Islington

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London On The Ground

Dec 146 min read

Charles Barry in Islington

The Parliament architect honed his Gothic Revival design skills on four Islington churches. Architect Sir Charles Barry (1795-1860) is...

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The Royal Agricultural Hall and Christmas past

London On The Ground

Nov 235 min read

The Royal Agricultural Hall and Christmas past

Islington's Business Design Centre has a history of festive family fairs in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The Business Design...

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The Islington pub with a carved fireplace more than 400 years old

London On The Ground

Sep 234 min read

The Islington pub with a carved fireplace more than 400 years old

The Old Queen's Head, Victorian on the outside and Tudor inside. The popular North London watering hole on Essex Road appears to be like...

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Islington Cattle Market: lost secret of Essex Road

London On The Ground

Jul 216 min read

Islington Cattle Market: lost secret of Essex Road

The challenger to Smithfield closed in 1837 after less than a year. A couple of years ago, at one of the excellent exhibitions at the...

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Walking in Geoffrey Fletcher's London: Islington and the City

London On The Ground

Jun 33 min read

Walking in Geoffrey Fletcher's London: Islington and the City

See some of the London that the artist and writer feared was disappearing in the 1960s and 1970s. Best known for his 1962 book The London...

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Arsenal's Art Deco Highbury, Herbert Chapman and me

London On The Ground

Apr 208 min read

Arsenal's Art Deco Highbury, Herbert Chapman and me

The North London stadium was unique in football architecture, motivated by an innovative manager and inspiring generations of Arsenal...

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Would Elizabeth I recognise Clerkenwell today?

London On The Ground

Jan 198 min read

Would Elizabeth I recognise Clerkenwell today?

A drawing of Clerkenwell in 1560, two years into the reign of Elizabeth I, shows some features still visible today, sort of. Published in...

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Angel Wings sculpture: not just for Christmas

London On The Ground

Nov 24, 20233 min read

Angel Wings sculpture: not just for Christmas

Angel Wings is a year-round 'Christmas decoration' on an epic scale, a play on the Angel Islington's name and link to the Nativity story.

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The Almeida, Islington's world renowned local theatre, has a colourful history

London On The Ground

Sep 1, 20234 min read

The Almeida, Islington's world renowned local theatre, has a colourful history

Once a Victorian self-education institute, Salvation Army barracks and a novelties store, it's now one of London's best loved theatres....

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Islington's New River mosaic: little known, but of high artistic quality

London On The Ground

Aug 25, 20233 min read

Islington's New River mosaic: little known, but of high artistic quality

An Islington school has a Grade II listed 1964 public artwork by William Mitchell. Outside the City of London Academy Islington, a...

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Caledonian Park Clock Tower: one of London's best viewing points

London On The Ground

Jun 23, 20234 min read

Caledonian Park Clock Tower: one of London's best viewing points

Tours of the little known Islington clock tower offer fabulous views. It may not be one of London's better known attractions, but it is...

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Lonsdale Square, a Barnsbury beauty of Gothic Tudor

London On The Ground

Apr 28, 20233 min read

Lonsdale Square, a Barnsbury beauty of Gothic Tudor

A one-off 19th century square in the Barnsbury area of Islington. Praised as "a unique, intense and immaculately composed piece of...

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Islington's transformed transformer, based on Newgate Prison

London On The Ground

Feb 17, 20233 min read

Islington's transformed transformer, based on Newgate Prison

Originally an electricity sub-station, the Islington landmark has been an antiques mall and home to several retailers. The building...

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Down Pentonville Road towards St Pancras: 1884 and today

London On The Ground

Oct 7, 20224 min read

Down Pentonville Road towards St Pancras: 1884 and today

The view towards St Pancras station down Pentonville Road looking west was painted by Irish painter John O'Connor in 1884. The painting's...

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See London from the steeple of St Mary's Islington

London On The Ground

Sep 22, 20222 min read

See London from the steeple of St Mary's Islington

Compare the view today with how it appeared in 1789. St Mary's Church on Upper Street in Islington is offering a rare opportunity to tour...

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Wood, not gold, paved the streets of London

London On The Ground

Sep 9, 20223 min read

Wood, not gold, paved the streets of London

Timber blocks once paved much of London. Some of it can still be seen. Introduced from the early 19th century, wood paving has a number...

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Flushing out the truth: Jennings, Crapper and the public convenience

London On The Ground

Sep 2, 20224 min read

Flushing out the truth: Jennings, Crapper and the public convenience

George Jennings should be much better known. He, and not Thomas Crapper, invented the flush toilet. 19th century installations bearing...

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Would Elizabeth I recognise Islington today?

London On The Ground

Aug 28, 20227 min read

Would Elizabeth I recognise Islington today?

An old greetings card shows 'The Village of Islington or Iseldon In the Reign of Queen Elizabeth I'. I recently came across an old...

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Wall to wall: Britannia Row, Pink Floyd & the City of London

London On The Ground

Mar 16, 202215 min read

Wall to wall: Britannia Row, Pink Floyd & the City of London

A quiet Islington side street tells of urbanisation, social history, post war reconstruction - and two walls. Britannia Row is a quiet...

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wandering London's wonders

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wandering London's wonders since 2021

LONDON on the Ground

wandering London's wonders

Subscribe Form To receive details of walks that are available for booking and new posts from the London blog

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To receive details of walks that are available for booking and new posts from the London blog