12-22, Deal Street

12-22 Deal Street is a development of artisans’ dwellings built in 1864 for the Metropolitan Association for Improving the Dwellings of the Industrious Classes. It is likely designed by Henry Roberts (1803-1876). The development originally comprised fourteen terrace houses, each sub-divided into two units.

The houses are laid out on rectangular plots with wings to the rear, with one dwelling per floor, originally including three rooms and sanitary facilities. They are constructed of stock brick with red brick door and window surrounds and have slate roofs. The two-storey houses generally have two-window fronts, with shallow brick arches over the double doors and red brick arches over the ground floor windows. They feature six/six-pane sash windows. The terrace at 131-145 Woodseer Street consists of four double dwellings. 7-20 Victoria Cottages form an L-shaped row of double dwellings, accessed from a pavement between the two rows. 12-22 Deal Street is a row of three double dwellings and adjoins the west side of Victoria Cottages.

The interiors are believed to have been considerably altered.

The Metropolitan Association purchased the site in 1850, initially building Victoria and Albert Cottages in 1857-58, followed by Victoria Cottages in 1864, on the site of what was previously known as Pleasant Row. These small cottages were intended for artisan families unable to afford the higher rents of larger family homes being built by philanthropic organizations at the time. Their low-rise, low-density design was criticized at the time but now provides a rare insight into the type of cottage accommodation once common in the East End. The western end of the southern row was damaged by bombing and is excluded from the listing. The houses were extensively refurbished in the late 1970s by the Newlon Housing Trust.