864 AND 866, OLD KENT ROAD

A pair of semi-detached houses dating to circa 1815, built by timber merchant John Lamb. The houses are constructed of stucco with a hipped slate roof featuring paired brackets to the overhanging eaves, and a tall central chimney stack. The exterior consists of two main bays and a slightly recessed, one-bay and basement entrance extension with a separate half-hipped roof. The central section is articulated by three tall, fluted pilasters which rise through both floors. These pilasters have ammonite capitals, a decorative motif popularized by Amon Wilds in Brighton and now relatively uncommon in London, and support segmental arches over the first-floor windows. The first-floor windows are segmental-headed in plain reveals. Doors and ground floor and basement windows were obscured by hoardings at the time of the survey. The interior was not inspected and remains boarded up, but is believed to contain good internal woodwork and some original fireplaces and surrounds.