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.

  • Activism & Politics

Florence Keen (1868-1942)

Founder of the North Islington Infant Welfare Centre and School for Mothers. Manor Gardens Centre, Manor Gardens, N7.  

An Islington People's Plaque, unveiled in July 2013.

The Peasants’ Revolt (1381)

Commemorating the burning and destruction of Highbury Manor during the Peasants' Revolt. Highbury Barn Tavern, N5.

An Islington People's Plaque, unveiled in June 2011.

Crystal Hale (1915-1999)

Boat Club Pioneer and Community Campaigner. City Road Basin, N1.

An Islington People's Plaque, unveiled in August 2011.

The Keskidee (1971-1992)

Britain's first arts and cultural centre for the Black community. Gifford Street, N1.

An Islington People's Plaque, unveiled in April 2011.

Mary Tealby (1801-1865)

Founder of ‘The Home for Lost & Starving Dogs’ (later becoming ‘Battersea Cats & Dogs Home’). Freightliners Farm, Sheringham Road,…

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.

Nina Bawden (1925-2012)

Author and Campaigner for Railway Safety. 22 Noel Road, N1.

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.

African National Congress (1978-1994)

London headquarters of the ANC. 28 Penton Street, N1.

African National Congress Plaque
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.