Dalston Lane (West) Conservation Area Extension - OPEN Dalston's representations

Dalston Lane (West) Conservation Area extension
OPEN Dalston’s response to public consultation 

The following comments are responses to Hackney Council’s Draft Appraisal of the proposed Dalston Lane (West) Conservation Area extension and suggest that certain additions be made to it.

The comments are in three parts:

1 Conserving the architectural legacy of Edwin Henry Horne (1843-1915)

2 The Eastern Curve Garden comprises important trees and green spaces

3 Important views, focal points and focal buildings – St Mark’s and Holy Trinity churches

1 Conserving the architectural legacy of Edwin Henry Horne (1843-1915) 

Edwin Henry Horne, Architect, is known to have been commissioned by the North London Railway to design six of their railway stations - Bow, Hackney, Canonbury, Barnsbury, Camden Town (now called Camden Road) and Highbury & Islington. Two of those stations have survived - Camden Road (1870) which is Grade II Listed by Historic England and Hackney station which is locally listed by the Council.

It has come to light that Edwin Horne was also the architect responsible for the design of many of the buildings constructed in Dalston on land owned by the North London Railway. They were built shortly following the development of the Dalston Junction railway station which opened in 1865.

Dalston Junction station at the turn of the century

The design of the north London Railway’s Dalston Junction station (demolished 2007) has been attributed by Edith’s Streets to Edwin Horne. It certainly bears some of his hallmarks, although we have presently no other independent corroboration. He would have been 22 years old in 1865, in the year of his professional qualification with George Rowden Burnell’s practice, when the station opened.

Dalston Junction station entrance, with the screen wall extending beyond, above the railway cutting

The screen wall and shop at 2A Dalston Lane (demolished 2007)
above the railway cutting formed part of the orginal station construction on the west side of its entrance. It was set back on the south side of Dalston Lane. The red brick banding, and decorative stone work are characteristic features in many of the Ashwin Street and Dalston Lane buildings which we now know were designed by Edwin Horne

There are also similarities between features of the magnificent former Highbury and Islington station (demolished) and Dalston Junction –for example, their illuminated gates as seen in these photographs – also suggest Edwin Horne’s hand in the design of Dalston Junction station

Reeves and Sons 1868 Artist’s Colour Works

Edwin Horne designed the original Reeves and Sons 1868 Artist’s Colour Works factory building at 18-24 Ashwin Street. The characteristic red brick banding and decorative stonework again feature in the designs.

This notice of tenders received for the building, which appeared in the London City Press on January 18 1868, show that Edwin Horne was the appointed architect.

2-14 Ashwin Street

The houses on the west side Ashwin Street (odd numbers), neigbouring Shiloh Pentecostal Church, were destroyed by wartime bombing in November 1940 and their site remains undeveloped today. The terrace of houses on the east side, 2-14 Ashwin Street, were designed by Edwin Horne.

The building application to construct 2-8 Ashwin Street was lodged by Edwin Horne’s brother, the surveyor Arthur Horne, in 31 May 1867.

The building application to construct 10-14 Ashwin Street was lodged by Edwin Horne’s brother, the surveyor Arthur Horne, on 19 October 1870

2 - 8 Ashwin Street when they were still occupied

The houses of 2-14 Ashwin Street were transferred to Hackney in 1977 by Railtrack (a successor to the North London Railway). After decades of dereliction, and following a fire at No. 8 in July 2008, Nos.2 - 8 Ashwin Street (the scaffolded houses) were unceremoniously demolished by Hackney Council in June 2010.

Number 8 Ashwin Street on the day following the 2008 fire – characteristic red brick banding, decorative stonework lintels and corbelled brickwork forming the eaves all feature.

10-14 Ashwin Street today - these three houses are presently occupied by V22 and provide affordable space for artists and others in the creative industries.The red brick banding, decorative stonework lintels and the corbelled brickwork forming the eaves of 2-8 Ashwin Street appear, from the unpainted end part of the façade of no 10 Ashwin Street, to have extended across the elevation of 10-14 Ashwin Street too. These design features would be revealed by careful removal of the paint from the elevation of 10-14 Ashwin Street

The design features of 10-14 Ashwin Street are more elaborate than the more modest features of the earlier houses in the terrace at 2-8 Ashwin Street.

3, 5, 7 and 9 Dalston Lane

This early photograph shows the junction of Dalston Lane with Ashwin Street at the turn of the century. The terrace on the left comprised 3, 5, 7 and 9 Dalston Lane and on the opposite corner of the Ashwin street junction is the 1868 Dalston Junction Railway Tavern.

5 and 7 Dalston Lane, as they appear today, feature red brick banding, decorative brick corbelling below the eaves and the decorative stonework features over the first floor windows and on the ground floor – all are features characteristic of Edwin Horne’s designs in this period.

