Building record TR 34 SW 2317 - Historic Building 1 Priory Road, Dover, Kent

Summary

1 Priory Road, Dover. Likely Early - mid C19th building located at the northern end of Priory Road, 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 3161 4168 (11m by 13m)
Map sheet TR34SW
County KENT
District DOVER, KENT
Civil Parish DOVER, DOVER, KENT

Map

Type and Period (1)

Full Description

Forms the northern end of a terrace of 9 houses of an early to mid C19 date and double depth plan, in a stock brick with rendered basement and ground floor. This property is double the width of all the others within the terrace and was likely originally two separate properties which have been combined. There are four equally spaced bays on all floors apart from the basement level, aligning across the floors. The ground floor is raised above the street level and the door, which is in the northern of the two inner bays, is accessed via a set of seven concrete steps. It has a moulded stucco architrave with cornices on console brackets. There are a set of iron railings on both sides of these steps, as well as around a small area to the front of the property, separating it from the street level. It is not clear whether these are original, if they are not they are in an in-keeping style to the age of the building. A further door is located beneath the steps up to the ground floor door, providing separate access to the basement level. The render at the basement level is slightly advanced, and there are small cracks in it and some areas where the paintwork is badly chipped and discoloured. A Priory Road street sign is attached to the render at the base of the ground floor, near the north eastern corner of the property. The northern basement window aligns with that on the ground floor while the southern is located centrally between the two ground floor windows above. There is a string course at the top of the rendered ground floor which forms a continuous sill to the four first floor windows. These first floor windows have original wrought-iron balconies and rendered flat gauged brick window arches above. The second floor windows have small protruding sills and also have the brick arches over, these are un-rendered. A small amount of vegetation growth is located across the façade and is predominantly attached to the areas surrounding the iron balconies and the string course. A Gutter down pipe is located on the southern side of the façade, between this building and its southern neighbour (No. 3). This runs from the top of the second floor down to the basement level. A brick parapet with cement coping is situated over the second floor, this continues onto the side (north) elevation. There are two raised areas above this parapet on the northern side of the building, possibly concealing two stacks though these were not seen. A further four windows (one per floor) and a door are located on the northern façade, all of which are in the eastern half of it. All windows have flat gauged brick arches above, the lowest is rendered. Three of the windows align with the door and the lowest is situated immediately to the west of it. The door has plaster pilasters on the surround and cornice over. The rear elevation is in a brick rubble with coursed brick dressings. Originally the northern portion of the property extended further to the west than the southern, but a later ground floor and basement level extension has brought the southern portion of the building level with the northern. This extension is in brick and partially rendered over the lower portion and clad with slate on the upper. Rear access to the building is through a door in the upper portion of this extension, up a timber staircase. There is a later brick shed with metal doors located to the rear of the property. Overall the building appears to be structurally sound and in a good condition.

The openings on this building are a mix of original and later insertions. There are two basement level windows, the northern is a modern replacement while the southern is an original 12 pane (four wide by three high) timber framed sash. There are three windows at the ground floor level, all are timber frames sashes; the upper portion of each appears to be original and divided into multiple (six) panes by timber glazing bars. The lower portions have been replaced with a single large pane. The first and second floor windows are all original timber framed sashed divided into multiple panes by timber glazing bars. The first floor windows are much taller than the second floor, these are 16 panes (three wide by five high) while the second floor windows are nine (three wide by three high). The door is a later replacement, it is in timber, painted black, with a single large panel within which is a large single pane of glass. There is a rectangular overlight above the transom over the door, the frame of this is painted black to match the door. The door beneath the stairs up to the ground floor, providing access to the basement level was not clearly seen. All of the window frames are painted white, there are some chips to the paintwork but otherwise the windows are in a good condition with all panes in tact and present. On the north elevation there are five further openings; four windows and a door, all of which are located at the eastern end of the façade and appear to be original. The door is accesses directly from the street and is very tall, in timber painted black. It has four large vertical panels and a fifth horizontal panel located at its base. There is a square window above the transom over this door, the glass within this is broken and the window is currently boarded up with a plywood board. Three windows align with this door, two are 12 square pane sashes (three wide by four high) while the upper most is not as tall, three wide by three high. There is a further window located immediately to the east of the door, this is much larger than the others, the 12 panes are larger and rectangular. Again all of the frames are painted white and the paintwork is slightly chipped and discoloured in places. Despite this and aside form the window located over the door on this north elevation, which is in a poor condition, the others are all in a good condition with all original panes present and in tact. All of the windows on the rear elevation appear to be later replacements but all are in a good condition.

The roof was not clearly visible from the street level as it is located behind a brick parapet. It is in a welsh slate roof with gabled ends over each of the party walls. There are brick stacks over both party walls. The roof of the later extension to the rear of the property is a shed roof in slate, which appears to be in a good condition despite some slight vegetation growth within the guttering at the eaves level.


<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: #101779 Building, ]

Finds (0)

Protected Status/Designation

Related Monuments/Buildings (1)

Related Events/Activities (2)

  • Non-Intrusive Event: Walkover and photographic survey of Dover Town - Area 2 The Priory (EKE19203)
  • Event Boundary: Walkover and photographic survey of Dover Town Centre (EKE19201)

Record last edited

Jun 19 2019 4:08PM