Townscape
In Chorlton Green the buildings are predominantly domestic in scale. There are several shops, four public houses, and a former school. They are grouped around the triangular shaped green which forms the focal point of the village. Garage buildings are associated with one of the former farmhouses. The remaining buildings are dwellings taking the form of terraces, flats or individual houses.
Wall material is predominantly red brick, and half timbering is used either to decorate gables or the upper portion of building facades. A small number of buildings, shops and public houses have white-painted rendering. Two public houses are elaborated with faience or terra cotta. This is applied very modestly on the Bowling Green, but the Trevor Arms is very decorative, with dentilled cornices, scrolls, pilasters and leaf decoration.
Buildings are predominantly roofed in blue slate, though a few have small, red clay tiles. Most roofs are gabled though a few are hipped. There are few large expanses of slate, as these are often broken up by dormers or gables.
The streets are paved with tarmacadam in place of the original granite setts, although these still line the kerb-side gutters around the Green. The kerbs feature wide granite blocks immediately adjoining the grassed area, with narrower ones on the opposite pavement and elsewhere. Some of these have been replaced with concrete kerbs. Footways were originally paved with stone flags, but these have since been replaced by tarmacadam. Should funding allow, it is hoped that stone flags could once again be installed. In the former churchyard of St. Clement's, gravestones are used to create a footpath through the grassed area.
Windows take a great variety of forms and are subdivided in different ways, but there is always a vertical emphasis in either the whole opening or in the subdivision. Window frames are of timber and are usually set well back from the face of the wall. There are some projecting bay windows, oriel windows and architraves, and these, though not typical of the area, add to its interest.
Most doors range from solid, panelled wood to those with stained glass panels. Some are more interesting, having decorated pilaster doorcases, bracketed canopies, or are of a pointed arch shape with moulded brick voussoirs.
Chimneys are tall brick stacks with pots of various types and sizes. The amount of decoration varies, some being plain, some having corbelled brick embellishment and some having tops of white faience.
Few garden gates remain in the conservation area. That belonging to Higginbottom Farm is of timber in a timber pale fence. Elsewhere there are carved stone gateposts, the original gates probably having been of wrought iron or timber.
The Green is bordered by a variety of mature, broad-leaf trees. Young trees have been planted as replacements well before the older ones need felling. One large tree may be too close to the former Church of England School. Ivy and other climbers bring welcome relief to all-brick walls. Samuel Wilton's former residence is in fact nearly enveloped by creeper.
The original lamp posts have almost all been replaced by tubular steel lamp standards. One decorative cast-iron column with Victorian lantern remains in the centre of the Green.
Signage on public houses and shops is hand-painted on fascias or smaller panels. Some are individual letters fixed directly to the wall. Hanging signs, also hand-painted, either project from walls or are free-standing on a timber post. The Trevor Arms also has a white and blue faience name panel over the door, built in at the time of construction in 1908.