Albion Place
The deed of stipulation
To ensure the terrace was built in a uniform manner, a 'Deed of Stipulation' also dated March 1791 was signed by all parties concerned and specified how the houses were to be built, including details of the basement areas, doorways and railings etc. The owners of the building plots were required to complete the front of their houses within 2 years and were also responsible for constructing the pavement and road that lay in front of their houses and a fence opposite between the road and The Green. The buildings were intended to be "good [quality] dwelling houses or lodging houses" and were not permitted to be used as an "Inn, Tavern, Coffee House or Common Alehouse".
As part of the deed of stipulation, Stephen Heritage agreed to "form and make good" a way and passage from Albion Place to the 'East End' (the former name for Harbour Street) - which is almost certainly the current Albion Hill. Busson [1] says that Albion Hill was built in 1789-90, so presumably Stephen Heritage was either agreeing to improve this road, or he had already created it at the date of the signing of the deed of stipulation.
Most houses in Albion Place were originally 4 storeys in height plus a semi-basement. One house in the top terrace (probably No.23) can be seen on several early photographs as being lower than the others, albeit with what appears to be an attic storey at the top. Albion House has a main facade that is of identical height to its neighbour, but has one less storey - the rooms on the upper stories evidently having far higher ceilings. There are also a number of variations in the windows on the upper storeys of these buildings. At first sight these variations might appear rather suprising given the deed of stipulation - however this deed doesn't actually specify very much detail about the building facade other than the style of the doorway and a prohibition on the use of "bow windows". The significant amount of actual uniformity in Albion Place is no doubt due to the owners (and their neighbours) knowing what they were expected to build rather than what they were obliged to do under the deed of stipulation.
Figure 3 - Later photograph of Albion Place. Left to right: probably 21 to 26 Albion Place and Albion House, with Albion Place Gardens in the foreground. *
Later deeds of stipulation used elsewhere in Ramsgate are far more specific, not only giving the number of storeys, but also specifying many of the building dimensions, particularly those for the facade - some even have drawings of the facade in the margin to avoid any room for doubt.
 |
 |
References:
| [1] |
Charles Busson, The book of Ramsgate, (page.105), Barracuda Books Limited, Buckingham, England, 1985. |
Acknowledgements:
* With thanks to Michael Child of Michaels Bookshop, Ramsgate - for use of the early photograph of Albion Place.