Borough of Islington

This inner borough of London borders the square mile of the “City of London” on its southern edge.  It traces its history back to open fields.  Cattle, on their way to Smithfield Market would spend their last night in the fields.  The area, because of the dairy influence, also supplied London with butter, cream and milk.  With the amalgamation of bordering areas into the borough, Islington’s history also includes spaces of land that were held by the monasteries.  This area, called Clerkenwell, is home to St John Ambulance, one of London’s ambulance services, tracing its roots back to the Knights of the Order of St John of Jerusalem.  The area also became a place of leisure for Londoners where spas, tea gardens and theatres thrived.  Sadlers Wells, once a spa, is now a theatre featuring opera and ballet.  With the advent of the industrial revolution, Clerkenwell was known for clocks, watches, and jewellery.  Islington is also home to the Arsenal football team and the new Emirates Stadium in the area of Drayton Park. The borough is also known for political and religious change.  In the section of the borough known as Newington Green, writer Daniel Defoe spent time attending a private Non-Conformist academy. The London office of the China Inland Mission was located here in 1895, and the Mildmay Radical Club was also founded there. More recently, Islington is known for being the London home of former Prime Minister Tony Blair and for the Granita Restaurant where Tony Blair and Gordon Brown met to map out the Labour Party’s strategy in the late 1990s.

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