John Spencer Square
It is named after Sir John Spencer, a wealthy city merchant and Lord Mayor of London in 1594, who lived in nearby Canonbury House as his fashionable country retreat.
History
The neo-Georgian open quadrangle apartment blocks, bordered by Compton Road, St. Pauls Road, Prior Bolton Street and St Mary's Grove, were built on land sold in 1954 by the Earl of Northampton to property companies Western Ground Rents and Oriel Property trust. It was designed by William Floyd Nash in a neo-Georgian style reflecting the 18th century architecture of Canonbury.
In the early 1950s, most of the Victorian villas on the site were bomb-damaged or dilapidated and planning permission for a development was granted in 1963 by Islington Borough Council.
The development, comprising 80 apartments of one to three bedrooms, was built by Canonbury Construction Co. in 1963-4. The first residents, some still living at the square, purchased their off-plan flats for under £5,000 in 1964, before building was completed and took up residence in April 1965.
The John Spencer Square Management Company acquired the freehold in 1985 and still manage the estate.
Notable residents
- Barbara Castle, Former First Secretary of State and Labour politician
- David Starkey, English constitutional historian
- George Brown, Former Foreign Secretary under Harold Wilson
- Tony Hadley, English pop singer
- Arthur Mullard, British actor
References
- ^ "London Gardens Trust: John Spencer Square". Archived from the original on 7 October 2021. Retrieved 7 October 2021.
- ^ "Islington Rapunzel". Archived from the original on 7 October 2021. Retrieved 7 October 2021.
- ^ Cherry & Pevsner, Bridget & Nikolaus (1998). The Buildings of England: London Volume 4: North. Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300096538.
- ^ "John Spencer Square". Archived from the original on 7 October 2021. Retrieved 7 October 2021.
- ^ "Parliament Hansard". Archived from the original on 5 October 2021. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
- ^ Guillery, Peter; Kroll, David (25 July 2019). Mobilising Housing Histories: Learning from London's Past for a Sustainable Future. Routledge. ISBN 9781000702347. Archived from the original on 10 February 2023. Retrieved 16 December 2021.
- ^ Cooke, Emma (9 February 2021). "Architects Guide Londons Fascinating Unknown Buildings". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 7 October 2021. Retrieved 7 October 2021.
- ^ Baggs, A P; Bolton, Diane K; Croot, Patricia E C (1985). "Islington and Stoke Newington parishes". In Baker, T F T; Elrington, C R (eds.). Islington: Manors. Vol. 8. London: Victoria County Histories. pp. 51–57. Archived from the original on 3 September 2014. Retrieved 5 October 2021 – via British History Online.
{{cite book}}:|work=ignored (help) - ^ Forshaw, Alec (2001). 20th Century Buildings in Islington. London: The Islington Society. ISBN 9780954149000.
- ^ Cosh, Mary (1993). Islington Parish. The Squares of Islington. Vol. 2. London: Islington Archaeology & History Society. ISBN 0950753262.
- ^ "John Spencer Square Management Company Limited". UK Government Companies House.