Heritage Plaques
Islington’s Heritage Plaques showcase our culturally rich and colourful heritage by commemorating the significant people, places, and events in the borough. There are currently 102 plaques spread out on various sites across the borough. Search the full list of Heritage Plaques below and be inspired by some of the amazing people, places and events of Islington.
African National Congress (1978-1994)
A London Borough of Islington plaque in conjunction with the Nubian Jak Community Trust. Unveiled in February 2010.
The three-storey office in Penton Street, N1 was the London headquarters of the African National Congress (ANC) between 1978 and 1994. It was there that Oliver Tambo and Thabo Mbeki planned the overthrow of the apartheid regime. The ANC moved out of the Penton Street office when Nelson Mandela became president in South Africa’s first democratic elections in 1994. London Borough of Islington and Nubian Jak Community Trust unveiled the plaque in February 2010.
Alexander Cruden (1699-1770)
A Market Stallholders Association plaque.
Alexander McQueen (1969-2010)
An Islington heritage plaque, unveiled in March 2014, to commemorate McQueen's contribution to the British fashion industry.
Amelia Edwards
A English Heritage Plaque, unveiled in 2015.
Andrea Levy (1956-2019)
Andrea Levy was born in Whittington Hospital in Islington in 1956. She grew up with her family in Twyford House on the Blackstock estate, and attended the prestigious Highbury Hill Grammar School (now Highbury Fields School).
After starting to write as a hobby in her early 30s, Andrea went on to produce some of the nation’s most celebrated and influential works exploring the lives and contributions of immigrants and working class people in the UK. Best known for her novels Small Island and The Long Song, Andrea’s work provides an insight into life in Britain from the perspective of the Windrush generation.
Read more about Andrea Levy
Anton Bruckner (1824-1896)
A Brunel University plaque, unveiled in 1976.
Archway Toll Gate (1813-1864)
A London Borough of Islington Heritage Plaque to commemorate the Archway Toll Gate (1813 – 1864) which stood at site of Pauntley House, Pauntley Street, N19.
Basil Spence (1907-1976)
A English Heritage Plaque.
Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)
A London Borough of Islington plaque, unveiled in October 1985.
Betty Knight (1936 – 2010)
An Islington People's Plaque, unveiled in May 2014.
Carlo Gatti (1817-1878)
Caroline Chisholm (1808-1877)
A Greater London Council Plaque.
Charles ‘Elia’ Lamb (1775-1834)
A London County Council plaque.
Charles Bowerman (1851-1947)
A London Borough of Islington plaque.
Charles Cruft (1852-1938
A London Borough of Islington plaque.
Christopher Pinchbeck (1670-1732)
City Pesthouse (1593-1736)
A London Borough of Islington Plaque.
City Road Turnpike (1766-1864)
A London Borough of Islington Plaque.
Clerks’ Well
A Metropolitan Borough of Finsbury plaque.
Collins’ Music Hall (1862-1958)
A Greater London Council Plaque.
Copenhagen Fields (21 April 1834)
A London Borough of Islington Plaque.
Copenhagen House (early 17th century-1855)
A London Borough of Islington Plaque.
Coppice Row Turnpike (c1750-1830)
A London Borough of Islington Plaque.
Crystal Hale (1915-1999)
An Islington People's Plaque, unveiled in August 2011.
Cyril Mann (1911-1980)
An Islington People's Plaque, unveiled in September 2013.
Dadabhai Naoroji (1825-1917)
An Amwell Society plaque, unveiled in 2009.
Dadabhai Naoroji (1825-1917)
Dame Alice Owen’s Girls’ School
Dame Gracie Fields (1898-1979)
A English Heritage plaque.
Dan Parkes (1946-1989)
David Gestetner (1854-1939)
A English Heritage Plaque, unveiled in 1989.
