86 to 92 and 96 Front Street

East Boldon's most impressive big group of 17th, 18th and 19th century vernacular cottages and houses. Simple one or two storey houses in limestone or brick with sash windows. Stone lintels and cills, original front doors with hoods, shaped chimneys and slate or pantile roofs. Several of the shaped chimneys in this row have been reduced or demolished. Of the few modern windows, most are good replicas. No. 96 is Victorian but may have absorbed earlier buildings. It has false shutters, replacement windows and no chimneys which make it stand out from the simple authenticity of the others. No. 92 is an attractive two-storey cottage with sash windows, brick frontage, slate roof and small front garden. Rears are relatively intact with various offshots. Some outbuildings have been lost to in-curtilege parking and infill development on North Road. Nos. 86/88 were probably built in the 17th century as small single-storey limestone cottages with pantile roofs. They were 'modernised' in the 19th century and bear the date 1883. Limestone masonry is still visible on the side of No. 88. LOCAL LIST