Armoury House

Armoury House, on the west side of City Road in Islington, is the headquarters of the Honourable Artillery Company. The building comprises a central block dating from 1734–6, with a flag-tower added in 1806 and substantial wings added in 1828, which were raised from two to three storeys in 1894. A gabled two-storey wing to the left dates from the late 19th or early 20th century in its present form, and one- and two-storey wings to the right also date from the very late 19th or early 20th century.

The building is constructed in brown brick for the central block and yellow brick for the wings, both set in Flemish bond with Portland stone dressings and Welsh slate roofs. The central block is of two storeys and five bays with a double frontage. The three central bays project slightly and feature chamfered quoins, as do the outer corners of the building; the wings are set back, with the linking wing set back further still. The principal entrance is marked by a prostyle Doric porch with triglyph frieze to the entablature and iron railings with urn finials above; a scrolled wrought-iron lampholder projects from the entablature. The ground-floor windows of the central block have flat arches with double keystones, 12/12 sashes of original design adapted, and iron window guards. The first-floor windows are round-arched with gauged brick heads, imposts and double keystones. A cornice runs beneath a parapet with stone grenades as finials. A central copper-covered flag-tower sits on the ridge of the roof, with end stacks to either side. The wings feature flat-arched windows with gauged brick heads and double keystones to all floors, sill bands to the first and second floors, and a cornice with blocking course.

The interior retains significant historic features. The entrance hall was panelled and tunnel-vaulted in the 1930s with wrought-iron gates of circa 1740, presumably relocated. The Queen's Room to the right of the entrance hall contains moulded panelling and a late 18th or early 19th-century cast-iron grate set in a Victorian neo-Jacobean fireplace. The Albert Room at the rear, originally a drill hall constructed in the mid-19th century, remains unaltered and retains simple metal trusses to its mansard and gabled roofs. The staircase hall features a dog-leg stair with panelled dado, turned newels, fluted column-on-vase balusters, and closed string. A Palladian window to the half-landing contains a stained glass war memorial window of circa 1950. The Long Room occupies the whole of the first-floor front of the original building and is lined with full-height fielded panelling of 1919, which incorporates original architraves to doorways with pulvinated frieze and pediment, and original panelled doors. Chimneypieces at the east and west ends date from the late 18th or early 19th century and retain good 18th-century cast-iron grates, with a painting of the Royal Arms of 1736 above. A musicians' gallery of late 18th-century date by Richard Pepys is positioned to the north side. The Court Room to the rear west side retains 18th-century panelling with a deep frieze filled with grisaille paintings on a military theme of late 18th-century date. An outstanding wooden chimneypiece features scrolled consoles and low-relief carving of arms and arabesques, with an 18th-century cast-iron grate and a medallion portrait of George II in a rococo frame above. A double cornice of guilloche and palm-leaf ornament runs beneath the ceiling, which is decorated with roundels of acanthus and guilloche. The President's chair at the north end stands beneath a double-ogee canopy carried on trefoiled columns, with the arms of the Company painted at the back; a Coade stone Royal arms is positioned above. A number of early 19th-century cast-iron fireplaces are distributed throughout the wings.