Canonbury


Canonbury is an area in London, forming part of the London Borough of Islington. It is located within the area between Essex Road, Upper Street and Cross Street and either side of St Paul's Road in North London.

History

It has been conjectured that a secondary Roman road ran through Canonbury en route from Cripplegate in the City of London to modern-day Stevenage. The suggested route approximately bisected Canonbury at an orientation just east of north, entering the area at around Canonbury Gardens, passing through the junction between Willow Bridge Road and Canonbury Place, and leaving Canonbury at the northernmost point of St Paul's Road, where it takes a slight bend to the east of Highbury Grove.
On 15 June 1253 land in the area was granted to the canons of St Bartholomew's Priory, Smithfield, and became known as Canonbury, and by 1532 the canons had built an extensive house and grounds. There are records from 1433 and 1544 of Canonbury serving as the source of drinking water piped by conduits to the priory. 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 after 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; replacement of larger, run-down houses with smaller houses and flats in John Spencer Square, Prior Bolton Street and St Mary's Grove; and restoration of older buildings.

Geography

Canonbury sits on relatively high ground at the junction of the Thames and Lea river basins. At a height of around 30m above sea level, the district is at about the same height as the City of London but the land in between dips by about 10m.
Canonbury is traditionally an area of Islington, and has never been an administrative unit in its own right. For this reason it has never had formally defined boundaries, but approximates to the area between Essex Road, Upper Street and Cross Street and either side of St Paul's Road. The Canonbury electoral ward within the London Borough of Islington extends as far east as Southgate Road.
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, in 1993.
In the east is the Marquess Estate, a 1,200 dwelling council estate, completed in 1976 on, and designed by Darbourne & Darke. A dark red brick, traffic free estate, it was praised as an example of municipal architecture, but acquired a bad reputation and has since been extensively redeveloped to improve security for residents.

Places of interest

moved to 27b Canonbury Square in the autumn of 1944 – he and his wife having been bombed out of their previous flat, in Mortimer Crescent, on 28 June 1944. Evelyn Waugh lived at 17a Canonbury Square from 1928 to 1930. Charles Dickens wrote a Christmas story about a lamplighter in Canonbury, which features the Tower. Leslie Forbes, the travel and detective story writer, and pseudohistorian Gavin Menzies both lived in the area. M. V. Hughes lived at 1 Canonbury Park North as a child, and describes life there in her memoir A London Child of the 1870s.

Churches

  • St Paul's, at the junction of Essex Road and Balls Pond Road, was designed in 1826-28 by Charles Barry for the Church of England. Its parish was merged with St Jude, Mildmay and since 1997 the building has been used as a Steiner school.
  • St Stephen's Church, Church of England, is on Canonbury Road and was built in 1839.

    Groups in Canonbury

  • Greenpeace UKoffices based at Canonbury Villas.
  • The Canonbury Society aims to conserve the special character of Canonbury by monitoring development.
  • Islington & Stoke Newington Sea Cadet Unit
  • The Islington Society 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

  • Canonbury forms part of the Islington South and Finsbury parliamentary constituency. The constituency's MP is Labour politician Emily Thornberry. The Islington councillors representing the Canonbury ward are Alex Diner, Clare Jeapes and Nick Wayne.

    Demography

The 2021 census showed that the 12,665 population of Canonbury ward had the following ethnicity: 67.6% white, 6.8% black African, 6.7% Asian, 5.1% black Caribbean and 13.8% mixed/other.

Transport and locale

Nearest stations

routes 4, 19, 30, 38, 56, 73, 236, 263, 341, 393 and 476 serve Canonbury.

Education

Canonbury Road School, now Canonbury Primary School, opened in 1877. It is a Community primary school taking boys and girls from 3 to 11 years of age. In 2010, the school was placed in special measures. By 2013, when Ofsted inspected Canonbury Primary School it was rated as a "Good" school. In 2013, there were 460 pupils on the school roll.
Founded as a charity school in 1710, St Mary's Church of England Primary School has, since 1967, been situated on Fowler Road in Canonbury. When Ofsted inspected the school in 2012 it was rated as a "Good" school and there were 178 pupils on the school roll.
North Bridge House Senior School is located in Canonbury House.

Notable residents