1-15 Queens's Terrace, Queen's Square

Summary

Terrace of eight houses, constructed about 1850 for Middlesbrough’s early wealthy residents, now used as offices.

Reasons for Designation

1-15 Queen's Terrace, Queen's Square, Middlesbrough, of mid-C19 date, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* it is a good example of a mid-C19 residential terrace with elegant three-storey façades and neoclassical doorcases, which reflect the wealth and status of the original owners;
* it forms an important architectural grouping with the nearby listed Cleveland Buildings also designed in a similar style, with their shared identity and complementary architectural styling contributing to the creation of a coherent streetscape;
* a rare surviving example of part of a genteel residential neighbourhood associated with the new town of Middlesbrough, which had been established on the grid of streets to the north.

Historic interest:

* the adoption of the terrace by commercial businesses in the later C19 reflects the expansion of Middlesbrough’s financial and commercial district, which was integral to the town’s economic success and rapid growth in the latter half of the C19, initially as the world’s leading producer of iron and later one of the country’s major steel centres.

History

Middlesbrough owes its existence to the industrial revolution and a demand for coal and steel. Its growth from a small farming community of around 25 people in 1801 to one of over 90,000 inhabitants by the end of the C19 has been described as unprecedented in British urban history.

The growth was spearheaded by a group of Quaker businessmen headed by Joseph Pease of Darlington who speculatively purchased the Middlesbrough estate, realising the potential of the area, planned the town alongside a new port, and extending the Stockton and Darlington Railway to the banks of the Tees in 1828.

The new town was developed in the 1830s in a grid pattern in an area north of the station and centred around the ‘Market Square’, now the location of the Old Town Hall and Clock Tower (both 1846 and Grade II listed). Further expansion came in the 1850s with the discovery of substantial ironstone deposits in the Cleveland Hills, exploited by the industrialist Henry Bolckow (1806-1878) and John Vaughan (1799-1868) who constructed the town’s first iron foundry. The town was incorporated in 1853, and by 1865 Middlesbrough had become the world’s largest producer of iron, generating a third of Britain’s output. The switch to steel saw Middlesbrough as one of Britain’s leading steel production centres. The area around the station became the focus of Middlesbrough’s financial and commercial district, undergoing significant development in 1870s.

Following the Second World War, Middlesbrough suffered from industrial decline and large parts of the old town were cleared; the Royal Exchange, once a focal point for the financial and corporate life of the town, was demolished to make way for the elevated A66 road in 1985.

Queen’s Terrace was constructed in several phases for Middlesbrough’s early well-to-do residents. Probably built about 1850, the terrace was certainly completed by 1855 when Slater’s Commercial Directory lists two members of the clergy, one member of the gentry and four ship or steamboat owners residing in the terrace. Numbers one to three later became the Head Office of the owners of the Middlesbrough Estate. Part of Queen’s Terrace was demolished to make way for the Tees and Hartlepool Port Authority building around 1898 (Grade II). By 1913 the terrace was largely occupied by commercial businesses.

Details

Terrace of eight houses, constructed about 1850 for Middlesbrough’s early wealthy residents, now used as offices.

MATERIALS: numbers 1 to 11 are constructed in mottled brown brick, whilst numbers 13 and 15 are red brick. The entire roof is of Welsh slate.

PLAN: truncated at its southern end, the terrace of eight houses faces east onto Queen’s Square. There is a small forecourt enclosed by a low wall with modern railings. Each house formerly had a single projecting rear extension, although most have been removed.

EXTERIOR: numbers 1 to 11 are of two bays and constructed in English garden wall bond with painted rusticated quoins at the right end. Numbers one and three having a central common doorway with a late C20 imitation stone quasi-Composite open-pedimented surround. Numbers 5 to 11 have doorways at the left, with wood Roman Doric doorcases. There is a renewed Roman Doric porch at number 11. All doors are panelled under overlights, which have been renewed at numbers 1, 5 and 11. The doorway at number nine now holds a window. Numbers 1 to 11 also have two-storey canted bay windows, with wood pilaster mullions and entablatures and panelled first-floor aprons. The first bay to number five contains a central casement window. There are two windows on the second floor of each house which contain sashes. The sills are painted and have wedge lintels. Above is a bracketed wood eaves fascia and the roof is hipped at the right end (number one). There is a corniced transverse stack at the junction of numbers three and five, and partly-rebuilt stacks at numbers 1, and 7 to 15.

Numbers 13 and 15 are of two bays constructed in red brick in Flemish bond and are largely similar to the remainder of the terrace. Number 13 is slightly recessed and framed by the painted rusticated quoins of numbers 11 and 15. The doorways at the left and right now hold windows. The canted bays also have basement windows.

The north gable-end is two bays deep and features blocked windows to the ground floor, whilst the first and second floor contain sashes with glazing bars. There are modern metal grilles attached to the first- floor windows.

The rear has been altered but features three tall round-headed sashed staircase windows with glazing bars. Numbers 11 and 13 retain rear extensions.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

59778

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Pevsner, N, Grenville, J, The Buildings of England: Yorkshire: The North Riding, (2023), 455

Other
Middlesbrough MBC, 2008, ‘Middlesbrough Historic Quarter Conservation Area Character Appraisal and Management Plan’, unpublished document
Slater’s Royal National Commercial Directory, Vol 1, 1855, p359
Kelly’s Directory 1913, p224

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