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Islington is an inner-city district in north London. The area usually referred to as Islington is now part of the London Borough of Islington to which it gave its name.
The street that forms the linear centre of Islington is Upper Street, noted for the cluster of antiques shops around Camden Passage.
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History
Because of its proximity to the City of London, Islington developed as a fashionable area in the nineteenth century, with large well-built houses. However changes in residential patterns led to a decline in its popularity, and by the mid-twentieth century it was largely run down and a by-word for urban poverty.
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Meaning of place-name
Islington is not a true '-ington' name, like Paddington. The name means 'Gīsla's hill' from the Old English personal name Gīsla and dun 'hill', 'down'. Records of the name in early sources prove this: Giseldone (1005), Gislandune (1062)
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Gentrification
From the 1980s the district experienced a rapid process of gentrification. A number of the central figures in the New Labour movement lived there, including Tony Blair before his victory in the 1997 general election.
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Monopoly fame
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The area is also well-known due to its inclusion in the British version of Monopoly which features The Angel, Islington. However, in the game the Angel is the third cheapest property on the board, and is said to have been included as the licensees considered the names of places they were to use on the board over tea in the Lyon's Corner House built on the site of the original Angel Inn.
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In literature
Islington features extensively in modern English literature and culture:
Douglas Adams lived in Islington and used it as a setting in his novels.
In Neil Gaiman's best selling novel Neverwhere Islington is an angel that lives under London, named after the Angel tube station.
Holloway Road was the home to the fictional Charles Pooter in the classic 19th Century Novel Diary of a Nobody.
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Notable residents, past and present
Dido, singer, was born in Islington and owns a property there.
Kate Greenaway, children's writer and book illustrator, lived on Upper Street for 20 years before moving to Holloway.
William Hogarth, artist, was born in Bartholomew Close in 1697 and spent his early years in Islington.
Charles Lamb, writer, lived in Chapel Street from 1796 and later in Colebrook Row.
George Orwell lived in Canonbury Square between the wars, and based the depressing setting of 1984 on his run-down surroundings.
Sir Walter Raleigh, writer, poet, courtier and explorer lived in Upper Street between 1575 and 1581.
Evelyn Waugh, writer, also lived in Canonbury Square from 1928.
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Universities
Islington is home to two universities;
City University at Northampton Square, formerly the Northampton Institute, founded in 1894.
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See also
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