London College of Fashion, 182 Mare Street, E8

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This attractive Victorian building was originally built in 1877 to house the Lady Eleanor Holles School, an independent school founded in 1710. Designed in the popular Queen Anne style this two-storey building is constructed from red brick with Portland stone dressings. Four setback bays with decorative brick quoins frame the central bay. The central bay has an ornate parapet topped with a segmental pediment and Portland stone obelisk and four globe finials. At the top of the central bay there is also a decorative Portland stone castle and scroll motifs in relief. Three mullioned casement windows with stone dressings are located on each floor of the central bay with the setback bays having one mullioned window on each. The two outer bays are topped with shaped Dutch gables. Each of these two bays have a decorative Portland stone date plate carved with the motif of a shield and a tree; and the words ‘Founded AD 1710’ and ‘Erected AD 1877’ incised on each to commemorate the girls’ school. A decorative scroll lies below the date plates. Initially Lady Holles’ school was located in the Cripplegate Ward of the City of London, but in 1878 it moved to Mare Street in Hackney. The school was established when a trust for its endowment as a Christian foundation was created under the will of Lady Eleanor Holles, daughter of the second Earl of Clare – a nobleman from Nottinghamshire. The school was located in Hackney until c.1935 when it then made its final move to Hampton in Middlesex, where it still educates girls today. It was not until after the Second World War that the building’s long-term future was secured. In 1946 Cordwainers Technical College moved to the site from Bethnal Green. The college had its origins in the Leather Trades School, which was established in 1887 with help from the Worshipful Company of Cordwainers – a medieval Livery company whose name referred to those who worked with the finest leather from Cordoba in Spain. In 1913 the Worshipful Company took overall responsibility for the trade school. At this point it became known as the Cordwainers Technical College. In 1989 it changed its name to Cordwainers College; and in 2000 it was incorporated into the London College of Fashion (as part of the University of the Arts London) where it continues to run specialist courses in shoes and footwear.

Queen Anne style

Victorian (1838-1901)

school

This former Victorian school building has fine architectural features and an interesting history. It has served as an educational building for approx. 120 years; firstly as a girls’ school and then as a well-known Cordwainers College. Cordwainers was unique in providing courses in footwear, saddlery and leathercraft, and during its 54-year history trained many world-renowned shoe designers, including Jimmy Choo and Patrick Cox.