Description

TQ3282SE
635-1/76/257

ISLINGTON
CITY ROAD (West side)
Armoury House

27/08/57

GV
II*
Headquarters of the Honourable Artillery Company. Central block of 1734-6; flag-tower of 1806; wings to either side of 1828, raised from two to three storeys in 1894; gabled two-storey wing to left of late C19 or early C20 date in its present form; one- and two-storey wings to right of very late C19 or early C20.

Brown brick to the central block, yellow brick to wings for the most part, both set in Flemish bond with dressings of Portland stone, and roofs of Welsh slate so far as visible. The central block of two storeys and five bays, double-fronted; three storeys and five bays to wings. The central three bays of the central block project slightly with chamfered quoins to these bays and to the outer corners of the building; the wings are set back, the linking wing set back a little further. Prostyle Doric porch with triglyph frieze to entablature, and iron railings with urn finials above; scrolled wrought-iron lampholder projects from entablature. Ground-floor windows to central block flat-arched with double keystones, 12/12 sashes of original design adapted, and iron window guards; first-floor windows round-arched with gauged brick heads, imposts and double keystones; cornice; parapet with stone grenades as finials; central copper-covered flag-tower on the ridge of the roof; end stacks. The wings have flat-arched windows with gauged brick heads and double keystones to all floors; sill band to first and second floors; cornice and blocking course.

INTERIOR: entrance hall panelled and tunnel-vaulted in the 1930s with wrought-iron gates of c1740 presumably ex situ. The Queen's Room to right of entrance hall has moulded panelling and a late C18 or early C19 cast-iron grate in a Victorian neo-Jacobean fireplace. The Albert Room to the rear, originally a drill hall built in the mid-C19, unaltered with simple metal trusses to mansard and gabled roofs. The staircase hall has dog-leg stair with panelled dado, turned newels, fluted column-on-vase balusters, and closed string; Palladian window to half-landing with stained glass war memorial window of c1950. The Long Room fills the whole of the first-floor front of the original building: full-height fielded panelling of 1919 incorporating original architraves to doorways with pulvinated frieze, pediment and original panelled doors. Chimneypieces at east and west end of late C18 or early C19 date with good C18 cast-iron grates and painting of the Royal Arms of 1736 over; musicians' gallery to north side of late C18 date by Richard Pepys. Court Room to rear west side: C18 panelling, the deep frieze filled with grisaille paintings on a military theme of late C18 date; outstanding wooden chimneypiece with scrolled consoles and low-relief carving of arms and arabesques, with a C18 cast-iron grate and medallion portrait of George II in a rococo frame above; double cornice of guilloche and palm-leaf ornament; roundels of acanthus and guilloche to the ceiling; President's chair at the north end under a double-ogee canopy carried on columns that are trefoiled in plan, with the arms of the Company painted at the back; Coade stone Royal arms above. A number of early C19 cast iron fireplaces in the wings.

(Information from the archivist, Honourable Artillery Company).

Listing NGR: TQ3271482186

This List entry has been amended to add the source for War Memorials Register. This source was not used in the compilation of this List entry but is added here as a guide for further reading, 30 October 2017.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17552056

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

• 
  Hampshire: South (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Berkshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Pevsner's Architectural Glossary (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  Maintaining and Repairing Old Houses: A Guide to Conservation, Sustainability and Economy
• 
  Northumberland (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  County Durham (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England) by Elizabeth Williamson Nikolaus Pevsner(1983-03-11)