Numbers 1 To 24 And Attached Railings

Numbers 1 to 24 and attached railings, Lonsdale Square, Islington

A terrace of 24 houses built circa 1838–1845, designed by Richard Charles Carpenter, the pioneering Gothic church architect. The terrace is notable for being one of the first residential applications of Tudor Gothic style in London.

The houses are constructed in white brick for numbers 1–6 and 19–24, with yellow brick for the remainder, laid in Flemish bond with stucco dressings. Roofs are Welsh slate except for number 10, which has asbestos slate. All buildings are four storeys with basements. The cast-iron railings to the basement areas feature fleur-de-lys finials.

The terrace employs three distinct architectural designs, each with consistent features. The entrance bays are generally narrower than the window bays and set back. Windows feature flat arches with stucco dressing, deeply splayed reveals and mullions. Stacks are positioned to the party walls.

Design One (numbers 1–4, 6, and 21–24): The entrance bay is substantially set back, with a Tudor-arched entrance under a hoodmould with stepped moulding enclosing a blank lobed quatrefoil. Doors are of four vertical panels. Numbers 1, 20 and 21 have three-quatrefoil overlights above the entrance. Numbers 22–24 feature the architrave brought flush with the window bay to form a parapeted porch. First and second-floor windows in the entrance bay are of two lights; ground, first and second-floor windows in the window bay are of four lights, all with hoodmoulds. Moulded stucco storey bands run over the ground and second floors, the latter retaining foliage mouldings. The third floor is treated as a gable over the window bay with a single-light window and as a stepped parapet over the entrance bay.

Design Two (numbers 7–19): The entrance bay is slightly set back with a Tudor-arched entrance, three-quatrefoil overlight and four-panel door. First and second-floor windows in the entrance bay are single lights; ground, first and second-floor windows in the window bay are of three lights, all with hoodmoulds. Moulded storey bands run over the ground and second floors, retaining some foliage mouldings. The third floor features a shouldered gable over the window bay with a single-light window and a parapet over the entrance bay.

Design Three (numbers 5 and 20): These houses present only an entrance bay to the square. The ground floor is stuccoed with a Tudor-arched entrance. Number 5 follows the entrance style of numbers 1–4 and 6; number 20 follows the style of numbers 7–14. Both have two-light windows to the first and second floors, storey bands continuous with the rest of the terrace, and parapet treatment with no third floor.

Individual features include: Number 1 has sidelights to the left of the entrance, a right-hand return with storey bands continued from the terrace front, two stacks corbelled out at the lower storey band level, and one third-floor window. Numbers 2–3 and 6 have sidelights to the right of the entrance, now blocked on numbers 4–5. Number 10 retains late 19th-century stained glass to the overlight. Number 20 has a lowered first-floor window. Numbers 22–24 have sidelights to the right; number 24 features a right-hand return with continued storey bands, two corbelled stacks, and single-light windows to ground and first floors, with two single-light windows to the third floor.

Many interiors retain original staircases, elaborate cornice mouldings, and fireplaces with simple surrounds and cast-iron grates. The square survives little altered internally and externally, representing a unique and immaculately composed piece of Tudor Gothic residential design.