Description
This is one of the first eight schemes of the Samuel Lewis Trust, established in 190 to building housing for the poor. The buildings were designed by C S Joseph and Smithem and consist of five rows of blocks with trees between them, including notable pollarded planes, and small island gardens set in paved areas. It has been described as 'the best illustration in Islington of the tremendous improvement in standards of planning and humane appearance that became apparent in the best working class housing around 1900' (Nikolaus Pevsner).
Practical Information
| Site location | Liverpool Road/Laycock Street |
|---|---|
| Postcode | N1 |
| What3Words | ///teach.bottle.tips |
| Type of Site | Housing/Estate Landscaping |
| Borough | Islington |
| Open to Public | No |
| Opening Times | private, visible from Liverpool Road |
| Public Transport | Rail/London Overground/Tube (Victoria): Highbury and Islington. Bus: 4, 19, 30, 43 |
| Research Updated | 1 April 2012 |
| Last Updated | 18 October 2026 |
Full description
Samuel Lewis was a wealthy financier who left an endowment of £670,000 for the purpose of establishing a charity to provide housing for the poor. The Samuel Lewis Trust was set up in 1901 and the Samuel Lewis Trust Dwellings at Liverpool Road were among its first housing projects. The estate of 323 dwellings opened on 4 April 1910 and was built by Wallis and Sons Ltd at a cost of £101,000. The units each had a coal bunker, and there was a bath underneath a wooden top in the kitchens. n 2001, the Trust celebrated its centenary year and changed its name to Southern Housing Group.
Further Information
| Grid Reference | TQ313845 |
|---|---|
| Site Ownership | Southern Housing Group |
| Site Management | Southern Housing Group |
| Dates | 1909-10 |
| Listed Structures | LBII: Buildings by Joseph and Smithem |
| On National Heritage List for England (NHLE), Parks & Gardens | No |
| Registered common or village green on Commons Registration Act 1965 | No |
| Protected under London Squares Preservation Act 1931 | No |
| Local Authority | Islington |
| In Conservation Area | Yes |
| Conservation Area Name | Barnsbury |
| Tree Preservation Order | No |
| Nature Conservation Area | No |
| Green Belt | No |
| Metropolitan Open Land | No |
| Special Policy Area | No |
Please note the Inventory and its content are provided for your general information only and are subject to change. It is your responsibility to check the accuracy.
Nearby parks and gardens
Compton Terrace Garden consists of two elongated enclosures that were originally for the private use of residents of the Terrace. The land was part of the Marquess of Northampton's considerable estate, the name Compton deriving from the C17th owners. Although not completed until 1831, Compton Terrace was planned in 1805 as a row of villas each side of the Union Chapel of 1806. By 1823 9 houses had been built north of the chapel and the lessees agreed to make a private road with a communal garden in front. Maintenance was later transferred to Islington Borough Council and the gardens opened as a public amenity. In 1944 a German bomb destroyed or badly damaged 12 of the 19 houses north of the Chapel and in the 1960s Highbury Roundabout was built over the area devastated by the bomb.
Arundel Square was one of the last of Islington's Victorian squares to be built and was laid out in the 1850s on Pocock's Fields, named after the Pocock family of dairy farmers who leased much of this land in the early 1800s. The central garden was initially managed by the Trustees of Pocock's Estate and then from 1863 by a residents' committee. Playground equipment was installed in 1936 with funding from the National Air Raid Distress Fund and the King George's Fields Foundation. By the 1950s the gardens were run down and had become a wasteland. In 1957, Islington Council converted it into a public park with a refurbished playground.
Highbury Roundabout was laid out in 1960-66, on land that had been devastated by a German bomb on 27 June 1944. It was previously the northern part of Compton Terrace and its communal garden, built between 1819-31. Surrounded by busy roads, the central area of the roundabout was planted with grass and a variety of trees of different species. A strip of garden adjacent to the roundabout at the north end of Compton Terrace commemorates those who were killed, injured or bereaved as a result of the 1944 bomb. Named Highbury Corner Garden it was created in winter 2008/09 as part of Islington Council's initiative, ‘Greening the Grey'.