GRANGE LANE (continued)

Nos, 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5 Paradise Row. Date uncertain, but Nos. 2 & 3 could be before 1700, Nos. 4 & 5 slightly later, No.1 last half of C19. Stone buildings with larger quoins & ashlar lintels, in a style based on conventions of the district, local tradition & local materials without undue regard to fashion. No.2 is double fronted, once had large windows at the back, & has two staircases from first to second floors; No.3 is single fronted, Nos. 4 & 5 are 2 storeys only. All except No.1 have slide-across sash windows in small (though varying) panes; the pitch of the roofs could suggest thatch, now they are slated.

Nos. 1, 2, 3 & 4 Soarer Cottages. Dated "W.H.W. 1896", named for a Grand National winner, architect Richard Beckett, E shaped plan, red tile-sized bricks, green slate roof, gables, Tudor Cottage style, stone dressings, stone mullioned windows with small leaded panes, shaped lintels with Art Nouveau flavour.

Grange Lodge. 2-storeyed stone front has on left a C17 7-light stone mullioned window above, and 6-lights remaining below - were there once 8 ? - with labels; patches of smaller & paler stone suggest this may once have been a gable end. In the centre is an early C18 section with 2 pairs of windows in surrounds of vertical stone jambs with keystones, the reveals showing traces of Queen Anne type sash windows flush with the face of the wall - the present sash windows are set back some 4 inches. These two rooms are panelled in pine wainscot with fluted Doric pilasters and raised & fielded panelling in a style similar to the 1705 work at Woolton Hall and suggestion design by an architect. The third section to the right is a further addition, possibly early C19, with 2 sash windows on the upper floor only. The front door, in a round arched opening with round fanlight and glazing bars, was probably inserted in the early C19, and comparison of the mouldings of the casing with other local examples would place this in the correct sequence. Left hand return wall facing Grange Lane is brick (refacing ?) with 2 C19 windows on each floor, small paned sashes, lower ones with segmental heads.

(We hope that you will come for another walk next year.)

J.D.
J.B.G.

© The Gateacre Society