Facts about Highbury
Highbury History
By 1794 Highbury consisted of Highbury House and Highbury Hill House, Highbury Barn and the gated terraces of Highbury Terrace and Highbury Place, which had been built on land leased by John Dawes. Highbury may have stayed this way, as the plan was to create a 250 acres park – Albert Park – between St Paul’s Road/Balls Pond Road and the Seven Sisters Road.
In 1913 Woolwich Arsenal F.C. moved north to Highbury, dropping Woolwich from its name. Their chairman Sir Henry Norris took a 20-year lease on part of the grounds of St John’s Hall for £20,000. The new Arsenal Stadium was built there. St John’s Hall, originally called Highbury College, was built in 1825 on what is now Aubert Park and was a grand ionic-style building, reminiscent of the British Museum.
General Info
Highbury is a district in North London and part of the London Borough of Islington that was owned by Ranulf brother of Ilger and included all the areas north and east of Canonbury and Holloway Roads. The manor house was situated by what is now the east side of Hornsey Road near the junction with Seven Sisters Road. After the manor decayed, a new manor house was built in 1271 to the south-east.
To differentiate it from the original manor and because it was on a hill, it was called Highbury, from which the area takes its name. The site for Highbury Manor was possibly used by a Roman garrison as a summer camp. During the construction of a new Highbury House in 1781, tiles were found that could have been Roman or Norman; however, these have been lost.
