West Bank
Location/Address
Church Brow, Bowdon, Altrincham WA14 2SG
Type
Description
First shown on the Ordnance Survey 1st Edition 1:2500 map of 1877, occupying the footprint of an earlier building shown on the Bowdon tithe map of 1838.
A pair of semi-detached houses of two storeys plus basement with a pitched slate roof. The houses have a third attic storey with original window openings in the gables facing Church Brow and Langham Road. Roof lights have more recently been installed in the two roof pitches of the main roof.
The two houses have principal elevations at right angles to each other – one to Church Brow and the other to the Church Brow/Landham Road junction. The building has a stucco/render finish incised to suggest a stonework elevation with expressed window cills and quoins at the elevation corners. Each house has a single storey, flat roofed canted bay. Brickwork chimneys with original/historic pots remain.
The house facing Church Brow: The Church Brow elevation has a front door surround with pilasters. The front door with leaded windows and leaded over-light and the multi-pane sliding sash windows all appear appropriate to the age and nature of the building although (some of) the windows are more recent replacements. A Google Streetview image of 2015 shows the ground floor windows has having less sub-division than at present which could have been the original window design or, for these ground floor windows, an historic modernisation of windows to at least the higher status rooms as larger panes of glass became possible, cheaper and fashionable. More research is required. The Langham Road elevation openings are less coordinated with a ground floor opening containing a pair of uPVC French doors serving a small garden area, a multi-pane sliding sash at first floor and a multi pane top-hung multi-pane (possibly uPVC) attic window. There is a small conservatory extension sitting in a small rear area largely by adjacent built form. The front garden area is stone flagged with limited planting.
The house facing the Church Brow/Langham Road junction has fared less well with only remnants of a front door surround surviving, an unsympathetic soil stack/pipework installation on the front elevation and all windows replaced in uPVC except for the attic windows the windows are all 1 over 1. The attic windows are two pane casements. A ground floor opening on the front elevation contains a pair of French doors in uPVC. It may be that French doors were historically in the current locations on the building? While the material and direction of opening of the windows is inconsistent with the age of the building the sub-division (other than the largest window of the bay) is not necessarily inconsistent with the possible historic (if not original) treatment of these windows (as described with the adjoining property). The original stone boundary treatment with copings and gate posts survives to the boundary facing the junction, along Langham Road and along part of Church Brow. The remaining part of the boundary to Church Brow appears to be of some age has matching stone copings and gate posts but is otherwise in brick.
Statement of Significance
Asset type
BuildingArchitectural and Artistic Interest
These buildings retain a level of historic fabric and historic architectural detail which make a positive contribution to the surrounding area.Archaeological Interest
Potential to retain below-ground remains of the building shown on the tithe map.Landmark Status
The building occupies a prominent position at the junction of Church Brow and Park Road.
Date Listed
24 Jul 2023
Last Updated
19 Jun 2023
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