The terrace was designed by Edwin Horne and on 18 September 1867 William Turner applied to commence their construction.

From records held at the RIBA 


Reference Dalston Lane. (Numbers 3, 5, 7 and 9) 


From index. August 1867 652 Shops Dalston Lane.


Tender For building four shops on North London Railway Company's land
Dalston Lane. Mr E.H.Horne architect Turner (accepted)  2,447 pounds



Number 3 was demolished. Number 5 is locally listed.
Decorative stonework and tiling feature on the ground floor exteriors of 5-9 Ashwin Street

The Railway Tavern, 11 Dalston Lane

The application to build a public house on the junction of Ashwin Street at 11 Dalston Lane was lodged on 1 October 1868 by Chas Acock, who gave his address as 8 Ashwin Street which had been designed by Edwin Horne the previous year. His plan references Mr Turner’s shops at 3-9 Dalston Lane, also designed by Edwin Horne. Chas Acock was later connected with the Old Ship Inn at 2 Sylvester Path, Hackney as Incoming Licensee in 1875 East London Observer.

The Dalston Junction Railway Tavern has recently been refurbished by the Council. The Railway Tavern was built on North London Railway land and its architect is likely to have been Edwin Horne (to be verified) who was known to have designed in the Italianate, also called the Venetian Gothic, style ( for example Camden Road overground station pictured below).

1870 Camden Road overground station –Grade II Listed by Heritage England

Summary - the architectural legacy of Edwin Henry Horne  

Various sites in Dalston town centre owned by the North London Railway were developed between, 1867 and 1870, to the designs of Edwin Henry Horne. The Reeves and Sons Artist’s Colour Works factory at 18-24 Ashwin Street, the houses at 2-14 Ashwin Street and at 3-9 Dalston Lane were all designed by him. There is some evidence to suggest he also designed The Dalston Junction Railway Tavern at 11 Dalston Lane and may also have had a hand in the designs for the 1865 Dalston Junction Railway station. Edwin Henry Horne later, from 1870, designed six railway stations for the North London Railway in the Venetian Gothic style, and the architectural heritage of his two surviving stations has been recognized, particularly by the Grade II Listing of Camden Road station. His career was cut short by illness but in Dalston we retain some fine examples of his work which are worthy of recognition and conservation.

We are particularly grateful to Jann Burrows, Edwin Henry Horne’s great-great niece, for the information she has provided concerning the architect and for her contributions to our knowledge of our local architectural heritage

2 The Eastern Curve Garden comprises important trees and green spaces

We consider that it is a serious oversight to have failed to illustrate the Eastern Curve Garden on the Dalston Lane (West) Conservation Area Map as comprising “Important trees and green spaces”.

The land occupied by the Eastern Curve Garden comprises historic open space which was formerly a railway cutting. Trains emerged from the Dalston Junction station tunnel under Dalston Lane and continued along the eastern curve railway line to join the North London Line travelling east. 


The Garden forms part of the recognised Dalston Cultural Quarter and contributes significantly to “an exceptional community space, enjoyed by residents and visitors to Dalston”

Dr Robey’ Appraisal describes the Garden as follows:
“Located just off busy Dalston Lane, the Eastern Curve Garden is a managed community space that is hidden behind hoarding next to the Hackney Peace Carnival mural. Visitors enter through a wooden doorway into a peaceful haven. The garden is built on a disused railway line, derelict for over 30 years and is an ever-changing community space, where plants, trees and grass contribute to a diverse ecology. It was developed as part of Making Space in Dalston, a Design for London-funded project to improve public space in the area. It won a Hackney Design Award in 2010 and Making Space for Dalston won the 2011 Landscape Institute's President's Award. The garden is included along with a further portion of land north of Springfield House that follows the line of the old railway.”

The poor quality of green space provided for families in over 530 homes in the recently built Dalston Square illustrates the importance of conserving the Eastern Curve Garden as part of the character and bio-diversity of the area

3 Important views, focal points and focal buildings

We consider that the view from Dalston Lane north out of the Conservation Area to St Mark’s church tower of 1880, framed by the buildings of Ramsgate Street, is an important view linking Dalston Lane visually, as it does, to the Grade II* listed church at the heart of the adjoining St Mark’s Conservation area.

A view of the tower of the 1887 Holy Trinity Grade II listed church can be seen from Dalston Lane south along Woodland Street and along Beechwood Road

We consider that the views from Dalston Lane south out of the Conservation Area to the Grade II Holy Trinity church are important views linking, as they do, two areas of comparable historic development across land redeveloped more recently for low rise Council housing.

October 2016