How to spot a Victorian house

How to spot one, from the roof down

Start with the roof. Once the railways could carry it cheaply, Welsh slate went on roofs right across the country, so a grey slate roof is a strong Victorian clue. Where a gable faces the street, look under its edge for bargeboards: timber trim the Victorians loved to carve into patterns.

Then count the chimney pots. Every fireplace needed its own flue and every flue got its own pot, so a stack with a row of them tells you how many rooms once had a coal fire. That's a lot of grates to sweep.

Next, the windows. Glass got much cheaper after its tax was scrapped in 1845, so panes grew. Victorian sashes went from six over six to two over two and then to one big pane in each half. Heavier glass needed stronger frames, so look for horns: small stubs sticking down from the sides of the top sash.

Many Victorian houses have a canted bay, a bay window with angled sides, on the ground floor and sometimes running up two storeys. Stone or painted stucco often trims the bay, the window heads and the door.

The walls are solid brick. Because of that you'll usually see the short ends of some bricks in the pattern as well as the long sides. Later in the century, patterned brick became fashionable, with bands of red, cream or black picking out arches and lines across the front.

At the door, look for a four-panel door with a pane of glass above it, often in a recessed porch with a tiled floor. Out front, a low wall with iron railings and a chequered path of black, white and terracotta tiles finish the look.

Round the back, terraces usually have a narrower back extension, built for the kitchen and scullery, which gives the house an L shape from the garden.

Styles varied a lot from town to town, so treat these as clues rather than rules. This guide is written for England and Wales. When you're ready, see how you get on with What era is this house?

Where you'll find them

Victorian homes are everywhere. Towns and cities grew fast with industry and the railways. Whole streets of terraces went up near factories, docks and stations, many built by local builders working from pattern books.

Later in the century, local building bylaws set out rules for new streets. Many later terraces have wider roads, their own back yards and a little more room inside.

The homes range from small two-up two-down terraces to bigger bay-fronted terraces, semi-detached villas and large detached houses in the leafier suburbs. Seaside towns have their own tall terraces and towards the end of the century the first blocks of mansion flats appeared in the cities.

What tends to need looking after

Plenty of Victorian houses have seen well over a century of family life. Most of what they need comes from being solid-walled and slate-roofed.

The walls are usually built with lime mortar, which lets moisture move through the wall and out again. Repointing in hard cement mortar can trap that moisture, so a builder who knows older homes will usually match the lime.

Many Victorian ground floors are suspended timber, with air bricks low on the outside walls letting air flow underneath. It helps to keep those air bricks clear of soil, plants and bins.

Slate lasts well, but the nails holding the slates can corrode over time and let them slip. Spotting and fixing that is a roofer's job, as are the chimneys and their pots. If you'd like to light a fire, a chimney sweep can tell you whether the flue is fit to use.

Some older homes still have lead water pipes somewhere between the street and the kitchen tap. Your water supplier or a plumber can tell you whether yours does. Older wiring is a job for an electrician, who can test it and tell you what they find.

Solid walls also lose more heat than modern insulated ones. If you're thinking about insulation, someone who knows older buildings can explain what suits a wall that needs to breathe. If your street is in a conservation area, changes to the front may need consent, so ask the council first.