Derek Jarman (1942-1994)
An Islington People’s Plaque unveiled February 2018 to commemorate Jarman’s contribution to LGBT+ activism, film and the arts. The plaque is situated on the facade of the artists’ collective he lived in from 1967-69, at the very start of his creative career. Read more here.
Dr A Gordon Signy (1905-1972)
An Islington People's Plaque, unveiled in June 2017.
Edith Garrud (1872-1971)
An Islington People’s Plaque, unveiled in June 2012.
Edward Irving (1792-1834)
A Greater London Council Plaque.
Edward Lear (1812-1888)
A London Borough of Islington Plaque.
Edward Massey (1772-1852)
Edward Suess (1831-1914)
A Geological Society of London plaque, unveiled in 1929.
Finsbury Park Empire (1910-1960)
An Islington People’s Plaque was unveiled 10 Oct 2017 at Vaudeville Court, on the site where the Finsbury Park Empire theatre once stood. Read more in our blog post about Islington's famous stage
First Gay Rights Demonstration (27 Nov 1970)
An OutRage! plaque.
Florence Keen (1868-1942)
An Islington People's Plaque, unveiled in July 2013.
Fortune Theatre (c1600)
George Baxter (1804-1867)
George Cruikshank (1792-1878)
A London Borough of Islington Plaque.
George Leybourne (1842-1884)
A Greater London Council Plaque.
George Orwell (1903-1950)
A London Borough of Islington plaque in conjunction with the Canonbury Society. Unveiled in May 2016, replacing the original plaque on this site.
Highbury Corner V1 attack (27 Jun 1944)
Jabez Bunting (1779-1858)
A London Borough of Islington Plaque.
Jack Kennedy (1935-2003)
An Islington People's Plaque, unveiled in March 2013.
James “Bronterre” O’Brien (1805-1864)
A London Borough of Islington Plaque.
James Edmondson (1857-1931)
A London Borough of Islington plaque in conjunction with the Sotheby Rd Conservation Society. Unveiled in October 2013.
James Hudson Taylor (1832-1905)
James Upjohn (1765-1794)
Jim Veal (1931-2006)
A London Borough of Islington plaque, in conjunction with the Southern Housing Group. Unveiled in July 2010.
Joe Meek (1929-1967)
Joe Orton (1933-1967)
A London Borough of Islington Plaque.
John Cranfield (1770-1790)
John Groom (1845-1919)
A English Heritage Plaque.
John Moor (1801-1875)
John Wesley (1703-1791)
A English Heritage Plaque.
John Wright (1907-1991)
An Islington People's Plaque, unveiled in July 2011.
Joseph Chamberlain (1836-1914)
A London County Council plaque. Unveiled in 1915.
Joseph Grimaldi (1778-1837)
A English Heritage Plaque, unveiled in 1989.
Joseph Simms (1745-1770)
Kate Greenaway (1846-1901)
A London Borough of Islington Plaque.
Kenneth Williams (1926-1988)
A London Borough of Islington plaque, unveiled in June 2010.
Lilian Lindsay (1871-1960)
A English Heritage Plaque.
Lord Fenner Brockway (1889-1988)
A London Borough of Islington Plaque.
Louis MacNiece (1907-1963)
A English Heritage Plaque.
Lt-Cdr R. S. Kerridge (1903-1940)
A London Borough of Islington plaque, which replaced the original plaque as it was lost. Unveiled on November 2016.
Marie Stopes (1880-1958)
A London Borough of Islington Plaque.
Mary Tealby (1801-1865)
An Islington People's Plaque, unveiled in October 2015.
Mary Tealby moved to London to nurse her ill mother in the early 1850s and remained with her family at 20 Victoria Road (now Chillingworth Street), Holloway, after her mother’s death. Distressed at the number abandoned dogs in London, Mary founded the Home for Lost and Starving Dogs. It was located in stables behind 15 and 16 Hollingsworth Street (now occupied by Freightliners Farm and Paradise Park) and was opened on 2 October 1860. Mary died 3 October 1865 leaving the management of the home to her younger brother Edward, who relocated the dogs home to Battersea, south London in 1871. The home still operates today under the name of Battersea Cats and Dogs Home.
