Building    To 1872

Enfield school-house / station

the V&A (our picture source) hold in their collection part of the façade of this building (not just the photo but the bricks themselves). Alamy have a photo of the saved section of the façade erected inside a building, presumably the V&A. The section is that of the central first floor including the segmental pediment.

The V&A write: "This brick house frontage was possibly built by or for Edward Helder, a bricklayer (d. 1672), after the designs of Sir Christopher Wren (1632-1723). It formed part of the school-house in which the poet John Keats received the greater of his education (about 1803-1810). At a later date {the plaque says 1849} the building became part of Enfield Railway Station. The station was demolished in 1872; the façade however was saved, and originally purchased for the Structural Collection of the Science Museum, then part of the South Kensington Museum."

Literary By-Paths in Old England by Henry C Shelley is quoted by Alamy, as follows:  "Cowden Clarke, the son of the master of the school, narrates that it had been built by a West India merchant in the latter end of the seventeenth or beginning of the eighteenth century. It was of the better character of the domestic architecture of that period, the whole front being of the purest red brick, wrought by means of moulds into rich designs of flowers and pomegranates, with heads of cherubim over niches in the centre of the building. Because it was such an excellent example of the early Georgian facade of Keats's Schoolhouse domestic architecture, and not because it formed part of the building in which Keats was educated, the façade of this Enfield schoolhouse escaped the usual fate of demolished bricks and mortar, and may now be seen in an annex of the South Kensington Museum, London..."

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Enfield school-house / station

Commemorated ati

John Keats - Enfield

The house which stood on this site was built in the late 17th century. Later ...

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Keats, D'Israeli, Clarke at Enfield

According to Enfield Borough this plaque, together with the remaining plaque,...

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Other Subjects

James Gibbs

James Gibbs

Architect, pupil of Wren. Born Aberdeen. Died at home in Henrietta Street. Buried at old parish Church of St Marylebone.

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3 memorials
Frank Theobalds

Frank Theobalds

Clerk of Works during the building of the Stanley Halls, and subsequently resident Secretary and Manager.

Person, Architecture, Theatre

1 memorial
Sir Hugh Maxwell Casson, C.H., K.C.V.O., P.R.A., R.D.I.

Sir Hugh Maxwell Casson, C.H., K.C.V.O., P.R.A., R.D.I.

Architect, notably for the 1951 Festival of Britain and the London Zoo Elephant House. President of  the Royal Academy(PRA) from 1976 to 1984.  He was also president of The Friends of Holland Park ...

Person, Architecture

1 memorial
Edward Blakeway I'Anson

Edward Blakeway I'Anson

Architect.  Born Clapham Common and brought up in Grayshott, a village in Hampshire. In 1890 the family home Grayshott Court was completely destroyed by fire.  The picture source website has an art...

Person, Architecture

1 memorial
Royal Institute of British Architects

Royal Institute of British Architects

From the RIBA website: "RIBA Awards are given for buildings that have high architectural standards and make a substantial contribution to the local environment. The awards are annual, and have been...

Group, Architecture

2 memorials