Located on Cowley Road, just off Vassall Road in north Brixton, is this short and architecturally striking terrace of early/mid 19th century houses.
A quick search online revealed the reassuring news that the terrace is protected with Grade II listed status, with English Heritage’s listing text highlighting its main features:
COWLEY ROAD SW9, Nos 9 to 21 (odd)
Early-mid C19 terrace with stuccoed front. Each house 2 storeys, 3 bays (but No 9 has 2 only), blank in first floor centre.
Each bay has a full height elliptical arched recess and a narrower arched recess divides the houses. Main cornice and blocking course over.
First floor long casements with transoms to ornamental wrought iron balconies. Ground floor sash windows with glazing bars and side margin lights.
Central doors of 2, 1 and 2 panels, with cornice head and low fanlight under shallow segmental arch. Restored by the local authority.
Doorway detail.
The terrace was included in English Heritage’s Survey of London: volume 26: Lambeth: Southern area (edited by F. H. W. Sheppard), publishing this record in 1956:
Nos. 9–27 (odd) Cowley Road
Formerly Nos. 1–10 (consec), Cowley Road
Nos. 11–21 are two-storey stucco-fronted houses (pic above). They form a terrace which has a front of considerable distinction, being in effect a continuous wall arcade.
Each house has three elliptical-headed arches, the middle one containing the arched doorway and that on either side a ground- and first-floor window, the latter adorned with a cast-iron guard. Each house is separated from its neighbours by a narrow roundheaded recess.
The front of No. 9, which is similar though set back and narrower, and the fronts of Nos. 11–21 are uniformly finished with a delicate cornice and blocking course which is continued above the more orthodox fronts of Nos. 23–27. August 30, 1824; James Crundall.
No.27 Cowley Road (formerly No.10 Cowley Road) forms the end of the terrace, at the junction with Cancell Road.
October 1972 view. Below is how the terrace looked before restoration work by Lambeth Council had taken place. [–]
Modern view showing the part-pedestrianised road.
Seen boarded up in 1967 before refurbishment by Lambeth Council is No.9 Cowley Road (formerly No.1 Cowley Road).
The Regency house is set back from the attached terrace. [–]
Modern street view from similar viewpoint,.
These humble Victorian houses and shops are at the north end of the terrace.
This view of Nos.5-7 Cowley Road in 1967 show the somewhat-less-than-secure looking frontage of the Safe Engineers Locksmiths and the shoe shop of D. Sayer.
Here’s how the shops looked in November 2014. Number 5 remains open as an off licence.
Corner of Cowley Road and Vassall Road, showing the Tumkid Launderette.
See more Brixton history in photos here and more Brixton history features here.
Discuss all matters relating to Brixton in our lively Brixton forum.
Related posts:
Listed buildings of Brixton: The stunning Gothic facade at 308-312 Brixton Road
Brixton’s original Fire Station – Ferndale Road, SW9
Brixton History – Bon Marche cafe, Cooper Son tailors and the Beehive pub, Brixton Road
Brixton history: a hundred years of Brixton Road in photos
Twilight stroll along Brixton Road – history, architecture and the buried River Effra