The Verger's Cottage and remodelled entrance (part of the former Camden Road New Church complex), Islington Arts Factory, 2 Parkhurst Road, LB Islington

The Verger's Cottage and remodelled entrance, built in 1908 by E G Trobridge, formed part of the former Camden Road New Church complex. The earlier church and Sunday School, designed by E C Gosling and The Perry Brothers in Gothic style, date from 1873-4. The building complex is now home to the Islington Arts Factory.

The cottage itself is constructed in red brick and render with a decorative fish-scale tiled roof. It is a three-storey building beneath an M-shaped gable roof with a central triple chimney stack. The roof on the southern elevation, bounded by a garage forecourt, features a Dutch gable. The cottage follows a two-room plan and is adjoined to the former Sunday School by a remodelled main entrance at the west elevation.

The exterior displays paired windows in curved recessed surrounds on each storey of the west elevation. The ground floor contains four double-pane casements, the first floor has a pair of centrally placed four-pane leaded glass casements (some boarded), with one retaining a floral stained glass motif, and the second floor has a pair of triple-pane casement windows positioned centrally beneath each gable. A centrally placed hopper with the inscription "VERGERS COTTAGE / 1908" sits above the first floor windows.

Trobridge's remodelled red-brick entrance on Parkhurst Road stands under a sweeping canopy. It comprises a wide door opening flanked by a buttress on either side. Beneath the canopy's left side is a tall narrow boarded lancet on the west elevation of the Sunday School. A tall post, possibly once fitted with a light, stands outside the entrance. Above the canopy is a tall rectangular casement window. A triple-panelled notice-board advertising Arts Factory courses is positioned to the right of the right-side buttress.

The entrance foyer features a turquoise blue, green and white vitreous mosaic floor with lower-dado height wall tiles arranged as a simple arcade. An original Church notice-board remains above the dado, which forms the enclosed southern elevation of the Sunday School. Original signage is laid into the mosaic floor at access points, with "LIBRARY" in white lettering on a turquoise blue surround and "THE NEW CHURCH" in red lettering on a white background with turquoise blue surround marking the respective entrances. A boarded frame above the door opening originally contained a stained glass window documented in Ley's 1908 account of the Church. The stepped plaster cornices within the entrance-way correspond with plaster detailing in the cottage itself.

The ground floor includes remodelled ladies' and gents' cloakrooms with original internal doors intact. These were accessed through a foyer containing a central flue with cast-iron fireplace, mantel and mirror.

The two upper levels of the cottage are reached by a staircase with Pentelikon marble treads and mosaic-tiled dados and risers, consistent with the entrance hall arrangement below. The staircase features an intricate cast-iron balustrade with the original wooden handrail. Two small angled dormer windows in the cottage roof provide additional light. Access to the Church Gallery was on the first floor, marked by intact mosaic-tiled signage reading "GALLERY" in white lettering on a turquoise blue background; this entrance has since been partitioned into a modern storeroom.

The first floor rooms are currently used as offices, with bedrooms above. The southernmost room, originally the caretaker's kitchen, retains a copper with built-in stove and a boarded-in fireplace. The windows feature sculpted curved wood surrounds. The caretaker's living room, accessed from the kitchen, contains an original cast-iron fireplace with cast-iron mantel-piece and inverted Art Nouveau-style decorated tiles on the surrounds. Stepped plaster detailing is visible in the corner (the underside of stairs) and around the chimney breast. Access to the second floor bedrooms was not possible during the inspection visit.

Note: The former Camden Road New Church and Sunday School are not included within the listing, as these features are not considered to be of special architectural or historic interest pursuant to the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990.