Canonbury
Encyclopedia
Canonbury is a residential district in the London Borough of Islington
in the north of London. It is roughly in the area between Essex Road, Upper Street and Cross Street and either side of St Paul's Road.
In 1253 land in the area was granted to the Canons of St Bartholomew’s Priory, Smithfield and became known as Canonbury. The area continued predominantly as open land until it was developed as a suburb in the early 19th century. In common with similar inner London areas, it suffered decline when the construction of railways in the 1860s enabled commuting into the city from further afield. The gentrification of the area from the 1950s included new developments to replace war-damaged properties in Canonbury Park North and South as well as restoration of older buildings.
East Canonbury is the south-eastern corner of the district, bordering on the Regents Canal. Parts of this area were transferred to the district from the London Borough of Hackney
in a boundary adjustment (along the line of the northern tow-path of the canal), in 1993.
In the east is the New River Estate (formerly the Marquess Estate), a 1,200 dwelling council estate, completed in 1976 on 26 acres (105,218.4 m²), and designed by Darbourne & Darke. A dark red brick, traffic free estate, it was praised as an example of municipal architecture, but achieved a bad reputation and has since been extensively redeveloped to improve security for residents.
George Orwell and Evelyn Waugh lived in Canonbury Square each quite early in their literary careers. Charles Dickens
wrote a Christmas
story about a lamplighter
in Canonbury, which features the Tower. Lesley Forbes, the travel and detective story
writer, and amateur historian Gavin Menzies
, who has claimed that China
launched an expedition which travelled the world in 1421, both live in the area.
London Borough of Islington
The London Borough of Islington is a London borough in Inner London. It was formed in 1965 by merging the former metropolitan boroughs of Islington and Finsbury. The borough contains two Westminster parliamentary constituencies, Islington North and Islington South & Finsbury...
in the north of London. It is roughly in the area between Essex Road, Upper Street and Cross Street and either side of St Paul's Road.
In 1253 land in the area was granted to the Canons of St Bartholomew’s Priory, Smithfield and became known as Canonbury. The area continued predominantly as open land until it was developed as a suburb in the early 19th century. In common with similar inner London areas, it suffered decline when the construction of railways in the 1860s enabled commuting into the city from further afield. The gentrification of the area from the 1950s included new developments to replace war-damaged properties in Canonbury Park North and South as well as restoration of older buildings.
East Canonbury is the south-eastern corner of the district, bordering on the Regents Canal. Parts of this area were transferred to the district from the London Borough of Hackney
London Borough of Hackney
The London Borough of Hackney is a London borough of North/North East London, and forms part of inner London. The local authority is Hackney London Borough Council....
in a boundary adjustment (along the line of the northern tow-path of the canal), in 1993.
In the east is the New River Estate (formerly the Marquess Estate), a 1,200 dwelling council estate, completed in 1976 on 26 acres (105,218.4 m²), and designed by Darbourne & Darke. A dark red brick, traffic free estate, it was praised as an example of municipal architecture, but achieved a bad reputation and has since been extensively redeveloped to improve security for residents.
Notable residents
- Thomas Cromwell, Lord Privy SealLord Privy SealThe Lord Privy Seal is the fifth of the Great Officers of State in the United Kingdom, ranking beneath the Lord President of the Council and above the Lord Great Chamberlain. The office is one of the traditional sinecure offices of state...
, lived in Canonbury Tower from 1533. His residency ended abruptly in 1540 when he was beheaded by King Henry VIIIHenry VIII of EnglandHenry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
. - Sir Francis Bacon, King James I's Lord ChancellorLord ChancellorThe Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord Chancellor, is a senior and important functionary in the government of the United Kingdom. He is the second highest ranking of the Great Officers of State, ranking only after the Lord High Steward. The Lord Chancellor is appointed by the Sovereign...
, lived in Canonbury Tower, 1616-1626. - William BabellWilliam BabellWilliam Babell was an English musician, composer and prolific arranger of vocal music for harpsichord.-Life:...
, musician, died here in 1723 - Ephraim ChambersEphraim ChambersEphraim Chambers was an English writer and encyclopaedist, who is primarily known for producing the Cyclopaedia, or a Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences.-Early life:...
, encyclopaedist, lodged at Canonbury Tower - George GrossmithGeorge GrossmithGeorge Grossmith was an English comedian, writer, composer, actor, and singer. His performing career spanned more than four decades...
and Weedon GrossmithWeedon GrossmithWalter Weedon Grossmith , better known as Weedon Grossmith, was an English writer, painter, actor and playwright, best known as co-author of The Diary of a Nobody with his famous brother, music hall comedian and Gilbert and Sullivan star, George Grossmith...
, actors and writers, lived at 5 Canonbury Place - Molly Hughes, educator and author, chronicled her childhood in Canonbury in A London Child of the 1870s.
- George OrwellGeorge OrwellEric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist...
, writer, lived at 27b Canonbury Square - Evelyn WaughEvelyn WaughArthur Evelyn St. John Waugh , known as Evelyn Waugh, was an English writer of novels, travel books and biographies. He was also a prolific journalist and reviewer...
