"So, this late 1970s block of flats was built on the site of the former estate office. So did the red corbel come from there? Looking at a photo of the corner of Risinghill Street and Penton Street, taken in 1956, doesn't seem to offer much help, as it shows a row of shops and behind a row of terraced houses."
"Old maps tell me that the address is 45 Penton Street - and looking up that address in old newspapers strikes gold - yes, the Penton Estate Office was at 45 Penton Street. So, the location of the plaque on Risinghill Street is off by a bit, but not enough to be critical."
"Ahh, zoom right in on that photo, and look at the decorative features at the tops of the windows. Yes, those are the capitals above the wooden columns - presumably painted red in the black-and-white photo. And I think we can safely say that when the architects were laying the foundation stone, they thought it would be nice to keep one of the office corbels as well."
A mysterious red stone decorative corbel adorns a 1970s residential building near Angel tube station in London. A foundation plaque reveals the building was constructed on the site of the former Penton Estate Office, built by Henry Penton between 1736-1812. Historical research and comparison with a 1956 photograph confirm the office was located at 45 Penton Street, identifiable as a corner shop in the image. Examination of the photograph reveals decorative capitals above window columns, likely painted red. The corbel appears to be an architectural salvage piece, preserved by the building's architects as a memorial to the original structure, though no explanatory signage indicates this.
Read at ianVisits
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]