2-14, LONDON ROAD

This is a terrace of thirteen houses, now largely occupied by shops on the ground floors, built between 1817 and 1819. The terrace was constructed to a standard elevation pattern by William Mountague, the Surveyor to the Corporation of London. The houses are built of yellow gault brick, with some frontages now rendered and painted, York stone window sills, and a York stone coping to the parapet. They have slate roofs. Each house extends over three storeys and a basement.

The exterior features a two-bay front; originally, each house had an entrance door on the left (the original door to number 6 remains). The ground floors now mostly have modern shop fronts, which are generally unremarkable, though those at numbers 6 and 13 are likely Victorian survivals. The first floor is characterised by a continuous arcade with tall window openings recessed within arches. The front of number 9 has been rebuilt. Numbers 9-10 and 12-14 retain their original 6/6-pane sash windows on each floor; the rest have been replaced. A moulded cornice at parapet height remains on numbers 2-4. Each house also has an early mansard storey with a central window.

Interior inspection was limited and reveals significant alterations over time. Comparable houses across the road feature details such as stairs with columnar newel posts and stick balusters, panelled partitions to the stairwells, and marble chimneypieces with roundels in the corners—features likely reflected in this terrace.

Lead plaques displaying the property ownership by the Bridge House Estate of the City Corporation are still in place on numbers 1-4, 8, 10-14. The terrace stands on part of the City’s Bridge House Estate. Development followed the opening of Blackfriars Bridge in 1760 and Robert Mylne’s 1770 scheme for St George’s Fields, marked by the 1771 obelisk. The area required draining, and a scheme by George Dance was prepared in 1807, with development facilitated by an Act passed in 1810. The arcaded fronts were stipulated by the City Corporation. These houses are an important example of Late Georgian town planning, and contribute significantly to the group value of the terrace, the obelisk in St George’s Circus, and the matching terrace opposite, which is dated 1817-1819. The terrace is accurately shown on Horwood's map of 1819.