Description

ISLINGTON

TQ3183NE ESSEX ROAD
635-1/59/381 (North East side)
Nos.115 AND 117
South Library

II

Public library. 1915-16 by Mervyn Macartney. Portland stone,
thin red brick with occasional blue brick set in English bond,
and rubbed brick dressings, yellow brick to the stair tower;
roof of Welsh slate. Two storeys, five-window range to Essex
Road, the three inner bays flanked by four giant Composite
pilasters of rubbed, cut and moulded brick, the outer bays
slightly wider. Plinth of Portland stone with crisp lettering
to the foundation stone. Segmental-arched entrance flanked by
Corinthian columns supporting an open scrolled pediment with
Borough coat of arms between; wooden doorcase of pilasters
carrying entablature with pulvinated frieze and cornice.
Ground-floor windows segmental-arched with eared architraves
of moulded and rubbed brick, keystones, and recessed 15/15
sashes. Blank oval oculi above the three middle windows.Upper
windows flat-arched with arrises of rubbed brick, frames set
almost flush with the wall and 12/12 sashes; the right-hand
window has a generous apron of rubbed brick. Stone entablature
with pulvinated frieze and modillion cornice; brick parapet
and stone coping.
The treatment of the Essex Road front is continued round into
Halton Cross Street for two bays between curved recessed
corners; then a single-storey range on Halton Cross Street
with flat-arched windows with gauged brick heads, brick band,
and recessed panels to parapet; this wing ends in a five-sided
canted bay with Venetian window and stepped parapet with
consoles. Oval stair tower in the angle of the Essex Road and
Halton Cross Street wings.
INTERIOR: . Vestibule: panelled in grey-white marble with
superimposed pilasters supporting three bays of domical
vaulting. Staircase hall: oval in plan with black-and-white
marble floor, geometrical stair and wrought iron balusters.
Principal ground-floor room to Essex Road has eared
architraves in hardwood to the windows, echoing the exterior,
and to the doorcases which have segmental pediments. In the
Halton Cross Street wing, the Venetian window has a
fully-detailed architrave, curved in plan. First-floor room to
Essex Road: engaged and free-standing Doric columns to all
four sides supporting shallow coved roof with shallow dome and
lantern; panelled dado; architraves to door and to oval oculi.

Listing NGR: TQ3194583953

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26585584

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Kent: West and the Weald: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  For the Record
• 
  The Victorian House Manual (2nd Edition): How They Were Built, Improvements & Refurbishment, Solutions to All Common Defects - Includes Relevant ... ... Properties (Haynes Manual) (Haynes Manuals)
• 
  Yorkshire: York and the East Riding (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Northamptonshire: Buildings of England Series (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Pevsner's Architectural Glossary (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)