130a-130c Junction Road, Islington, London. Historic Building Survey

Two main phases of development were identified during the survey. The earliest phase comprised the construction of a large double pile house/villa during the mid 19th century followed soon after by the addition of shop units built up to the street frontage in the late 19th century and the conversion of the existing house into two separate first-floor flats. Some later single storey lean-to additions were created at the rear of the building in the early-mid 20th century. As part of the historical research, the earliest map consulted was the 1859 Plan of the Parish of Islington which shows Junction Road with very little residential development and no obvious depiction of the current building/s surveyed. The first cartographic depiction of the site appears in the 1871 Town Plan. However, additional research indicates the original house may have been constructed around 1850 when it was possibly called Cathcart Lodge. Further background research carried out at Islington's History Centre revealed a date of construction of the shops as around 1885 when they are first listed in the Post Office Directories. These directories, as well as a series of photographic images taken in the early 20th century, provide an interesting account of the changing uses of the commercial units the people who occupied them. When the site survey was undertaken, the buildings were found to be in a very poor state of repair having suffered from rain damage, vandalism and poor internal maintenance. There were some original 19th century features remaining including windows and elements of the shop frontages, however, most fixtures or fittings or architectural or historical value had been removed. A small number of interesting features were found to have been concealed behind 20th century shop fittings within 130b including ceiling cornices and a ceiling rose thought to be located within what would have been one of the formal reception rooms on the ground floor of the original Victorian villa.