Numbers 1-5 (Consecutive) And Attached Garden Walls and Railings

Details

ISLINGTON

TQ3184SE CANONBURY PLACE 635-1/53/166 (South side) 20/09/54 Nos.1-5 (Consecutive) and attached garden walls and railings

GV II

Terraced houses, no. l now offices. 1767-71. Built for John Dawes, developer; no 1 altered, probably in the early C19. Brick, stucco, and roofs of slate except for tile on no 5. West front of no 1 is two storeys over half-basement with dormers in attic; three bays wide, flat-arched windows between giant Ionic pilasters with acanthus decoration to lower neck of capitals, supporting plain frieze with dentil cornice; mansard roof with three round-arched dormers. North front of three storeys and four bays, all windows under flat arches and the two westernmost bays blank; entrance in plain recessed round arch, with panelled door and fanlight; original sashes to ground and first floor, moulded cornice. South front has only two bays to the east, the rest blank stucco. Original lead rainwater head; ground-floor windows have cast-iron balconies, the eastern one resited. Upper floors at east end rebuilt, with C20 glazing. Railings with urn finials to front garden; banded stone piers with fluted tops carrying urns to south-west corner of front garden. Nos 2-4 are of two storeys over half-basements with dormers in attic. Three flat-arched windows each. Steps up to entrance with Gibbs surround, panelled door of original design and decorative fanlight; sashes of original design except to the ground floor of no 3; band over second floor; lead rainwater pipe and head with date 1780 on no 2, head only on no 4; parapet; mansard roof with flat-arched dormers; stacks to party walls. Cast-iron railings with urn finials. No 5 is of two storeys with dormers in attic; four flat-arched windows, irregularly disposed; giant pilasters. Round-arched entrance with neo-Classical architrave with voussoirs, console keystone and urn and paterae to frieze; double panelled door of original design and fanlight with decorative glazing; storey band; two rainwater heads dated 1780, only the upper parts of the pipes of lead; parapet. The garden front is of brown brick set in Flemish bond; three storeys, six-window range and canted two-storey bay to centre. Fluted architrave to French windows in bay; upper windows with 6/6 sashes of original design; lead rainwater pipe, the head dated 1780; single-storey extension to south-west, at least partly of C20 date. Iron railings to bay with wreathed rail. INTERIOR: of no l. Ground floor: entrance hall has early C19 architraves to doors; good wooden fireplace of c1800 in north-east room. To rear of entrance hall: dog-leg stair running through four storeys and basement has open string, decorative brackets, wreathed and ramped handrail and stick balusters. Entrance to the staircase hall between Greek Doric columns distyle in antis supporting plain entablature with plaster roundel of Apollo above. Open well stone staircase with curtail step, wreathed handrail, open string and balusters of cast iron, probably early C19 in date; landing ceiling has modillion cornice. Principal ground floor room has panelled double doors with plain moulded architrave and panelled window embrasures. Small room to south-east has original architraves to doors and windows with dentil cornice; full- height windows with panelled embrasures and original shutters; panelled double doors; Corinthian pilasters flanking the chimneybreast, double doors and a projecting niche between the windows which appears to be an addition; plain early C19 white marble mantelpiece; early C19 fitted mahogany cabinets flanking the chimneybreast and double doors. First floor: principal room has panelled double doors set in an architrave with entablature and frieze in the Adam style; white marble Neo-classical mantelpiece; panelled embrasures to windows with original shutters; the walls divided by dado rail, frieze in the Adam style and complex moulded cornice; ceiling rose with circular acanthus ornament. Small room to south-east has early C19 cast iron Tudor-Gothic fireplace with simple marble mantelpiece. The interior of no 2 has original staircase with the same details as the dog-leg stair at no l, some original reeded architraves, panelled window embrasures and elliptical archway between front and back rooms on the ground floor with fanlight and reeded architrave. The present form of the basement is partly due to Sir Basil Spence who lived at no 2. No 3 has an original staircase, detailed as on the dog-leg stair at no 1; the two ground-floor rooms and the first-floor front room have moulded plaster cornices and early C19 cast-iron grates. No 4 has, equally, an original staircase and cast-iron grates to both ground-floor rooms and first-floor front room. The interior of no 5: entrance hall with dado rail and plaster modillion cornice; dog-leg stair with curtail step, stick balusters, turned newels, wreathed and ramped handrail and open string, the string decorated as on the dog-leg stair at no. l. Panelled doors with moulded architraves throughout. Easternmost room has moulded dado rail, plaster cornice with frieze of palmette and urn ornament; fireplace with early C19 cast-iron grate and mantelpiece in the Adam style; modelled plaster roundel to chimneypiece surrounded by festoons in the Adam style. Middle room panelled to cornice height with moulded dado rail and framing; moulded plaster cornice, simple marble mantelpiece. The first floor landing has a moulded plaster cornice wtih frieze of paterae and fluting. Easternmost room has moulded dado rail, plaster cornice with frieze of anthemion and urn ornaments; early C19 cast-iron grate and mantelpiece decorated with fluting, lozenges and circles. The middle room has a moulded dado rail, plaster cornice with frieze of palmette and fan ornament. Westernmost room has moulded dado rail, plaster cornice with frieze of palmette and anthemion ornament, and ceiling decorated in the Adam style fine late C18 cast-iron grate with manetelpice of green and white marble decorated with urns and rosettes. Good late C18 cast-iron grates in east, middle and west bedrooms on attic floor. Weedon Grossmith, joint author of The Diary of a Nobody, lived at no 5 from 1891-9. (Historians' file, English Heritage London Division; Eric Willatts: Streets with a story. The book of Islington: London: 1986-).

Listing NGR: TQ3196784486

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

368657

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Willatts, E, Streets with a story The book of Islington London, (1986)

End of official list entry

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