5 and 6 Prospect Row, including attached front area railings and rear boundary wall, Gillingham, Medway

Summary

Pair of early to mid-C18 town houses. C19 alterations and single-storey ranges added to the rear.

Description

Pair of early to mid-C18 town houses. C19 alterations and single-storey ranges added to the rear.

MATERIALS: the front elevation to no. 5 is of grey brick, laid in header bond, with red brick dressings, and has a later, second-floor of darker red brick laid in stretcher bond. The rear elevation is of red brick laid in English bond, probably of C19 date. No. 6 is of red brick, the front elevation of laid in a loose Flemish bond (whitewashed) and the rear elevation in English bond. Tile roofs.

PLAN: No. 5 is of three storeys (originally two storeys) plus a cellar with a double plan, originally with a side entrance off a passage at the northern end of no. 6. This was enclosed in the late C19, becoming part of the interior of no. 5, served by a street-front entrance which was added. No. 6 is of three storeys plus a cellar with a rear closet range and has a central internal stack between the front and rear ranges, and the stair adjacent to it. There are long single-storey ranges to the rear of both houses, probably C19 in date, that to no.6 possibly originally a stable.

EXTERIOR: the front elevation of no. 5 is of two bays with an entrance set within the fabric of no. 6. It has a pair of six-over-six timber horned sash windows to the ground and first floors, set in red-brick segmental arched openings with stone keystones. The later second floor has a centrally placed window with a flat red brick head. It has a C19 moulded timber door surround with flat hood supported on consoles. No. 5 has a transverse pitched roof at the front with a lean-to semi-mansard roof (abutting the side wall of No. 6) to the rear of the central stack. The rear fenestration is of single, two-over-two, timber horned sashes in square openings on the first and second floors and modern French windows.

Of four bays, the front elevation of no. 6 has a parapet with a dentil cornice. The regular fenestration has two windows on each floor, set centrally with entrances either side on the ground floor (that to the left gives entrance to no.5, as stated above). Windows are eight-over-eight horned timber sashes set in brick segmental-arched openings. The C18 timber door surround has pilasters supporting a plain entablature with a later hood over. The six-panel door has the top two panels replaced with glazed lights. The rear elevation also has a dentil cornice and there is a two-storey closet wing (with a single-storey link to an originally detached rendered, single-storey range with a tiled hipped-roof, possibly originally a stable). Fenestration of the rear elevation is broadly regular, arranged in threes. The central window on the first floor has been blocked. The central ground-floor window has been converted into a French window, with a single brick arch now connecting it with the left-hand window. Windows are mainly six-over-six hornless timber sashes in tall openings with arched heads.

INTERIOR: in no. 5, the ground-floor front room has full-height panelling, window seats, a moulded cornice, four-panel door and a fireplace with a replaced or reworked moulded timber chimney-piece and an adjoining alcove with slender curved shelves, and a glazed front. It has full-height panelling in the hall, from which there are stairs to a brick-vaulted cellar. The rear room has a timber chimney-piece with reeded jambs and flanking cupboards. The first-floor front bedroom has full-height panelling and a moulded cornice. The second-floor front bedroom has a plain timber chimney-piece and adjoining alcove. The newel stair has a plain square newel post and stick balusters to its top landing.

In no.6 the ground-floor front room has full-height plain panelling, at least in part of later date, a large brick fireplace opening with a timber bressumer and an adjoining alcove, with probably original, slender curved shelves. The rear room has an identical fireplace with an adjoining cupboard and a four-panel door. The first-floor front room has full-height panelling with a dado rail and a dentil cornice, and window seats. There are brick fireplace openings with bressumers to all upper-floor rooms. The open-well stairs, which are predominantly C18, have columnar newel posts with square section blocks to the base and top, flattened pyramidal newel caps, heavily moulded rails, at least in part, turned balusters, and dado panelling with a ramped rail.

SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: a brick boundary wall between the two houses has a soldier-course capping and steps down in height to the east.

History

Prospect Row was developed in a piecemeal fashion between c1710 and 1756, providing accommodation for civilian, naval and army personnel associated with Chatham dockyard and, from the mid-C18, its fortifications. Construction started at the northern end of the street with nos. 2-4 Prospect Row being built between 1711 and 1714. No. 6 appears to have been built around 1740 but no.5 may be earlier. The 1866 1st edition Ordnance Survey map shows a passage between no. 5 and no. 6 but this had gone by the time of the 1896 edition. Long ranges, presumably single-storey workshops or stabling, are shown to the rear of both houses on the 1866 map.

Reasons for Listing

Nos. 5 and 6 Prospect Row, Brompton, two early to mid-C18 town houses, are listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Architectural interest: as good examples of early Georgian terraced town houses retaining interior features and layout. No. 6 retains its original doorcase;
* Historic interest: as a reminder of the early development of Brompton, providing accommodation for the dockyard and its garrison. Additions to the rear and infilling of the passage between the two houses provides evidence of subsequent C19 development;
* Group value: for its contribution to one of Brompton’s earliest streets, and relationship with its other listed houses.

External Links

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