16 Lonsdale Square, part of a Grade II* Barnsbury terrace from about 1840, is new on Historic England's 2026 at-risk register, in poor condition and declining.

A house on Lonsdale Square in Barnsbury has been added to Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Register. Number 16 is part of a Grade II* listed terrace built in about 1838 to 1845. Historic England now records it as in poor condition and getting worse.

The register entry was published with the 2026 register this week. The house was not on last year’s register, which the government’s planning data service still holds for Islington.

What the register says

16 Lonsdale Square
Listing Grade II*, inside a conservation area
Condition Poor
Vulnerability Medium
Trend Declining
Priority C: slow decay, no solution agreed
Owner Private

Priority C means the building is decaying slowly and no plan to repair it has been agreed. The register does not say what is wrong with the house.

Why the square matters

The listing covers 24 terraced houses, numbers 1 to 24, designed by the architect R C Carpenter in a Tudor style. It describes:

  • white brick on some houses and yellow brick on the rest, with stucco dressings
  • four storeys with basements
  • Tudor-arched front doors under hood moulds
  • cast-iron railings with fleur-de-lys finials

The rest of Islington

Lonsdale Square joins a long Islington list. A search of the 2026 register finds more than 20 other entries in the borough, including:

  • Union Chapel on Compton Terrace, Grade I
  • Finsbury Health Centre on Pine Street, Grade I
  • Finsbury Town Hall on Rosebery Avenue
  • the former Odeon cinema on Holloway Road
  • the former Mecca Bingo on Essex Road

Across England, Historic England said 197 sites were added this year and 85 were rescued and removed, in its 2026 announcement.

What it means for you

  • Being on the register is a warning that a building needs attention, not an enforcement step.
  • Any repairs or changes to a Grade II* house need listed building consent from Islington Council. Applications show up on our Islington planning news page.
  • If you know of a historic building in Islington that is falling into disrepair, Historic England’s Heritage at Risk team takes suggestions at Heritage.atRisk@HistoricEngland.org.uk.