, writer, lived at 17a Canonbury Square - Duncan GrantDuncan GrantDuncan James Corrowr Grant was a British painter and designer of textiles, potterty and theatre sets and costumes...
and Vanessa BellVanessa BellVanessa Bell was an English painter and interior designer, a member of the Bloomsbury group, and the sister of Virginia Woolf.- Biography and art :...
, painters and designers, lived at 26a Canonbury Square - Professor Sir Basil SpenceBasil SpenceSir Basil Urwin Spence, OM, OBE, RA was a Scottish architect, most notably associated with Coventry Cathedral in England and the Beehive in New Zealand, but also responsible for numerous other buildings in the Modernist/Brutalist style.-Training:Spence was born in Bombay, India, the son of Urwin...
, architect, lived at 1 Canonbury Place - Dame Flora RobsonFlora RobsonDame Flora McKenzie Robson DBE was an English actress, renowned as a character actress, who played roles ranging from queens to villainesses.-Early life:...
, actor, lived in Alwyn Villas - Louis MacneiceLouis MacNeiceFrederick Louis MacNeice CBE was an Irish poet and playwright. He was part of the generation of "thirties poets" which included W. H. Auden, Stephen Spender and Cecil Day-Lewis; nicknamed "MacSpaunday" as a group — a name invented by Roy Campbell, in his Talking Bronco...
, poet, lived at 52 Canonbury Park South from 1947 to 1952 and is commemorated with a blue plaqueBlue plaqueA blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person or event, serving as a historical marker....
. - Ted and Barbara CastleBarbara CastleBarbara Anne Castle, Baroness Castle of Blackburn , PC, GCOT was a British Labour Party politician....
, politicians, lived in John Spencer Square - Alan DaviesAlan DaviesAlan Davies is an English comedian, writer and actor best known for starring in the TV mystery series Jonathan Creek and as the permanent panellist on the TV panel show QI.- Early life :...
, actor/comedian - Cate BlanchettCate BlanchettCatherine Élise "Cate" Blanchett is an Australian actress. She came to international attention for her role as Elizabeth I of England in the 1998 biopic film Elizabeth, for which she won British Academy of Film and Television Arts and Golden Globe Awards, and earned her first Academy Award...
, actor lived at 7 Canonbury Grove - Chester PChester PJoey Coombes , better known as Chester P, is a rapper in the UK hip-hop scene. He was a founding member of Task Force, Bury Crew and the M.U.D. Family. He and his brother Farma G are both sons of the late musician Peet Coombes....
- Dame Stella RimingtonStella RimingtonDame Stella Rimington, DCB is a British author, who was the Director General of MI5 from 1992 to 1996. She was the first female DG of MI5, and the first DG whose name was publicised on appointment...
, head of MI5, lived at 7 Canonbury Grove and Alwyne Road - Sir John Mummery PC, DL a Lord Justice of Appeal lives at 5 Canonbury Grove
- Sir Nicholas Barrington, ex UK High CommissionerHigh CommissionerHigh Commissioner is the title of various high-ranking, special executive positions held by a commission of appointment.The English term is also used to render various equivalent titles in other languages.-Bilateral diplomacy:...
to PakistanPakistanPakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
lives in Canonbury Grove - William Greaves co-founder of Capital Kids' CricketCapital Kids' CricketCapital Kids' Cricket is an initiative and a charity based in London, to promote the playing of cricket in state schools in the capital of the United Kingdom.-Origins:...
lives at 13 Canonbury Grove
Literary and artistic connections
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
wrote a Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
story about a lamplighter
Lamplighter
A lamplighter, historically, was an employee of a town who lit street lights, generally by means of a wick on a long pole. At dawn, they would return and extinguish them using a small hook on the same pole. Early street lights were generally candles, oil, and similar consumable liquid or solid...
in Canonbury, which features the Tower. Lesley Forbes, the travel and detective story
Detective Story
Detective Story is a film noir which tells the story of one day in the lives of the various people who populate a police detective squad. It features Kirk Douglas, Eleanor Parker, William Bendix, Cathy O'Donnell, Lee Grant, among others. The movie was adapted by Robert Wyler and Philip Yordan...
writer, and amateur historian Gavin Menzies
Gavin Menzies
Rowan Gavin Paton Menzies is a retired British submarine lieutenant-commander and author. He is best known for his controversial book 1421: The Year China Discovered the World, in which he asserts that the fleets of Chinese Admiral Zheng He visited the Americas prior to European explorer...
, who has claimed that China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
launched an expedition which travelled the world in 1421, both live in the area.
