieces at both levels, and the arch spandrels formed with wrought iron scrolls. Similar arch at right angles under balcony, one each side of the platform in front of the door to No 8 and one on right side of platform outside door of No 8A. The balcony has heavy cast-iron scrolls supporting each end. The upper level has balcony panels of intricate cast iron made by the Coalbrookdale foundry, one panel in each of the two narrow openings, three in each broad outer opening.
Rear has added tall stuccoed rear wing with hipped roof, three storeys, rubble stone the garden front stuccoed with canted bay, first floor large tripartite window and top floor sash window, all boarded over 2005. .
Front railings have two damaged cast-iron openwork gateposts with gabled tops flanking the steps to No 8 and to each side are iron spearhead area railings on low stone copings like those on Nos 5 and 9. Rails continue in front of steps to No 8A.

Interior

Interior not accessible, said to have been much damaged in recent years.

Reasons for Listing

Included for special architectural interest as part of Spring Gardens Terrace, especially notable for the exceptional ironwork.

External Links

• Cadwr Listing
• Wikidata Q29507563

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

• 
  Berkshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Listed Buildings, Conservation Areas and Monuments
• 
  Setting up a Listed Building Heritage Partnership Agreement: Historic England Advice Note 5
• 
  Northumberland (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Kent: North East and East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Wiltshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)