Located slightly to the north of King’s Cross and at the upper end of both York Way and Caledonian Road, this neighbourhood is primarily residential and made up of a mixture of Georgian and Victorian terraces, particularly on York Way and in the leafy suburban streets towards Holloway Road. There are also a number of red brick warehouse conversions, and post war council and ex council houses tucked away in small urban village estates. A great deal of this unique part of north London is taken up by the 19 acre Caledonian Park, a vast green space on the site of the former Metropolitan Cattle Market, as well as the smaller Market Road Gardens and Biddlestone Park, all of which provide some peaceful solace away from the busy industrial main roads of York Way, Holloway Road, and Caledonian Road. These roads do, however, provide plenty of amenities such as no-nonsense cafes, pubs and supermarkets, as well as transport hubs like Caledonian Road and Holloway Road tube stations, and a number of convenient bus routes. While a touch more affluent than the southern end of Caledonian Road, this area still maintains a multicultural population made of locals and students. This is partly due to its proximity to Holloway Road, which possesses a huge mixture of ethnically diverse restaurants and shops, as well as its close community feel.

Predominantly rural until the 19th century, the area’s development began with the building of Caledonian Road in 1826 to link the New Road (Euston Road today) in Islington to Holloway Road, and was named after the Caledonian Asylum which housed the children of poor exiled Scots. What is now Caledonian Park was home to the vast Metropolitan Cattle Market, opened in 1855 to supplement the Smithfield Meat Market, which couldn’t handle the growing volume of live cattle. Its 30 acre site, chosen because of its proximity to The Great Northern Railway terminus at King’s Cross, took up the majority of the land in the area, and only increased in popularity with the introduction of the Piccadilly line in the early 20th century. Much of the area’s residential streets were built to house station or canal workers who could afford to live in the slightly more rural region north of the industrial hubbub of King’s Cross.

The area was redeveloped after the cattle market closed in 1963 and the Market and York Way Estates were built either side of what is now Caledonian Park, in 1967 and 1969 respectively, and a small urban village of council buildings was built opposite. The Market Estate was demolished in 2010 after it fell into a state of disrepair after various government failings, and was replaced with the Parkside Development, which still plays a large part in housing the area’s ever-growing population.

The dental historian and first ever female to qualify as a dentist, Lilian Lindsay (1871-1960), was born at one end of Hungerford Road and moved to number 3 in 1872, where there is an English Heritage Blue Plaque to commemorate her. She developed an interest in medicine at a time when The Royal College of Surgeons refused to admit women, so she applied to the National Dental Hospital but was interviewed on the pavement outside as women weren’t allowed into the building! Her application was rejected so she moved to Edinburgh at the age of 20 where she was successful in her application to the Edinburgh Dental Hospital, where she began her prosperous career.

Surprisingly for this part of London, the area contains several examples of beautiful Grade II-listed architecture. One is the Caledonian Road Methodist Church, built in 1870 out of stone with intricate red brick decoration, in a “[h]andsome Italianate style.” Another is the impressive Victorian Gothic and Arts & Crafts style Caledonian Estate, built between 1904 and 1906 on the site of the former Caledonian Asylum, which gives the road its name and designed by James Greenwood Stephenson in order to house the area’s growing working population. Renowned architectural historian Sir Nikolaus Pevsner described the estate as “bold” and Susan Beattie wrote that the building possessed what is “among the finest examples of architectural ironwork to have been produced in London at this period.”

While the area may be home to plenty of fantastic examples of British architecture, it is also the location of the winner of the 2013 Carbuncle Cup, an award for the ugliest building built in the UK over the previous 12 months. New Hall, UCL postgraduate halls of residence, won the award in part because its front windows face directly out onto a brick wall just one metre away, and many of those that don’t look out onto the wall rather disconcertingly face directly into the bedroom adjacent. Islington councillor Paul Convery said that New Hall “utterly defies belief … it slaps you in the face how totally wrong the building is.”

Like much of the surrounding areas, the former industrial outpost of N7 9 is crisscrossed by busy and polluted main roads, which, while offering plenty of conveniences, are a concern for those with younger children.

The large London Square development was recently completed in this neighbourhood, which describes itself as “one of London’s most dramatic regeneration projects”. Sitting between 423 and 425 Caledonian Road, the scheme consists largely of luxury 1 and 2 bedroom apartments in an attempt to attract a wealthier population from nearby Islington and King’s Cross. Looking forward, Peabody Developers have recently acquired the site of the former HM Prison Holloway. In 2019 it was agreed that 985 new homes will be built on the site as well as a 1.4 acre public park, retail space, and a Women’s Centre. These added facilities, as well as a provision stipulating that over 50% of housing should be affordable, were secured by Islington Council. To the west of this area on York Way, development has begun to spill over from the King’s Cross regeneration area. The luxurious XY apartments, which was recently completed at 9 York Way, is just one example of this accelerating trend.