Details
ISLINGTON
TQ3183NW LONSDALE SQUARE
635-1/58/607 (East side)
29/09/72 Nos.1-24
and attached railings
(Formerly Listed as:
LONSDALE SQUARE
(East side)
Nos.1-11,34-40,43-48 (Consecutive))
(Formerly Listed as:
LONSDALE SQUARE
Nos.12 & 33)
(Formerly Listed as:
LONSDALE SQUARE
Nos.13-27,28A-32 (Consecutive))
GV II*
24 terraced houses in square. c.1838-1845. R C Carpenter.
White brick to nos. 1-6 and 19-24, the rest of yellow brick,
laid in Flemish bond, stucco dressings; roofs of Welsh-slate
except for no. 10 which is of asbestos slate. Formal layout
with houses in Tudor style. Four storeys with basements; 2
windows each except for nos. 5 and 20 which have one window
each. Features common to all houses (except nos. 5 and 20)
are: the basement and the ground floor of the entrance bay are
stuccoed; the entrance bay is narrower than the window bay,
and set back; windows are flat-arched with stucco dressing,
deeply splayed reveals and mullions where there is more than
one light; stacks to party wall; and attached cast-iron
railing to area with fleur-de-lys finials.
Three designs are used in the terrace. (1) nos. 1-4, 6 and
21-24. Entrance bay set wellback; Tudor-arched entrance under
hoodmould with stepped moulding above enclosing a blank lobed
quatrefoil; door of four vertical panels; on 21 there is an
overlight of three quatrefoil, as on nos. 1 and 20; and on
nos. 22-24 the architrave is brought out flush with the window
bay to form a parapeted porch. Windows to 1st and 2nd floors
of entrance bay of two lights, and to ground, 1st and 2nd
floors of window bay of four lights, all with hood moulds;
moulded stucco storey band over ground floor and 2nd floor,
the latter retaining some foliage mouldings. The 3rd floor is
treated as a gable over the window bay, with a single light
window without hoodmould, and as a stepped parapet over the
entrance bay.
(2) Nos. 7-19. Entrance bay set slightly back. Tudor arched
entrance with overlight of three quatrefoils and door of four
vertical panels. Windows to 1st and 2nd floors of entrance bay
of one light, and to ground, 1st and 2nd floors of window bay
of three, all with hoodmoulds; moulded storey band over ground
and second floors, the latter retaining some foliage
mouldings; the 3rd floor is treated over the window bay as
shouldered gable with a single-light window with no hoodmould,
and as a parapet over the entrance bay.
(3) Nos. 5 and 20 have only an entrance bay in the square.
Ground floor stuccoed; Tudor-arched entrance like those on 1-4
and 6 on no. 5 and like those on nos. 7-14 on no. 20;
two-light windows to 1st and 2nd floors, storey bands
continuous with the rest of the terrace, parapet, and no 3rd
floor.
Features of individual houses are: no. 1 has sidelights to
left of entrance, and right-hand return with storey bands
continuous from the front of the terrace, two stacks corbelled
out at the level of the lower storey band, and one window to
3rd floor. Nos. 2-3 have sidelight to right of entrance. Nos.
4-5 have the same but now blocked, no. 6 has the same. No. 10
has late C19 stained glass to overlight. No. 20 has 1st floor
window lowered. Nos. 22-24 have sidelights to right of
entrance, and no. 24 has a right-hand return with storey bands
continued from the front of the terrace, two stacks, corbelled
out at the level of the lower storey band, single light
windows to ground and first floors, and two single light
windows to third floor.
Many interiors noted to retain staircases, elaborate cornice
mouldings and original fireplaces with simple surrounds and
cast-iron grates.
Lonsdale Square, of which this forms half, was designed by the
pioneering Gothic church architect R C Carpenter, and is novel
in being in the Tudor Gothic style. It survives little altered
inside and out. It is a unique, intense and immaculately composed
piece of design.
Listing NGR: TQ3133184004
