New Bridge Street, 91 Ridley Villas

These Georgian villas of the 1820s were once part of a row of grand houses and may have been designed by John Dobson. The villas were built on land belonging to Sir Matthew White Ridley. Domestic use of the villas ceased in 1913/1914 when the building was converted into a TB hospital. By the 1960s Ridley Villas was being used as a general medical unit, which closed in 1972. The two storey brick and stone villas are now a hostel. LOCAL LIST