Former London Orphan Asylum

The former London Orphan Asylum, built in 1871 by Henry Dawson, was designed as an extensive complex of institutional buildings intended to house 500 to 600 orphans and 100 servants, at a cost of £63,000. Constructed primarily of stock brick with decorative elements in red brick, terracotta, red sandstone, and Bath stone, the building features slate roofs. A notable design element was the avoidance of plaster to reduce maintenance requirements.

The layout consists of a large central administration block, a Headmaster’s House to the left, and two south-facing quadrangles – a larger boys’ quadrangle to the left and a smaller girls’ quadrangle to the right. A further boys’ quadrangle behind the front block is not included in the listing. The central range is three storeys and an attic, with a five-window facade and a 125-foot tower over the centre. The hipped roof has bargeboarded bulls-eye dormers. A Gothic arched porch is centrally positioned, with the ground and first floor windows united within a stone surround featuring a Gothic head. The tower is brick, with chamfered corners and two-light openings at the bell stage. Above, heavily moulded eaves are broken by a clock set within a bargeboarded gable. An octagonal slated spire topped with a timber open lantern rises from the tower. Projecting stone bays flank the central range; the outer windows are paired with Gothic arched heads, and the second-floor windows are triple. A heavy bracketed eaves cornice runs along the top.

The West (boys’) quadrangle is larger and more elaborate than the girls’ quadrangle. Its basic unit is two storeys with a steep roof and seven windows. The centre is emphasized by two-sided stone oriels at the first floor and a hipped, canted-side gable above. A ground-floor open arcade supported by stone columns with naturalistic capitals is a key feature. The North range features an arcade flanking a low, gabled two-storey building; its ground floor arcade, floor, and roof including a former lantern spirelet, were destroyed by fire in 1989. The Girls’ quadrangle (East) has paired windows with coloured brick relieving arches over ground-floor windows, and a blocked five-bay arcade on the east range featuring brick piers and roundels within the spandrels. The quadrangle has five-window sides and a ten-window centre.