Barnsbury

Barnsbury
Thornhill Square
Barnsbury Location within Greater London
OS grid reference	TQ305845
London borough	Islington
Ceremonial county	Greater London
Region	London
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	LONDON
Postcode district	N1, N7
Dialling code	020
Police	Metropolitan
Fire	London
Ambulance	London
UK Parliament	Islington South and Finsbury
London Assembly	North East

A map showing the Barnsbury ward of Islington Metropolitan Borough as it appeared in 1916.

Barnsbury is an area of north London in the London Borough of Islington, in the N1 postal district.

The name is a syncopated form of Bernersbury (1274), being so called after the Berners family: powerful medieval manorial lords who gained ownership of a large part of Islington after the Norman Conquest. The area of Barnsbury was predominantly rural until the early nineteenth century.

By the end of the 18th century, however, Barnsbury, like other parts of Islington, was being regarded as attractive part-rural suburbs by the comparatively wealthy people wanting to move out of the cramped City of London and industrial Clerkenwell. The area is close to the City, and had strong local trade in its position as the first staging post for travellers making the journey from London to the north, and with considerable agricultural traffic and cattle driving to the nearby Smithfield cattle market in the City.

Pentonville Prison (built 1842) is located within Barnsbury.

Notable people

• Michael Faraday (1791–1867) chemist
• Emily Thornberry (born 1960) Labour Party MP for Islington South and Finsbury
• Gillian Anderson (born 1968) actress, activist and writer
• Grayson Perry artist
• Owen Jones Labour activist

Nearest stations

• Caledonian Road & Barnsbury railway station
• Angel tube station
• Caledonian Road tube station
• Highbury and Islington station