West Block With Attached Railings And Gatepiers Peabody Estate

The West Block with attached railings and gatepiers is part of the Peabody Estate, built in 1866 to the designs of Henry Darbishire. It forms part of a group of four large blocks arranged to create a rectangular courtyard within the estate. The building is constructed of brick in English bond, with hipped slate roofs and tall brick stacks. It has a rectangular plan and eleven windows along its long sides. The building is six storeys high, divided into three horizontal bands: a two-storey base, a three-storey middle section, and a top storey treated as an attic. Sill bands mark these divisions and a deep bracketed cornice sits at the top. Brick banding is present on the ground storey. Blind brick roundels are placed between the second and third, and ninth and tenth window ranges. The shorter returns feature rectangular projections (originally common kitchens) with narrower windows. All windows are timber sash windows with glazing bars. The central door has been modernised for security. Originally, an open stairwell was located at the rear of each block, but this has been filled in with brickwork since the war. The interior retains a staircase with a cast-iron balustrade. Cast-iron railings are found at the rear.

The Peabody Trust, established by the American philanthropist George Peabody, aimed to improve the lives of London’s “artisan and labouring poor” through the provision of housing. The first development, on Commercial Street, Tower Hamlets, was built in 1863-4. The Shadwell estate, incorporating this West Block, is more typical of subsequent developments, with blocks arranged around an internal square, setting a model for future Peabody Trust buildings and contributing to London’s historic architectural landscape.