Sion College And Attached Railings

Sion College is a college building designed by Sir Arthur Blomfield in 1886, with a ground floor extension added in 1965-1966. It is constructed of red brick with stone dressings in the Tudor Gothic style, featuring irregular storeys and window arrangements. The entrance has been removed to the return on John Carpenter Street. The ground floor includes a projecting extension with vertically set windows in narrow recesses that extends across the front of the return to No 9 Carmelite Street.

On the first floor to the left, there is a five-light traceried window, with the central three lights forming an oriel, topped by a battlemented parapet. The central hall boasts a double-height five-light traceried window that spans the first and second floors, topped with a cusped balustrade and a diaper patterned pediment. To the left, a buttress terminates in an octagonal feature with a domed roof, while to the right, an octagonal stair tower features slit windows and culminates in a traceried belvedere with a pointed roof.

The original projecting entrance, now converted to a three-light traceried window, is located to the right, above which are paired two-light windows and a pediment with blind tracery flanked by tall finials. The entrance on the return of the porch has a moulded ogee arch adorned with finely carved stone insets, including grotesque masks and armorial devices, with spandrels of blind tracery featuring carved shields above. The buttressed return displays irregular traceried fenestration, and the right-hand angle has a facetted stair tower with paired slit lights. The building is accompanied by attached wrought and cast iron railings in the areas. Sion College was built as a social centre and library for the clergy of London and forms a group with No 9 Carmelite Street.