Description

ISLINGTON

TQ3086SE HORNSEY ROAD
635-1/22/515 (East side)
No.260
Hornsey Road Baths and attached
railings

II

Public baths and wash house. Dated 1892 on the foundation
stone. Designed by A. Hessell Tiltman and built by Macfarlane
Bros. Red brick laid in English bond with dressings of cut and
moulded brick and of stone; roof of Welsh slate. Three and
five storeys over basement, nine-window range. Queen Anne
style. A tall, partly gabled wing to right over entrance
arcade; three-storey wing to left, partly under a parapet and
partly under a gable; wash house wing runs back from the
three-storey wing. The entrance consists of a four-centred
carriage arch flanked by round-arched pedestrian entrances,
all three running through to the yard behind; they have
pilasters, archivolts, keystones and intricately cut heraldic
beasts carrying coats of arms to either side; oculus with
scrolled consoles to right over foundation stone; cornice over
frieze, probably of stone, with incised lettering 'PUBLIC
BATHS AND WASH HOUSES'; the frieze incorporates the belly of a
three-storey canted oriel with flat-arched windows with
architraves and pediments to first floor, the oriel set in a
round-arched recess under the gable; other windows in this
wing are flat-arched with moulded brick architraves, those to
the first floor under floating pediments; cornice over the
second floor with lettering 'PARISH OF ST MARY ISLINGTON';
brick sill bands; keyed oculus and cornice to third floor;
clock tower to right of gable with brick pilasters, dentil
cornice, scrolled pediment, ogee roof of lead and arcaded
lantern.
The three-storey wing has flat-arched windows throughout,
those to the ground floor in moulded brick architraves, with
scrolled pediment clasping enlarged double keystone in gauged
brick; first-floor windows have eared brick architraves;
second-floor windows without architraves but the three
northernmost have panelled pilasters between; modillion
cornice; gable over these windows with coat of arms in
elaborate foliage surround of cut and moulded brick, parapet
over the rest; rear elevation detailed in a similar way with
flat-arched windows in moulded brick architraves and keyed
oculi to tower bay. Wash house wing to north of yard with
round-arched entrance with Gibbs surround under entablature
and pediment lettered 'WASH HOUSE'; flat-arched windows with
moulded brick architraves and aprons with double ogee profile.
Area railings with decorative panels; iron gates with
spearhead railings and scrollwork. Wing to east c.1965. There
is a remarkable neon Diving Lady on the South flank elevation,
one of 12 such illuminated features placed on swimming pools
and lidos in London in the 1930's and now believed to be the
only survivor.

Listing NGR: TQ3070486406

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26502718

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

• 
  Pevsner's Architectural Glossary (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  Gloucestershire 1: The Cotswolds: Cotswolds Pt. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair by Hunt. Roger ( 2008 ) Hardcover
• 
  Cambridgeshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Yorkshire West Riding: Sheffield and the South (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Gloucestershire 2: The Vale and The Forest of Dean: Vale and Forest of Dean Pt. 2 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)