Park of the week

87. Milner Square Garden, Islington

This square, one of many in Islington, is in the Barnsbury area. It’s bounded by early Victorian terraced houses, all listed buildings. The square has a continuous terrace of houses with no features to break up the terrace - even the chimney stacks are hidden from view. It’s protected under the London Squares Preservation Act 1931.

It was created in 1841, as London expanded over the agricultural fields that once characterised much of Islington. Individual developers built terrace streets and often included squares so that the houses benefited from a central garden. Milner Square was part of the estate laid out for Thomas Milner Gibson MP, who leased the land from the Lord of Barnsbury Manor. By the late nineteenth century, Barnsbury began to be abandoned by the middle classes who were replaced by poorer occupants. 

In the first half of the 20th century the square, along with much of Islington and its population, became impoverished. The seedy buildings were converted to bed sits and small flats. The run-down buildings were bought by the local authority in 1973 and restored and converted into council flats.

The centre of the square was a vegetable garden until the nineteen thirties. Since then, it has been a playground and this was renovated in 2018. There’s also a sports court. The centre also has planted borders and a small brick pavilion.

We found space to park on a nearby street. It was interesting to visit a different sort of open space, and Jack was happy because of the playground, so it was worth slogging along the Holloway Road with all its traffic lights. I plan to visit more pocket parks – according to the government definition, occupying  no more than half the size of a football field, and often considerably smaller (see, for example, no. 61, Mapesbury Dell (scroll down a bit). 

Judith Field

Milner Square Garden, London N1 1TW