Finsbury Barracks and Attached Railings is a Grade II listed building in the Islington local planning authority area, England. First listed on 28 December 1990. Barracks. 5 related planning applications.

Finsbury Barracks and Attached Railings

WRENN ID
stubborn-render-pearl
Grade
II
Local Planning Authority
Islington
Constituency
Islington South and Finsbury MP: Emily Thornberry (Lab)
Country
England
Date first listed
28 December 1990
Type
Barracks
Address
Finsbury Barracks and Attached Railings, City Road
OS grid reference
TQ 327 821
Coordinates
51.52304, -0.08752
Source
Historic England listing

Also on this page: related consents · flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

Finsbury Barracks, built in 1857 for the Honourable Artillery Company, is designed by Joseph A. Jennings. The building features dressed stone with ashlar dressings and has a roof obscured by a parapet. It stands three and four storeys high over a basement and has an eleven-window range facing City Road. The architecture is castellated with Tudor details, highlighted by a central three-bay section designed as two four-storey towers flanking the entrance. There are wings of four bays on either side, ending in corner towers.

The entrance features a central segmental-pointed arch, with a two-storey mullioned-and-transomed window above, set in a recess under a similar arch. The middle stage of the window has blank panels with a carved coat of arms. Most windows are flat-arched, typically with two or three lights, and the corner towers have bartizans. The central section and bartizans are machicolated, while the ranges between are corbelled.

In addition to the common rectangular chimneystacks, there are two on the central section and linked pairs on each of the octagonal corner towers, which are faced with ashlar. The north and south returns continue the same design, with an eight-window range to the north and a seven-window range to the south. However, at the fourth bay, the front is recessed on a chamfer, and the parapet is no longer embattled, with simpler window details. The property is complemented by cast-iron railings and gates featuring a double rail, the coat of arms of the Honourable Artillery Company on the standards, and spearhead finials.

Local climate

Finsbury Barracks and Attached Railings sits in one of the driest parts of the UK, with an average of 690 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 95% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 98% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 35 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 57% of listed buildings. Of these, 16 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.

Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.

More on this building

Sign in or create a free account to unlock:

  • No EPC on record for this property
  • No sale records on file
  • Related listed building consents — 5 applications
  • Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
  • Flood risk assessment
  • Radon risk assessment
  • Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
Create free account

Matched applications, energy data and sale records are assembled automatically and may contain errors. Flag incorrect data.

Similar buildings

The closest matches to this building from all 493,000 UK listed buildings, by architecture, period and materials.

Nearby listed buildings

  1. Monument to Charles Fleetwood, South Enclosure Grade II 35 m
  2. Chest Tomb with Cherub Balusters, South Enclosure Grade II 40 m
  3. Group of Nine Chest Tombs Including Tomb of John Guyse, South Enclosure Grade II 40 m
  4. Cheeswright Family Monument, South Enclosure Grade II 47 m
  5. Monument to William Jenkyn, South Enclosure Grade II 48 m
  6. Yallowley Family Monument, South Enclosure Grade II 51 m
  7. Flavell Family Monument, South Enclosure Grade II 52 m
  8. Chest Tomb with Memento Mori Carving, South Enclosure Grade II 53 m
  9. Monument to John Owen, South Enclosure Grade II 55 m
  10. Monument to Manoah and Sarah Sibly, South Enclosure Grade II 55 m