Building record TR 34 SW 2300 - Historic Building 20 Worthington Street, Dover, Kent

Summary

20 Worthington Street, Dover. Likely mid C19th building, located on the north western side of Worthington Street, with a commercial and domestic use. Currently (2019) in a good condition. (location accurate to the nearest 1m based on available information)

Location

Grid reference Centred TR 3173 4156 (11m by 12m)
Map sheet TR34SW
County KENT
District DOVER, KENT
Civil Parish DOVER, DOVER, KENT

Map

Type and Period (1)

Full Description

Late C19th building, only survival of a block of C19th terraced buildings which were either demolished or destroyed by bombing during the second world war. Differs drastically in scale to the buildings located immediately to the north and is situated next to an undeveloped plot on its southern side. No 10 further up Worthington Street to the north east is of a similar style and scale. Tall and narrow building with a commercial use of the ground floor. The ground floor retains many of its original features. These include the pilasters and consoles over the party walls, the window and door frames and surrounds, panelled timber stall risers below the windows as well as the fascia and cornice at the top of the ground floor, all of which are in a painted (green) timber. The fascia protrudes from the façade while both the window and door are set back slightly from the street level. There is guttering attached to the top of the cornice within which there is a lot of vegetation growth. The door is set back further than the window and the entrance retains its original highly decorative Victorian tiles on the floor, which are in a good condition. The returns towards the recessed windows and door are faced with (likely original) timber panels, again painted green. The upper floors are rendered and painted white with timbers attached to the façade (also painted white) to create the illusion of a timber frame (these are not structural). At the first floor level there is a large, central box bay window in timber with a metallic shed roof over and a triangular pediment at its centre. The base of the second floor window rests directly over the top of the roof of this bay. It is the same width as the bay window below and is divided into three parts by timber mullions. The base of the roof level aligns with the top of this window though there is a triangular pediment directly over the window, within the roof (similar to a gable dormer) with timbering within, this time painted black. There is a timber fascia board blow the eaves and within this triangular pediment. A gutter is located over this fascia with down pipes located over both of the party walls. A satellite dish is attached to the façade at approx. half the first floor height on the southern side of the bay window, with its associated wiring draped untidily across the façade. The faces of the party walls are visible from the street over the smaller neighbouring building on its northern side and via the empty plot to the south. Both are rendered and the southern is also painted (white). There is a large crack running vertically down the southern party wall suggesting structural problems with the building. There is an area of exposed brickwork at the ground floor level, immediately next to the pilaster over the party wall. Lots of vegetation has grown here and there are some obvious cracks in the brickwork. The paintwork on the original timber details of the ground floor is badly chipped and cracked. This is one of the few surviving Victorian buildings located on this side of Worthington Street, but is in need of some attention as there are some obvious problems with the structure.

All of the openings on this building appear to be original. The ground floor has a commercial use, the door is in timber painted green and has a single large glazed panel. It is located at the north eastern end of the façade and is set back from both the street level and the window. There is a large rectangular window occupying the rest of the ground floor, this is divided into multiple parts, with the return towards the door also being glazed. There is a large lower section and a narrow rectangular (horizontal) upper section separated by a timber transom. The upper part is divided into three rectangular panes by timber glazing bars while the lower is open and unglazed in order to display fruit and veg. the first floor window is a centrally placed, large box bay window. The central portion is divided into four panes, while there are two further panes in each of the outer sections. The lower panes are all fixed in place while the upper are awning. All have timber frames painted black. the bat has a decorative triangular pediment in timber at its centre and a metallic shed roof over. The second floor window aligns with the first floor window, with its base resting directly over the roof of the bay below. This window is not a bay, it is divided in to three, two pane sash windows by timber mullions. There appears to be some issues with the structure of the southernmost of these sashes as it is held in place by a small timber block. All of the window frames are in a timber painted black. The paintwork on all of the frames and surrounds is in a poor condition and is badly chipped and cracked. Despite this all of the panes are present and appear to be in a good condition.

The roof is gable with the gable ends over both of the party walls. There is a fair amount of vegetation growth located in and around the guttering and there is major lichen growth on the tiles themselves, which appear to be ceramic. The roof structure bows at the ridge level towards its centre suggesting there are some problems with its structural integrity.

Late C19th building, last surviving of a former terrace. Tall attractive building with a number of surviving architectural details. It in a relatively poor condition and is in need of some attention to prevent further damage. (1)


<1> Kent County Council, 2019, Historic building condition asseesment and photographic survey of Dover Town Centre (Unpublished document). SKE52120.

Sources/Archives (1)

  • <1>XY Unpublished document: Kent County Council. 2019. Historic building condition asseesment and photographic survey of Dover Town Centre. [Mapped feature: #101762 Building, ]

Finds (0)

Protected Status/Designation

  • None recorded

Related Monuments/Buildings (0)

Related Events/Activities (2)

  • Non-Intrusive Event: Walkover and photographic survey of Dover Town - Area 1 Town Centre (EKE19202)
  • Event Boundary: Walkover and photographic survey of Dover Town Centre (EKE19201)

Record last edited

Jun 19 2019 12:34PM