Members of Mary’s family, the Battersea Cats and Dogs Home and Freightliners Farm attended the unveiling the plaque on 2 October 2015 at Freightliners Farm.
Mary Wollstonecraft (1759–1797)
A London Borough of Islington plaque, unveiled in March 2011.
Michael Faraday (1791-1867)
Nina Bawden (1925-2012)
A Islington People's Plaque, unveiled in September 2015.
Nina was the author of many books for adults and children, some drawing on her life in Islington. She was seriously injured in the Potters Bar train crash in 2002 in which her husband, Austen, and six other people were killed. With others she successfully campaigned to make the railways safer and to hold those responsible for the accident to account. Her Islington People’s Plaque was unveiled 11 September 2015 at Noel Road, N1.
North London Synagogue (1868-1959)
An Islington People's Plaque, unveiled in June 2015.
PC Alfred Smith (1880-1917)
An Islington People’s Plaque, unveiled in June 2017.
37-year-old PC Alfred Smith, an officer of the Metropolitan Police, saved the lives of over 150 women and children in Central Street Finsbury, during a heavy-bomber Gotha raid on 13 June 1917. Tragically, Smith was caught by the blast of one of the bombs and died. Read more in our blog post.
Peacock Inn (1564-1962)
A London Borough of Islington Plaque.
Red Bull Playhouse
Built around 1605, the year of the Gunpowder Plot, the Red Bull Playhouse stood in Red Bull Yard (now Hayward’s Place, off St John Street, Clerkenwell) until 1665. It was converted from the yard of an inn called ‘the Red Bull’ and was at least as large as the better-known Globe Theatre, if not larger. It became the longest-lived London Jacobean playhouse, surviving the English Civil War and Commonwealth, becoming a safe venue for entertainment into the Restoration.
Its Islington Heritage Plaque was unveiled on on Wednesday 29 August 2018.
Read more in our blog post about the playhouse
Riceyman Steps
An Amwell Society plaque.
Roman Camp Site
A London Borough of Islington Plaque.
Samuel Phelps (1804-1878)
A London County Council plaque. Unveiled in 1911.
Sir Arthur Keith (1866-1955)
A London Borough of Islington Plaque.
Sir Frances Ronalds (1788-1873)
A London Borough of Islington and Highbury View Tenants Association plaque unveiled Sept 2013.
Sir Henry Bessemer (1813-1898)
A City University plaque, unveiled in May 2017.
Sir Michael Sobell (1892-1993)
A London Borough of Islington plaque in conjunction with the Sobell Foundation. Unveiled in September 2010.
Social Democratic Foundation (1926-1937)
A London Borough of Islington Plaque.
Spa Green (discovered 1685)
St John Street Turnpike (1746-1830)
A London Borough of Islington Plaque.
St John’s Gate (1504)
The Keskidee (1971-1992)
An Islington People's Plaque, unveiled in April 2011.
The Peasants’ Revolt (1381)
An Islington People's Plaque, unveiled in June 2011.
The Triffids (1985)
Thomas Britton (1644-1714)
A London Borough of Islington Plaque.
Thomas Hosmer Shepherd (1793-1864)
A Greater London Council plaque, unveiled in 1976.
Thomas Tompion (1639-1713)
Tom Paine (1737-1809)
A Memorial to ‘The Rights of Man’.
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (1870-1924)
A London County Council plaque.
Wallace Bligh Cheesman (1865-1947)
A London Borough of Islington Plaque.
Walter Richard Sickert (1860-1942)
A London Borough of Islington plaque. Unveiled in July 2011, replacing the original plaque on this site.
William Caslon (1692-1766)
A London County Council plaque.