Numbers 12-27 And Attached Railings

NUMBERS 12-27 AND ATTACHED RAILINGS, BEDFORD SQUARE, CAMDEN

A symmetrical terrace of 16 houses forming the north side of Bedford Square, built between 1776 and 1781. The houses were mostly constructed by William Scott (a brickmaker) and Robert Grews (a carpenter) for the Bedford Estate. The design is attributed to either Thomas Leverton or Robert Palmer, though it remains uncertain which architect was responsible for which sections. The terrace represents an important and complete example of 18th-century town planning.

The buildings are constructed of yellow stock brick with evidence of tuck pointing on most houses. A plain stucco band runs at first-floor level, except for the two central houses, Numbers 18 and 19, which are fully stuccoed. The roofs are slate mansard with dormers and tall slab chimney stacks.

All houses are three storeys tall with attics and basements, each with three windows. The recessed round-arched entrances feature Coade stone with vermiculated intermittent voussoirs and bands, and mask keystones. The doors have enriched impost bands and cornice-heads, with side lights to panelled doors (some two-leaf). Fanlights are mostly radial patterned. Windows are recessed sashes with gauged brick flat arches and glazing bars. Blind boxes are present on Numbers 16–19, Number 20 (first floor only), and Numbers 21 and 25. Cast-iron balconies to first-floor windows are found on Numbers 12–15, 18–21, and 23–25. Number 12 retains a particularly fine early 19th-century cast-iron balcony with round-arched trellis and tented canopy. Cornices and parapets run across the terrace; Numbers 12 and 27 have balustraded parapets.

Individual houses contain notable interior features:

Number 12 has a five-window return to Gower Street (some blind) plus a single-storey extension. Its doorway is stucco rather than Coade stone.

Number 13, Thomas Leverton's own house (occupied in 1782 though he did not settle here until 1795), has a stucco doorway and a rear elevation with a canted bay to the lower three floors and cast-iron balconies. The staircase was replaced by a timber version in the late 19th century, but the house retains two fine plaster ceilings.

Number 14 features a rear elevation with a full-height canted bay, plasterwork friezes and ceilings, and some curved doors.

Number 17 contains a plaster ceiling.

Numbers 18 and 19 are the architectural highlights of the terrace. The ground floor is rusticated. Five Ionic pilasters rise through the first and second storeys, supporting a frieze with roundels above each pilaster and a pediment enriched with delicate swag and roundel work on the tympanum. A continuous enriched band runs at second-floor level behind the pilasters. The interiors contain curved staircases; Number 18 preserves its original cellar with a storage cupboard. Attached to and facing the rear of Number 19 is a finely proportioned contemporary two-storey and basement stuccoed building with three windows. The ground floor has round-arched openings; the windows are set in architraved Coade stone surrounds with guilloche impost bands and female head keystones. A palm leaf string course runs at first-floor level. This is a rare surviving example of this type of building attached to a coach-house rear wall.

Number 21 contains screens and a plaster ceiling. Attached to and facing its rear is a well-detailed contemporary two-storey brick building with three windows. The ground floor is arcaded with stucco impost bands. An entrance has a radial patterned fanlight. All windows have gauged brick flat arches. A brick mutule cornice continues around a pediment containing a blind oculus. This is a rare urban survival of an ancillary building of the period.

Number 23 contains panelled doors and a plaster ceiling.

Number 24 has a rear elevation with a canted bay to the lower three floors, and plaster ceilings and panels.

Number 25 features a rear elevation with a full-height bow and full-height half-canted closet, wood carving, and plaster ceilings, one originally with painted panels.

Number 26 has plasterwork and a closet room behind the stairs.

Number 27 retains an original basement door with interesting metalwork.

Several houses preserve original lead rainwater heads and pipes. The terrace is furnished with attached cast-iron railings to the areas, finished with urn or torch-flambé finials. Number 17 retains a wrought-iron lamp bracket and snuffer. Most houses have good wrought-iron foot scrapers.

Historically, Bedford Square was built as a speculative venture. It remains unclear who designed all the houses: Leverton was primarily a country house architect and may have been involved only with the grander houses, having lived at Number 13. Palmer, the Bedford Estate surveyor, may have been responsible for the layout variations. The majority of plots leased by the estate were taken by Robert Grews and William Scott. Number 22 was the residence of Sir J. Forbes Robertson, the actor (marked by a plaque).