Patrick Comerford
I enjoy my regular walks along Beacon Street in Lichfield, as I make my way between the Cathedral and the Hedgehog Vintage Inn on the corner of Stafford Road and Cross in Hand Lane.
Despite being so close to the cathedral and the heart of Lichfield, Beacon Street along many stretches has a semi-rustic, almost rural atmosphere. It also has a large number of listed buildings – up to 30 in all – that enrich the architectural heritage of the street.
The listed buildings on Beacon Street include Vicars’ Close, Vicars’ Hall and Darwin House, although we could also list them as part of the Cathedral Close, Dr Milley’s Hospital, Ardmore House, Ardmore Cottage, Nether Beacon House, the former Angel Croft Hotel, Westgate House and Westgate Cottage, Dimble House, the former Beacon School, and Beacon Lodge (No 67), as well as the houses at Nos 1, 5, 9, 11, 20, 24, 26, 30, 32, 34, 36, 38, 48, 50, 52, 54 and 56.
On those walks, when I pass by, I sometimes wonder whether No 48 and No 52, on either side of 50 Beacon Street, are the two thinnest or most narrow houses, in Lichfield.
I have an architectural fascination with thin or narrow houses. I have photographed the remaining indications of thin or narrow houses along Commercial Road in the east end of London, for example, and enjoy the occasional features the Guardian has run on ‘Skinny homes for sale in England’ (24 June 2024, 8 July 2022, 4 September 2014, 4 December 2009).
In the past, the featured ‘skinny houses’ in London they have included a two-bedroom terrace house in Haringey that measures just 84 inches wide. It was said to be ‘a ‘corridor-shaped home’ that is ‘the width of three wheelie bins’.
But that house in Haringey was a full 12 inches wider than a home in Shepherd’s Bush that measures just 6 ft wide. The house on Goldhawk Road was described by an estate agent as ‘possibly London’s thinnest home’ when it went on sale with an asking price of £950,000. The house was once a hat shop. But, despite its narrow width, it had 1,034 sq ft inside over five floors, with two bedrooms, a study, a bathroom, a roof terrace, and a landscaped garden.
The house in London that most writers focus on is the Thin House, a triangular building at 5 Thurloe Square in South Kensington that is 1.8 metres (6 ft) wide at its narrowest. It was built by William Douglas in 1885-1887 on a piece of land left over after South Kensington tube station was built, and it was initially used as artist studios.
The Thin House is a surprising sight at the end of a row of otherwise normal houses, and yet manages to be inhabitable quarters, with flats that can have asking prices above £1 million. Although it looks impossibly narrow from one corner, this is an optical illusion, and the trim triangular building widens from its skinniest point.
No 48 and No 52 Beacon Street are two three-storey, one-bay thin or narrow houses on either side of No 50 Beacon Street, and all three houses are listed buildings.
No 48 Beacon Street is a Grade II listed Georgian house that was built ca 1820. It is a stucco house with a parapeted roof and a brick end stack. It has a double-depth plan, three storeys and a single-window range. There are steps with a wall to the right leading up to the round-headed entrance that has an architrave with imposts and a recessed 20th century door.
No 48 has a plain plinth, the first floor has a sill band and lead gutter. The windows have sills and 12-pane sashes, with a nine-pane sash on the second floor.
No 50 and No 52 Beacon Street are two three-storey, double-depth Georgian houses and were once listed together by English Heritage as Beacon Lodge (No 50) and The Cottage (No 52). Beacon Lodge is also been the name of an 18th century house on the other side of the street at 67 Beacon Street.
Both No 50 and No 52 Beacon Street were built ca 1810, although the left end house, No 52, is possibly later.
No 50 has an ashlar front while No 52 is a stucco house. Both share a slate roof with brick stacks. No 50 has a symmetrical three-window range, while No 52 is a single-window range and looks more narrow than No 48. There is a plain plinth, a first floor sill band that continues onto No 48, and these two houses have a top cornice and a lead gutter.
Both No 50 and No 52 have steps. The entrance to No 50 has moulded pilasters and a bracketed open pediment, a leaded overlight and a six-panel door. The entrance at No 52 has an architrave, a frieze and a consoled cornice, with a six-panel door. The windows have sills and 12-pane sashes, with six-pane sashes on the second floor. There is a cross-axial stack and an end stack.
In addition, No 52 has a gabled rear wing and its inside features include a winding stick-baluster stair that would be interesting to see.
As for the house also known as Beacon Lodge, the 18th century house on the opposite side of the street at 67 Beacon Street, it was probably altered as a lodge to Beacon Place, a long-demolished house. Meanwhile, it would be interesting to discover more about the people and stories of these houses at 48, 50 and 52 Beacon Street.
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