London Borough of Islington

London Borough of Islington
—  London borough  —
Coat of arms Council logo
Islington shown within Greater London
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Constituent country	England
Region	London
Ceremonial county	Greater London
Status	London borough
Admin HQ	Upper Street, Islington
Incorporated	1 April 1965
Government
• Type	London borough council
• Body	Islington London Borough Council
• Leadership	Leader & Cabinet (Labour)
• Mayor	Cllr Jilani Chowdhury
• MPs	Jeremy Corbyn Emily Thornberry
• London Assembly	Jennette Arnold AM for North East
• EU Parliament	London
Area
• Total	5.74 sq mi (14.86 km2)
Area rank	324th (of 326)
Population (2011 est.)
• Total	206,300
• Rank	77th (of 326)
• Density	Bad rounding here36,000/sq mi (Bad rounding here14,000/km2)
• Ethnicity	58.4% White British 4.5% White Irish 12.3% Other White 1.2% White & Black Caribbean 0.7% White & Black African 1.1% White & Asian 1.2% Other Mixed 2.2% Indian 0.8% Pakistani 2.3% Bangladeshi 1.0% Other Asian 4.2% Black Caribbean 5.2% Black African 1.0% Other Black 2.3% Chinese 1.7% Other
Time zone	GMT (UTC0)
• Summer (DST)	BST (UTC+1)
Postcodes	EC, N, WC
Area code(s)	020
Police force	Metropolitan Police
Website	www.islington.gov.uk

The London Borough of Islington (ⁱ/ˈɪzlɪŋtən/) 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. The local authority is Islington Council.

Etymology

Islington was originally named by the Saxons Giseldone (1005), then Gislandune (1062). The name means 'Gīsla's hill' from the Old English personal name Gīsla and dun 'hill', 'down'. The name then later mutated to Isledon, which remained in use well into the 17th century when the modern form arose. In medieval times, Islington was just one of many small manors in the area, along with Bernersbury, Neweton Berewe or Hey-bury, and Canonesbury (Barnsbury, Highbury and Canonbury - names first recorded in the 13th and 14th centuries). "Islington" came to be applied as the name for the parish covering these villages, and was the name chosen for the Metropolitan Borough of Islington, on its formation in 1899. On the merger with Finsbury, to form the modern borough this name came to be applied to the whole borough.

Districts of Islington

See also: Islington parks and open spaces

The borough includes the areas:

• Angel
• Archway
• Barnsbury
• Canonbury
• Clerkenwell
• Farringdon
• Finsbury
• Finsbury Park
• Highbury
• Highgate
• Holloway
• Islington
• Kings Cross
• Lower Holloway
• Mildmay
• Nag's Head
• Newington Green
• Old Street
• Pentonville
• St Luke's
• Tufnell Park
• Upper Holloway

Wards

• Barnsbury
• Bunhill
• Caledonian
• Canonbury
• East Canonbury
• Newington Green
• Clerkenwell
• Finsbury Park
• Highbury East
• Highbury West
• Hillrise
• Holloway
• Junction
• Mildmay
• Saint Georges
• Saint Marys
• Saint Peters
• Tollington

Government and infrastructure

See also: Islington local elections

The Civil Aviation Authority has its head office in the CAA House in Islington, London Borough of Islington.

Islington Council is the borough's local authority. The mayor is cllr Twariq Chowdhury, the first Bangladeshi mayor of Islington. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in the United Kingdom capital. Islington is divided into 16 wards, each electing three councillors. Following the May 2010 election, Islington Council comprises 35 Labour Party councillors and 13 Liberal Democrat councillors. The council was created by the London Government Act 1963 and replaced two local authorities: Finsbury Metropolitan Borough Council and Islington Metropolitan Borough Council.

Transport

Islington Town Hall

Islington has a wide variety of transportation services, with direct connections to the suburbs and the City and West End. Islington also has ten tube stations within its boundaries, with connections by the tube to all around London.

London Underground

There are ten Underground stations in the borough:

• Angel
• Archway
• Arsenal
• Caledonian Road
• Farringdon
• Finsbury Park
• Highbury and Islington
• Holloway Road
• Old Street
• Tufnell Park

These stations principally serve the Northern, Piccadilly and Victoria lines. Farringdon station is also served by the Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines.

London Overground stations

There are also several London Overground stations in the borough. They are as follows:

• Caledonian Road & Barnsbury
• Canonbury
• Crouch Hill
• Highbury & Islington
• Upper Holloway

Railway stations

There are several railway stations in the borough. They are as follows:

• Drayton Park
• Essex Road
• Farringdon
• Finsbury Park
• Highbury and Islington
• Old Street

Major public and private bodies in Islington

Prisons

There are two prisons in Islington, a men's prison, HM Prison Pentonville and a women's prison HMP Holloway, which in the early 20th century was used to hold many suffragettes. Some of the notable former inmates of Pentonville prison have been as follows.

