Mainly situated in the Kingsland area, with Mildmay to the north and De Beauvoir to the south, and with Dalston just across the road, the neighbourhood area is full of trendy hidden gems. With quaint pubs, cafés, and boutiques on almost every street corner of the wide, leafy streets, and well- kept green spaces to the north and the south, the area has an almost village feel. But that doesn’t mean the area is not well connected: Balls Pond Road passes through the middle of the neighbourhood and Kingsland Road sits to the east, with both Dalston Junction and Dalston Kingsland Overground stations very close by. These main roads also provide all the conveniences you could ask for, and keep a consistent flow of people in an out of town, helping maintain the vibrant, multicultural feel of the area.

The Kingsland area gets its name from the hunting grounds of an aristocratic Tudor manor in Newington Green located in the north of the neighbourhood, and was part of a forest which stretched all the way from Shoreditch to Enfield in which wild boars, deer, and bulls roamed.
As the city grew, the forest was cut down to meet its firewood and building needs but the area remained very rural until a period of expansion in the mid-eighteenth- century, and a large scale development of Lamb farm into a housing estate which began in 1807, starting the link between Kingsland and Dalston. Until the introduction of the railways in the 1860s, Kingsland was the dominant area, but once Dalston Junction station opened the east of Kingsland Road grew faster than the west and many now know the area by the name of the station. The area attracted many creatives after the Second World War and the area blossomed into the artistic, fashionable district that it’s known as today.

Art lovers will be interested to know that the world famous Filipino artist, David Medalla lived, worked and exhibited from his house at 99 Balls Pond Road from 1967. He is most famous for his founding of the Exploding Galaxy in 1967, which brought together groups of multimedia artists and members of counterculture circles such as Genesis P Orridge, as well as his chairmanship of Artists for Democracy and the Fitzrovia Cultural Centre. He makes moving kinetic sculptures, some of which can be seen at the permanent collection at the Tate Modern.

De Beauvoir Square and the surrounding roads were designed by William Rhodes, grandfather of British imperialist and “architect of apartheid”, Cecil Rhodes. William had a grand plan to build residences for the upper classes in De Beauvoir Town and the lower end of Canonbury. However this work was stopped in 1823 after Rhodes was found to have obtained the land lease illegally, leaving only De Beauvoir Square and a few roads and developments completed.

The area is home to the oldest campaign group for prison reform in the world. Founded in 1866, the Howard League is located at 1 Ardley Road, and works to create safer communities with less crime and fewer people in prison. It has been responsible for a number of high profile campaigns such as a reduction in the number of child arrests across the country, and the overturning of restrictions on the books prisoners can access.

While a desirable area in its own right, recently the area’s proximity to fashionable Dalston has made it a sought after place to live amongst younger people, with house prices in the area rising 31% in 2014 alone. However, like with many places in a similar position, the area remains vibrant due to its abundant transport links, but, as one member of staff at a local school remarked, “remaining apart from the centre of Dalston the neighbourhood can retain its quaint, village-like charm”.

Like Dalston, much of Kingsland is now being snapped up by property developers offering new apartments and houses to those looking to invest in the well connected, fashionable area. One such development was the recently completed Dove Quarter on Balls Pond Road which sits on the site of the former Dover Court Estate. The 23 buildings that comprise the scheme provide existing residents over the age of 55 with high quality accommodation. Just the other side of Dalston Junction work is underway on a new residential-led scheme at 27a Dalston Lane which will provide eleven new apartments as well as ground floor retail space.