Barnsbury

Barnsbury
Thornhill Square
Barnsbury  Barnsbury shown 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
EU Parliament	London
UK Parliament	Islington South and Finsbury
London Assembly	North East
List of places UK England London

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 corruption of villa de Iseldon Berners (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.

The Barnsbury Estate is a large estate managed by Newlon Housing. It has a mix of housing ownership with some ex-local authority housing and some private ownership. www.barnsburyestate.com. The Barnsbury Estate is becoming increasingly desirable as Kings Cross developments continue and the Georgian terraces in Barnsbury skyrocket in price (www.theguardian.com/business/2014/sep/05/north-london-tiny-275k-house-for-sale-zoopla).

Famous residents

• Samuel Barnett, actor
• Tony Blair, Prime Minister lived at 1 Richmond Crescent.
• Benjamin Britten, composer lived at 99 Offord Road.
• Kenneth Cranham, actor.
• Chris Farlowe, singer lived in Offord Road.
• Sir Ian Holm, actor lived in Belitha Villas.
• Sir Peter Pears, singer lived in Offord Road.
• Thomas H. Shepherd, artist and printmaker lived in Batchelor Street.
• Walter Sickert, artist lived at 14 Barnsbury Park.
• VHS (fictional character), a fictional character featured in the comedy series The Mighty Boosh, claimed to own a factory in Barnsbury.
• Simon Rattle, conductor, has a residence in Lonsdale Square.
• Su Pollard, comedy actress, lives on Richmond Avenue.
• Caryl Churchill, playwright has lived in Thornhill Square since 1965.
• Sally Davies, Chief Medical Officer
• Margaret Hodge, MP and Chair of the Public Accounts Committee
• Zoe Wanamaker, actress
• Rosamund Pike, actress
• Emily Thornberry, MP
• Grayson Perry, artist, has a studio on Belitha Villas
• Rupert Graves, actor

Nearest stations

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