Places of interest
- Canonbury Tower - The manor of Canonbury was constructed by William Bolton of St Bartholomew’s PriorySt Bartholomew's HospitalSt Bartholomew's Hospital, also known as Barts, is a hospital in Smithfield in the City of London, England.-Early history:It was founded in 1123 by Raherus or Rahere , a favourite courtier of King Henry I...
between 1509 and 1532. At the dissolutionDissolution of the MonasteriesThe Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their...
it was granted to Thomas Cromwell. In the 1590s the manor was rebuilt by Sir John Spencer, Lord Mayor of the City of London, including the construction of its tower. The tower has been occupied by many historical figures, including Francis BaconFrancis BaconFrancis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Albans, KC was an English philosopher, statesman, scientist, lawyer, jurist, author and pioneer of the scientific method. He served both as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England...
and Oliver GoldsmithOliver GoldsmithOliver Goldsmith was an Irish writer, poet and physician known for his novel The Vicar of Wakefield , his pastoral poem The Deserted Village , and his plays The Good-Natur'd Man and She Stoops to Conquer...
. The Tower Theatre Company was based here from 1953 to 2003. It is currently used as a Masonic research centre. - Canonbury Square - An attractive square, developed between 1805 and 1830, it includes a variety of distinct styles. In 1812, when few properties had been built, the New North Road turnpike, now known as Canonbury Road, was constructed and bisects the square. Many significant figures from the arts and literary worlds have lived on the square, including George OrwellGeorge OrwellEric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist...
, Evelyn WaughEvelyn WaughArthur Evelyn St. John Waugh , known as Evelyn Waugh, was an English writer of novels, travel books and biographies. He was also a prolific journalist and reviewer...
and Samuel PhelpsSamuel PhelpsSamuel Phelps was an English actor and theatre manager...
. - The Estorick Collection of Modern Italian ArtEstorick Collection of Modern Italian ArtThe Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art is a museum in Canonbury Square in the district of Islington on the northern fringes of central London...
is in Canonbury Square. - New River Walk - The New RiverNew River (England)The New River is an artificial waterway in England, opened in 1613 to supply London with fresh drinking water taken from the River Lea and from Amwell Springs , and other springs and wells along its course....
, an aqueductAqueductAn aqueduct is a water supply or navigable channel constructed to convey water. In modern engineering, the term is used for any system of pipes, ditches, canals, tunnels, and other structures used for this purpose....
built by Sir Hugh Myddelton to supply fresh water to London, was completed in 1613. The walk is in two parts, with a break at Willowbridge. The southern section received an early National LotteryNational Lottery (United Kingdom)The National Lottery is the state-franchised national lottery in the United Kingdom and the Isle of Man.It is operated by Camelot Group, to whom the licence was granted in 1994, 2001 and again in 2007. The lottery is regulated by the National Lottery Commission, and was established by the then...
grant, and has a back-pumping scheme which simulates the water flow of the original aqueduct. - Canonbury Grove - is a road running parallel to part of New River Walk, made up of typical attractive 2 and 3 storey early 19th century terraces.
Groups in Canonbury
- GreenpeaceGreenpeaceGreenpeace is a non-governmental environmental organization with offices in over forty countries and with an international coordinating body in Amsterdam, The Netherlands...
UK - offices based at Canonbury Villas. - The Canonbury Society http://www.canonburysociety.org.uk aims to conserve the special character of Canonbury by monitoring development
- Islington & Stoke Newington (T.S Quail) Sea Cadet Unit
- The Islington Society http://www.islingtonsociety.org.uk was founded in 1960 to safeguard and improve the quality of life in Islington. It focuses on the built environment and public transport, but also takes a special interest in public services and open spaces.
Politics
- The local MP is LabourLabour Party (UK)The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
politician Emily ThornberryEmily ThornberryEmily Anne Thornberry is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Islington South and Finsbury since 2005.-Before Parliament:...
(her full constituency is Islington South and Finsbury). The Islington councillors representing Canonbury are Paula Belford (Liberal DemocratLiberal DemocratsThe Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...
), Faye Whaley and Wally Burgess (both Labour).
Transport and locale
Nearest railway stations
- Essex RoadEssex Road stationEssex Road railway station is a National Rail station in Islington. It is on the Northern City Line between and and is in Travelcard Zone 2. The station is located at the junction of Essex Road, Canonbury Road and New North Road, with the present entrance on Canonbury Road. It is the only deep...
- CanonburyCanonbury railway stationCanonbury railway station serves the district of Canonbury within the London Borough of Islington in north London. It is on London Overground's North London Line and East London Line. The station and all trains serving it are operated by London Overground, and the station is in Travelcard Zone 2...
- Highbury & IslingtonHighbury & Islington stationHighbury & Islington station is a London Underground and National Rail station in the London Borough of Islington in north London. It is served by the Victoria line, London Overground's East and North London Lines and First Capital Connect's Northern City Line....
Nearest tube stations
- Angel tube stationAngel tube stationAngel tube station is a London Underground station in The Angel, Islington. It is on the Bank branch of the Northern Line, between Old Street and King's Cross St. Pancras stations. It is in Travelcard Zone 1. The tube stop serves as a portal to several Off West End, or fringe theatre, venues,...
- Highbury & Islington tube station
- Dalston Junction
Nearest bus routes
| Bus Route | 4 | 19 | 21 | 30 | 38 | 43 | 56 | 67 | 73 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bus Route | 76 | 141 | 149 | 242 | 243 | 271 | 277 | 341 | 476 |