Numbers 25 to 37 (Consecutive) and Attached Railings

Numbers 25 to 37 form a group of thirteen terraced houses located on a pedestrian walkway along the north side of Wilmington Square in Islington. They were built between 1829 and 1831 by John Wilson, acting as a builder for Lord Compton and the Spa Fields Estate. The houses are constructed of yellow brick in a Flemish bond pattern, with banded stucco to the ground floor and stucco dressings. The roofs are mostly concealed behind a parapet, except for number 25 which has a Welsh-slate mansard roof. Brick party-wall stacks are present.

The houses follow a side-hall entrance plan with a staircase. They are arranged over three storeys with a basement, and an attic to number 25 only. Each house has two windows, with the exception of three blind windows to the right (facing Wilmington Street) and one window to the left-hand (Yardley Street) return walls. The group presents a symmetrical appearance, with the end houses projecting and numbers 31 and 32 forming a central feature that breaks forward. Steps lead to the entrances of numbers 25 and 37, which have a single-story entrance extension. Round-arched doorways are set within narrow, stucco-lined recesses featuring fluted quarter-column jambs supporting corniced heads. These doorways have fanlights and panelled doors; the original doors remain at numbers 29, 31, 34, and 36.

Ground-floor windows are round-arched sashes with predominantly 6/6 curved and radial glazing bars, and cast-iron window guards on all but numbers 27, 28, and 31. The upper storeys have flat, gauged-brick arches, with the exception of the first-floor sashes on the ends and in the central feature, which are round-arched. A stucco sill band runs along the first floor, beneath full-length 6/6 sashes, some of which have individual or coupled (number 37 only) cast-iron balconies supported by iron brackets. A double stucco sill band is present beneath the second-floor 6/6 sashes. Moulded stucco bands are found beneath the cornice and blocking course. Attached cast-iron railings with urn finials complete the composition.

Wilmington Square was developed from the Earls of Northampton’s Spa Fields Estate; in 1817, the 9th Earl assigned the estate to his heir, Lord Compton. This post-Waterloo development was piecemeal, with the south terrace being the first and grandest section. The north terrace (numbers 25-37) was not completed until 1831. Financial constraints led to a reduction in the square’s depth, resulting in it becoming a backwater on the fringes of larger estates. The north terrace was significantly altered, being built short of Margery Street and featuring only three floors with a raised pedestrian walk instead of a traditional street frontage.