53-59 and attached railings Cross Street
53-59 and attached railings, Cross Street
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1298049
- Date first listed:
- 29-Sept-1972
- List Entry Name:
- 53-59 and attached railings Cross Street
- Statutory Address:
- 53-59 and attached railings, Cross Street
Location
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Images of England Project
- Date:
- 2005-10-05
- Reference:
- IOE01/14777/30
- Rights:
- © Mr Adam Watson. Source: Historic England Archive
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1298049
- Date first listed:
- 29-Sept-1972
- List Entry Name:
- 53-59 and attached railings Cross Street
- Statutory Address 1:
- 53-59 and attached railings, Cross Street
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
Location
- Statutory Address:
- 53-59 and attached railings, Cross Street
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- County:
- Greater London Authority
- District:
- Islington (London Borough)
- Parish:
- Non Civil Parish
- National Grid Reference:
- TQ 31753 83965
Details
This list entry was subject to a Minor Amendment on 9 November 2021 to update the name and address and to reformat the text to current standards
635-1/59/353
ISLINGTON
CROSS STREET (South side)
No. 53-59 (Odd) and attached railings
(Formerly listed as 53-59 Numbers 53-59 (Odd) and attached railings)
29-SEP-72
GV
II
Row of four Terraced houses. C.1768, built by Benjamin Williams, carpenter. Yellow brick set in Flemish bond, yellow gauged brick arches to windows; roofs repaired with clay tiles. Three storeys over basement except no 53 which has dormers in mansard roof; two windows per floor, 2/2-pane plate glass sashes.
EXTERIOR: Steps up to flat-arched entrance with wooden doorcase of pilasters supporting open pediment, overlight and panelled door. All windows flat-arched with gauged brick heads; parapet with stone coping has been rebuilt. Party walls project above roof and carry stacks. Cast-iron railings to front areas.
INTERIORS: these are reported by the Survey of London as retaining many original features, of a similar design throughout the houses indicating their unified development. That to No.53 is representative, retaining much original wooden panelling and partition walls. Staircase with turned columnar newel posts, paired at half-landings. Remains of copper and other early kitchen features in basement. Angle-set wooden chimneypieces to back rooms on each floor: that to ground floor with marble slips and dentil cornice. Walls of entrance hall retain extensive remains of stencilled decorative paint treatment, comprising a Gothic arch with rosette motifs executed in blue, grey and black.
HISTORY: lying on part of the copyhold property of the Manor of Canonbury, these houses stand on land owned in the mid-18th century by the Tufnell family. The south side of Cross Street was laid out in 1767, and largely occupied by 1779. Benjamin Williams, carpenter of Islington, was responsible for the construction of a number of these houses. Their internal configuration, containing much wooden construction and joinery, reflects the prominent role of a carpenter in their construction. The painted stencilled decoration, imitating wallpaper, inside No.53 is a very unusual survival, and shows the application of fashionable Neo-classical decoration to houses of the middling sort.
SOURCES: 'The History Man', Observer Magazine, 23 May 1999, 68-69; English Heritage, London Region historians' report ref. ISL 17.
Listing NGR: TQ3175383965
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 368850
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Sources
Books and journals
Observer Magazine in The History Man, (1999), 68-69
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 15-Jun-2026 at 22:09:03.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
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