Cobden Buildings
COBDEN BUILDINGS, 128, KINGS CROSS ROAD
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1390659
- Date first listed:
- 03-Nov-2003
- List Entry Name:
- Cobden Buildings
- Statutory Address:
- COBDEN BUILDINGS, 128, KINGS CROSS ROAD
Location
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1390659
- Date first listed:
- 03-Nov-2003
- List Entry Name:
- Cobden Buildings
- Statutory Address 1:
- COBDEN BUILDINGS, 128, KINGS CROSS ROAD
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:
- COBDEN BUILDINGS, 128, KINGS CROSS ROAD
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 30738 82949
Details
635-1/0/10153 KINGS CROSS ROAD 03-NOV-03 128 Cobden Buildings
GV II Block of eighteen philanthropic flats. 1865. By Matthew Allen, for the Improved Industrial Dwellings Company, under the guidance of Sydney Waterlow. Painted stucco to ground floor and full-height recesses behind balconies. Flemish bond brick to rest, flat roofs behind parapets, with short stacks to side elevations. Five storeys, each with two or four flats set either side of central staircase and entered from balcony in centre of frontage.
Four bay frontage under moulded brick cornice. Central two bays divided by brick pier, set back behind cast-iron balustrade, aobve ground floor entrance now infilled and glazed. Outer bays have one window per floor, with three-section sash window each of three small panes in moulded architrave surround with brackets. Ground floor additionally has cornice, frieze and console brackets. Interiors not inspected.
Cobden Buildings was among the first dwellings erected by the Improved Industrial Dwellings Company, the first influential philanthropic housing company established in London, and the work of the influential Sydney Waterlow. The buildings are characterised by their distinctive design: rugged, strong materials and good finishes coupled with easy ventilation. Cobden Buildings in Islington forms a group with Derby Buildings across the road in Britannia Street, Camden.
Sources J M Tarn, 'The Improved Industrial Dwellings Company', in Transactions of the London and Middlesex Archaeological Society, vol.22, 1968-70, pp.43-59 J M Tarn, Working Class Housing in 19th Century Britain, 1971 J M Tarn, Five per Cent Philanthropy, 1973.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 491070
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Sources
Books and journals
Tarn, J, Working Class Housing in 19th Century Britain, (1971)
Transactions of the London and Middlesex Archaeological Society in Transactions of the London and Middlesex Archaeological Society, (1968-70), 43-59
Tarn, N, The Builder in Five Per Cent Philanthropy, (1973)
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 08-Jun-2026 at 06:40:40.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
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