The Tottenham Conservation Areas Character Appraisal has this to say about the terrace:
"To the south of Dowsett Road, Nos 530 to 536 High Rd comprise an attractive local listed symmetrical three storey early C19 terrace originally built as four Regency houses with a lower right side extension, orignally set well back from the road behind long front gardens. The end bays of the main building are set slightly forward beneath shallow pediments, the others have a parapet with stone copings which conceal the shallow slate roofs, but above which tall brick chimney stacks and terracotta pots add interest to the roofscape. The former front gardens were built over with attractively detailed single storey extensions at the end of the 19th century that extend forward to the High Road.
"This handsome terrace is of particular interest. It is constructed of yellow London stock bricks with largely unadorned facades, which include undecorated pediments and round-headed arcading around the first floor sash windows. The right side addition contains an attractive stucco panel at high level which has pilasters and entablature with Soane-style detailing. In contrast, their retail frontages, restored in the 1990s with grant assistance as part of a CAP scheme, are richly detailed with timber shopfronts with stallrisers and toplights and stucco surrounds with pilasters in the form of Ionic attached columns, entablatures with corbels, moulded cornices and parapets with stone copings and ball finials, which provide the group with a sense of rhythm and proportion and add significantly to the character and appearance of this part of the conservation area."
We are offering the London Borough of Haringey conservation team our immediate support with a view to getting the terrace restored and where necessary rebuilt.
This breaks my heart
ReplyDeleteHow terribly sad. What is happening to London is as tragic for those of us abroad who love it as it must be for those who live and work there. Take care, and all the best with rebuilding and restoring...
ReplyDeleteLesley-Anne McLeod
Canada
www.lesleyannemcleod.com
Thank you for your kind thoughts. To be honest 90% of people in London would be completely unaware that anything untoward was happening if they hadn't seen the news. But the media has a way of stoking these things up.
ReplyDeleteI am assuming the retail frontage, so recently renovated, was well documented. Therefore it should be relatively easy to rebuild the richly detailed timber shopfronts with stallrisers and toplights and stucco surrounds with pilasters etc etc.
ReplyDeleteBut why was it destroyed by rioters - were the rioters angry with the national government? the local council? capitalists in general? the police?
I'm interested in your comment about the media's reporting of the riots. This happens so very often. Last year here in Bangkok for most of the time the trouble was far away. Bangkok, like London is a big city. But then things really did get out of hand, during the crackdown, and we had to evacuate. I hope calmer minds prevail in your own situation. The behaviour causing this destruction seems very hard to understand.
ReplyDeleteAs the opportunity has unexpectedly presented itself, it might be an idea to reinstate the original front gardens. Many of these Georgian terraces in what have become shopping streets are hidden by later shops that have been built out over their front gardens. When the shops are removed, as they have been in one or two cases (eg 808-810 Tottenham High Road, just a short distance from this terrace) the results can be spectacular. Whether that was feasible here would depend on a numbe rof factors, not least the location requirements of the affected businesses, but in principle it might be worth considering.
ReplyDelete