Mercer'S Cottages

Mercer's Cottages is a symmetrical terrace of ten cottages built in 1856 by George Smith for the Mercers' Company. Originally known as Lady Mico's Almshouses, the cottages were largely rebuilt in facsimile after sustaining war damage. They are constructed from grey and white brick with slate roofs, featuring rusticated stucco quoins between the houses. The cottages are two storeys high and have a total of fourteen windows. Each entrance has a brick porch with gauged brick flat arches, and paired enriched console brackets support pedimented gables, with Nos 1 and 10 located on the returns. Cottages 2 to 9 have one porch per pair, creating the illusion of four double-fronted cottages. The windows are architraved sashes, with the ground floors adorned with enriched console brackets that support cornices and lugged cills, while the first floors feature cornices and a stucco sill band, also lugged at the sashes. A central painted stone plaque on the first floor bears a cartouche inscribed "The Gift of Dame/Jane Mico Relicta of/S Sam Mico Mercer dec/Built Ano 1691," topped by a female bust. Below this, another stone plaque reads "Rebuilt by The Worshipful Company of Mercers/AD 1856." Lady Mico, the wife of Sir Samuel Mico, a Mercer and alderman, bequeathed funds for the original almshouses intended for widows. In 1976, the Greater London Council took over the cottages for housing.