Summary
A terrace of three houses, built in c1800, with C20 alterations and refurbishment.
Reasons for Designation
Nos. 6, 7 and 8 Lower Rushall Street, built in c1800 is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Date and rarity: a rare surviving example of a modest terrace built prior to 1840;
* Architectural interest: a good design with good-quality decorative finishes to the lintels and doorcases;
* Historic interest and group value: together with 11 Lower Rushall Street (Grade II) the houses were once part of the premises of Moses Eyland who founded one of the area's best known spectacle-making firms.
History
Nos. 6, 7 and 8 Lower Rushall Street form a terrace of three houses built in c1800. The historic maps show that they were part of a longer row of terraced houses; those to the south of No. 6 were demolished as part of the 1930s slum clearances.
Walsall was a centre for making optical glass and mirrors and by the early C19 these houses, together with No. 11 Lower Rushall Street (now flats, 2013) formed part of the business premises of Moses Eyland who, in 1813, founded one of the area's best known spectacle-making firms here. By 1818 Eyland combined the trade with that of saddler's ironmonger, and by 1822 the firm had become Moses Eyland & Sons. In the late C19 the business expanded into buckle manufacture, gilding and electro-plating and the buildings to the rear of the terrace are referred to as ‘Buckle Works' on the 1st edition Ordnance Survey map (1887) . The 4th edition Ordnance Survey map (1938) shows an alleyway to the south side of No. 6, presumably to provide access to the large building to its rear (west), and by the mid-C20 this building had been amalgamated with No. 6. The buildings to the rear have since been demolished.
A mid-C20 photograph of the front elevation of Nos. 6, 7 and 8 Lower Rushall Street shows the houses to have had a corrugated asbestos roof at that time, also that there were a pair of garage doors in place of the original entrance door and ground-floor window to No. 6, and that there was a bow window to the ground floor of No.7. Nos. 6, 7 and 8 Lower Rushall Street were added to the List in 1986 at which time they were described as workshops. Since then they have been sympathetically restored and all the original window and door openings have been re-instated.
Details
A terrace of three houses, built in c1800, with C20 alterations and refurbishment.
MATERIALS: constructed of red brick laid in Flemish bond under a plain tile roof with a coped stone gable to the south end. There are three brick chimney stacks to the ridge of the front and rear roof range.
PLAN: three, single-bay houses that are of three storeys and double-depth on plan.
EXTERIOR: each house is arranged with a doorway to the left and windows to the right. The late-C20 doorways comprise a six-panel door within a timber pilaster doorcase, with triangular pediment above; the doorcase to No. 6 is a late-C20 copy. The windows are arranged as eight-over-eight sash windows to the ground and first floors with stucco lintels above, that have stepped keystones and chamfered voussoirs. The windows to the ground floor date from the late C20. To the second floor are three-over-three sash windows. To the side (south) elevation of No. 6 is evidence for a former attached building.
INTERIOR: not inspected (2013).
