John Spencer Square is a neo-Georgian residential garden square in the heart of the Canonbury conservation area in Islington, London, England. It is named after Sir John Spencer, a wealthy city merchant and

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional power ...

in 1594, who lived in nearby Canonbury House.

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 by 1954 by the

Earl of Northampton Earl of Northampton is a title in the Peerage of England that has been created five times. Earls of Northampton, First Creation (1071) * Waltheof (d. 1076) * Maud, Queen of Scotland (c.1074–1130/31) * Simon II de Senlis (1103–1153) * Simon I ...

to property companies Western Ground Rents and Oriel Property trust 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 designed by Nash, the Surveyor for Western Ground Rents, and 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 moved in in April 1965.

Notable residents

Barbara Castle Barbara Anne Castle, Baroness Castle of Blackburn, (''née'' Betts; 6 October 1910 – 3 May 2002), was a British Labour Party politician who was a Member of Parliament from 1945 to 1979, making her one of the longest-serving female MPs in Bri ...

, Labour politician and former Secretary of State *

David Starkey David Robert Starkey (born 3 January 1945) is an English historian and radio and television presenter, with views that he describes as conservative. The only child of Quaker parents, he attended Kendal Grammar School before studying at Cam ...

, English constitutional historian

References

{{reflist Apartment buildings in London Residential buildings in London Buildings and structures in the London Borough of Islington Garden squares in London