Historic Building Record (Level 3) at 2056 - 2058 Hessle Road, Kingston Upon Hull

In July 2024 a Historical Building Recording was undertaken by Humber Field Archaeology on behalf of Azza Construction Limited prior to the demolition of 2056 - 2058 Hessle Road, Kingston Upon Hull. The building, which is on Hull City Council's Local Heritage List, is one of three remaining Cottage Homes out of an original five built together at the end of the 19th century. Barring a sympathetic extension added to the property on the north-eastern corner, double glazing in wooden frames replacing the original windows throughout and new doors - all added in the 1990s during the property's conversion to the West Hull Resource Centre, the exterior of the property was original including the roof. Plenty of external details indicating its architectural richness included mock-Tudor first floor external walls, rubbed brick with concrete decorative keystone gauged arches above the windows (and doors minus the keystones), brick special cornices below the first floor, spacious bays, decorative, rounded finials atop the roof ridge end, and delightful chimneys with external splays, dentillated and with unique chimneypots of a tapered rectangular design with elongated rectangular lozenge style relief. Internally, however, the late 1990s conversion into the West Hull Resource Centre had taken a major toll on the building. All original fixtures and fittings had been stripped out; fireplaces removed and bricked in, ceilings removed and replaced with either suspended ceilings or plasterboard, new room layouts created by the removal of various internal walls and new stud walling put up to create a modern layout (notably a series of toilets/bathrooms/utility facilities on the northern side). Many of the bay window rooms were untouched in terms of layout, but again were also modernised to a greater degree. Further, an elevator had been installed and the stairs adapted to a modern standard. There was no evidence of any original features such as skirtings, mouldings, light fixtures, or even what room was used for what original purpose. 4.1.1 The building's completion appears to date from 1897 but was officially opened in 1898, and was originally one of five constructed along Hessle Road, east of Hessle village designed by architect T. Beeford Atkinson. As of the date of this report, two of the buildings to the east of the series have been demolished and this property (2056 - 2058 Hessle Road) is also due to be demolished. 4.1.2 The houses which fronted on to Hessle Road generally displayed differing architectural details, ranging from brick colour (yellow, yellow brown, russet red, orange red), to varying details in bonding type, brick specials, chimney construction and overall "theme". The theme for 2056 - 2058 was that of a mock-Tudor style construction, with the exposed timbers appearing at first floor on the southern, western and eastern elevations where the property faced the public. The northern (rear) of the property did not retain the mock-Tudor aesthetic. 4.1.3 In addition to the theme, various architectural details which would not normally have been found on your typical property at this time were found here. There are rare, moulded finial ridge pieces of two designs, along with corbelled and dentilled chimneys with ornate chimney pots. The bay windows displayed keystones along with rubbed brick gauged arches which were applied to most windows and external doors. Most impressive were the tiple light stone quoined mullion windows at ground floor level on the southern central elevation which again echo a late medieval architectural detail. The combination of stone for the sills for the windows and elements of concrete for the heads of the windows in this elevation are unusual and give an insight into the use of mixed materials for this building. 4.1.4 Much of the exterior, in general, was the same as it had been constructed.