131-145 VICTORIA COTTAGES

Victoria Cottages, located at 131-145 Woodseer Street, is a development of fourteen artisans' dwellings built in 1864 for the Metropolitan Association for Improving the Dwellings of the Industrious Classes. It is likely that the design is by Henry Roberts (1803-1876). The development is comprised of terrace houses, each divided into two units, arranged on rectangular plots with wings to the rear. Originally, each dwelling had three rooms and sanitary facilities, with one dwelling per floor.

The houses are constructed of stock brick with red brick surrounds for the doors and windows, and have slate roofs. The two-storey houses generally have two-window fronts. Shallow brick arches are positioned above the double doors, with red brick arches above the ground floor windows. The windows are 6/6-pane sashes. The terrace of 131-145 Woodseer Street consists of four double dwellings. A further L-shaped row of double dwellings, numbered 7-20 Victoria Cottages, is accessed from a pavement that runs between two rows of dwellings. A row of three double dwellings, numbered 14-22 Deal Street, connects to the western flank of Victoria Cottages.

The interiors are believed to have been considerably altered and were not inspected.

The Metropolitan Association acquired the site in 1850, which previously contained Pleasant Row, and built Victoria and Albert Cottages in 1857-58. These cottages, typical of those commonly found in the north of England, were intended for artisan families who were unable to afford rents for larger family units being built by philanthropic housing bodies. Contemporary criticism centred on the low-rise, low-density design, but the cottages now offer a rare insight into the type of accommodation once common in the East End. The western end of the southern row was damaged by bombing and is excluded from this listing. The houses were extensively refurbished in the late 1970s by the Newlon Housing Trust.