• Hawley Harvey Crippen (Dr Crippen) was hanged in the prison in 1910 after being found guilty of murdering his wife.
• Frederick Seddon the poisoner, who was hanged in the prison in 1912.
• John Christie who was hanged in the prison in 1953 after having been convicted of murdering his wife.
• Charles Peace, notorious burglar and murderer.
• Timothy Evans, wrongfully accused co-tenant of John Christie.
• Neville Heath who was hanged in the prison in 1946 after having been convicted of murdering two women.
• Simon Dee, a radio/television personality, who served 28 days for non-payment of council tax on his former Chelsea home that he had not shared with his first wife since 1971/2
• Taki Theodoracopulos, gossip columnist for The Spectator, who was imprisoned in Pentonville for three months in 1984 on a cocaine possession charge. He wrote a book about the experience titled Nothing to Declare.
• David Irving, historian and holocaust denier.
• John Alford who spent six weeks in Pentonville in 1999 after selling illegal drugs to a reporter.
• Hugh Cornwell of The Stranglers who served a sentence for drug possession
• Pete Doherty of The Libertines and Babyshambles who spent four nights in Pentonville in February 2005 while unable to make bail on charges which were later dropped. He subsequently wrote a song about the prison, named "Pentonville", which is on the Babyshambles album Down In Albion.
• Blake Fielder-Civil, husband of Amy Winehouse, who was held at Pentonville for grievous bodily harm and attempting to pervert the course of justice in 2008.
• Boy George, in 2009, for the assault and false imprisonment of a male escort.

Cultural attractions and institutions in Islington

The Islington N1 Centre.

• Almeida Theatre
• Artillery Ground
• Pleasance Theatre Islington
• Courtyard Theatre
• Emirates Stadium (and the former Arsenal Stadium at Highbury)
• Islington N1 Centre
• The Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art in Canonbury Square
• Hen and Chickens Theatre
• Islington Arts Factory, in Parkhurst Road,
• London Canal Museum, located in New Wharf Road, King's Cross
• Islington Museum, located at Finsbury Library
• Islington Local History Centre, located at Finsbury Library
• The King's Head Theatre
• Sadler's Wells Theatre
• Technology Mile - wireless access throughout Upper Street and Holloway Road.
• Union Chapel
• Peter Benenson House, headquarters of Amnesty International
• Little Angel Theatre a puppet theatre and producer of the Suspense Puppetry Festival of London.
• VUE Cinema, located inside the N1 center
• Odeon Cinema, located on Holloway Road
• St John's Gate, Clerkenwell (Islington's badge for London2012)
• The Screen On The Green, a single screen cinema on Upper Street

Farm

Holloway in Islington is home to Freightliners City Farm which is one of the many city farms throughout London. The farm, which isn't like an industrial farm, contains a wide range of animals from rabbits to cows to chickens and pigs all free for the public to view.

Demographics

Population
Year	Pop.	±%
1801	65,721	—
1811	83,679	+27.3%
1821	108,333	+29.5%
1831	137,271	+26.7%
1841	162,717	+18.5%
1851	214,090	+31.6%
1861	266,010	+24.3%
1871	317,930	+19.5%
1881	369,850	+16.3%
1891	397,799	+7.6%
1901	405,301	+1.9%
1911	412,944	+1.9%
1921	401,054	−2.9%
1931	389,513	−2.9%
1941	324,143	−16.8%
1951	269,743	−16.8%
1961	232,258	−13.9%
1971	200,022	−13.9%
1981	157,512	−21.3%
1991	173,384	+10.1%
2001	175,787	+1.4%
2011	206,125	+17.3%
Source: A Vision of Britain through time

In 1801, the civil parishes that form the modern borough had a total population of 65,721. This rose steadily throughout the 19th century, as the district became built up; exceeding 200,000 in the middle of the century. When the railways arrived the rate of population growth increased — reaching nearly 400,000 by the turn of the century; with the Metropolitan Borough of Finsbury particularly suffering deprivation, poverty and severe overcrowding. The increase in population peaked before World War I, falling slowly in the aftermath until World War II began an exodus from London towards the new towns under the Abercrombie Plan for London (1944). The decline in population reversed in the 1980s, but it remains below its 1971 level.

According to the 2001 census Islington had a population of 175,797. It was 75% White, including 5% White Irish, 6% Black African, 5% Black Caribbean and 2% Bangladeshi. 32% of the borough's residents were owner–occupiers.

According to the 2011 census, Islington has the highest population density of local authorities in England and Wales - 13,875 people per km².

Education

Universities

The London Borough of Islington is home to two higher education institutions:

• City University, London at Northampton Square, formerly the Northampton Institute, founded in 1894; and
• London Metropolitan University, North Campus on the Holloway Road, formed from the merger of the University of North London and London Guildhall University in 2002. The University of North London was founded on this site in 1896 as the Northern Polytechnic Institute.

Colleges

The borough also currently contains two colleges of further education:

• City and Islington College; and
• Westminster Kingsway College (while major improvement works are carried out at King's Cross).

Schools

Main article: List of schools in the London Borough of Islington

The borough currently maintains 47 primary schools, 10 secondary schools, three special schools and five Pupil Referral Units. In 2000, Cambridge Education Associates, a private firm, took over the management of the Islington's state schools from the local education authority.

See also

• List of people from Islington

External links

• Islington Links
• Islington Council
• Weather forecast for Islington
• Islington Museum and Local History Centre