SECTION B - ANALYSIS OF ALL 9 HOUSES
SECTION C - DESCRIPTIONS OF THE MOST AND LEAST 'MODERN' HOUSES
nos 2 & 43 examples of 'modernised houses
nos 6, 22 & 25 examples of houses in need of modernisation !
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During the 1950s and 1960s it was difficult to get mortgages for older properties. However the council would survey houses and then offer a mortgage on this type of property. Nine out of the 44 houses in Crow Lane had a valuation survey and whilst there is no way of knowing if they were really typical they must give a reasonable snapshot of the properties at that time.
The houses surveyed were built between 1861 and 1874 and were therefore already 80 to 100 years old, but very little renovation seems to have been done.
By this time all the houses had a sewer and electricity although it was commented that no. 22 had lighting and 5 amp plugs. it is not certain how usual that was.
(click on the house number to see the survey)
HOUSE NO. DATE OF BUILD DATE OF SURVEY
2 1863 1955
6 1863 1966
8 1863 1962
22 1874 1953
25 (now demolished) 1874 1960
26 1873 1964
28 1873 1966
38 1873 1968
43 & 45 (house & shop) 1861 1964
SECTION B - ANALYSIS OF ALL 9 HOUSES
WC – Water closet or toilet
Two-thirds of the houses still had only an outside WC. The only houses with an inside toilet each had a proper bathroom with a bath, wash basin and WC. - No. 2 (in 1955), no. 8 (in 1962) & no. 43 (in 1964).
FEATURES
HOUSE NUMBERS
BATHROOMS
3 Bathroom with bath, sink & WC 2, 8 , 43
1 Bathroom with bath & sink (no WC) 6
3 bath in back bedroom 22, 28, 38
1 bath in attic 25
1 No bath 26
We know from people’s memories which date back to the 1940s – 1960s that at least 3 houses in Crow Lane had a bath plumbed in the kitchen, often with a wooden cover over it (nos. 19 33 & 37 )
UPSTAIRS WASH BASIN Lavatory basin = upstairs sink
6 Wash Basin (Lav. Basin) upstairs 2,6,8,28,38,43
3 Sink with Brackets 6,8,28
1 Pedestal (quite modern) 43
3 No basin upstairs 22, 25, 26
WATER CLOSETS (WC)
(toilets)
3 Inside WC 2, 8, 43
6
Outside toilet (no inside toilet)
6, 22, 26, 28, 38, 25
No. 43 had a low level WC, which was presumably very modern at the time
Tippler Closets (click for description) - No 22 had a tippler and probably no. 6
WCs required both piped water and a sewer
All 9 houses had a kitchen sink, which was in the out-kitchen
There were 2 sinks downstairs in no. 2, one in the living room and one in the kitchen
3 Belfast sinks – deep porcelain sink on brick pillars 8, 28, 38
2 Court sinks - it is not know what these were like 6, 43
1 PE unit - not known what this was 26
Whilst none of the houses surveyed had a slop stone sink in the 19050s and 19060s these had been very common. In the 1940s and 1950s these were slop stone sinks in what is now no.27 Crow Lane and a large slop stone sink was found at the back of no.43 when this house was recently renovated.
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TABLE 2 HOT WATER SUPPLY
6 Back boilers 6, 8, 22, 28, 28, 25
2 Not stated if it had a back boiler 2 & 43
no.2 had an immersion heater, 43 had a geyser
1 No hot water supply, this house had a geyser. 26
BUNGALOW RANGE WITH OR WITHOUT BACK BOILER
2 (or 3) Bungalow range with back boiler 2, 6, 22
2 definitely had a back boiler 6, 22
Not specifically stated - may have had a back boiler no. 2
newer type with back boiler (6 – 1966)
Bungalow ranges were common I this area, They were like the black cast iron
ranges, but were vitreous enamel
'MODERN' TILED FIREPLACE WITH BACK BOILER
4 (or 5) ‘Modern’ tiled fireplace - with back boiler 8, 25, 28, 38
No 43 had a modern tiled fireplace – no back boiler stated
GAS GEYSER
2 gas geyser. 26, 43
for no. 26 this was the only method of heating water
This may also have been true for no. 43
IMMERSION HEATER
1 immersion heater no. 2
As no. 2 had a bungalow range it may have had
a back boiler but this is not stated
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TABLE 3 OUT-KITCHENS
2 Long narrow out-kitchen (11ft x 5ft) nos. 6, 8
5 Slightly wider and shorter approx 9ft x 7ft) nos. 22 , 28, 38 & 25
1 Plans show that no2 had a new kitchen in 1907, it probably had an
out-kitchen before that although there was a sink in the living room
1 43 & 45 This was one of the oldest terraced houses with no hall or out-kitchen
SECTION C. EXAMPLES OF THE MOST & LEAST 'MODERN' HOUSES IN 1950s & 1960s
No. 2 was a bigger house than the other 9, having three bedrooms and a wide hall. Plans show that it was modernised in 1907 with the addition of a bay window in the front, a sash window in the living room and an entirely new kitchen. By 1955 it had a bathroom with a bath, washbasin and WC. The fireplaces would have been cast iron as they were referred to as ‘old fashioned’ although it had a bungalow range in the living room and the water was heated by a geyser. The survey shows that the pointing on the outside walls was good and that there was no dry rot of rising damp. The decoration was also stated to be good.
No. 43 was a house with a shop attached and it 1964 was probably the most modern house out of those surveyed. It had a bathroom with a bath, pedestal washbasin and low level lavatory. It also had a ‘modern’ tiled fireplace in the front room with a back boiler to heat the water. It also had a gas geyser in the back room, although it is difficult to read the handwritten notes, this may have had 6 gas jets. However the decoration was stated to be poor, there was dry rot in some of the windows, wood eaten floor boards upstairs and damp on the back wall upstairs. In 2002/3 when the plaster was removed it was found that this damp patch was where a large window or door had been blocked off.
No. 22 one of the most old fashioned with the bath in a bedroom, no upstairs washbasin and an old fashioned tippler toilet in the yard,. There was a crack in the party wall in the back bedroom, and there was rising damp in the part walls downstairs and penetrating damp in the ceilings in the front bedroom and hall however the decoration was described as fair. The electricity supply in this house consisted of lighting and 5 amp plugs.
No 26 (1953) had no fixed bath in the house and no wash basin upstairs, this one of the few houses without a back-boiler to heat water. It had cold water with a geyser. It was also stated to have damp on the back bedroom chimney stack
No. 25 was in a very poor state and was structurally
unsound. It was the only houses surveyed with an attic
and this is where the bath, ' a rusty tub' was kept. There was wood worm in the first floor timbers
and the joists sagged near the gable wall. The house was valued at £200 but the
surveyor felt that it was not recommended for a mortgage. In fact this house was
later demolished because of structural faults believed to be in it’s end wall.
(In the local council minutes there is evidence that the builder of this terrace
of houses was sometimes criticised for his building practices)