History

Ancient Islington was called Gislandune by the Anglo Saxons and the Domesday Book mentions the area as Iseldone, a small settlement in a clearing of the Great Forest of Middlesex. From a country village in the 1700s, Islington emerged as a bustling suburb of the City of London with the Angel Inn serving as an important coaching stop at the crossroads of City Road and the Great North Road. Over the years Islington has hosted many important characters, with Dickens and Samuel Pepys immortalising it in their writings.
By the latter part of the eighteenth and well into the nineteenth century, Islington had blossomed into a great entertainment venue and fashionable place to live. Amongst others, Edmund Halley, Astronomer Royal who identified Halleyfs Comet lived in Islington, the Poet, Charles Lamb and his sister, Mary, in Colebrook Row, Caroline Chisholm gPhilanthropist, eThe Emigrantsf Friendf in Charlton Place, Alexander Cruden who wrote the complete concordance to the Old and New Testaments, in Camden Passage. Other residents in the borough have included George Orwell, Evelyn Waugh, Edward Lear, Sir Basil Spence and latterly Tony Blair, now Prime Minister. It boasted the highest concentration of entertainment outside the west end, with The Red Bull in Clerkenwell said to be the first theatre in England to have a female performer. Many musical hall stars trod the boards at the famous Collins Music Hall at Islington Green. Sadlers Wells flourishes as the home of ballet and opera and the borough is still rich with theatres.
Despite the noble 18th century environment, Islingtonfs fortunes faded, with Camden Passage becoming a sleepy backwater. In the early 1960s, with the opening of an antique shop by Leigh Underhill, local businessman, John Payton, had a vision that the Passage could become a universally known antiques centre. With the assistance of local shops owners, antiques markets were created from bomb sites and arcades of small shops were built. Antique dealers soon flocked to the area creating the unique antiques village which presently boasts around 350 dealers specialising in a vast range of stock sitting comfortably in its Georgian surroundings.

These tree illustrations were drawn by D Moss 01424 430074
The unique camaraderie of the traders has ensured that Camden Passage has survived where other antiques areas have failed. Standards have remained high and the enormous range of competitively priced goods has ensured it as a centre of excellence for the antiques trade.