Edward and Benjamin Baker’s 1805 old map of Islington and St Mary’s parish

Old Map of Islington 1805 – Edward & Benjamin Baker

Name: Old Map of Islington 1805 – Edward &amp; Benjamin Baker
SKU: 2089348628529
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Plan of Islington and Its Environs, 1805 – Edward & Benjamin Baker

This highly detailed plan of Islington was dedicated “To the Inhabitants of Islington and its Environs” by Edward and Benjamin Baker in 1805. It records the parish of St Mary, Islington at a moment when the district stood on the northern edge of London: increasingly fashionable and built-up along its principal roads, but still surrounded by gardens, fields and open ground.

The map is particularly valuable because it catches Islington before nineteenth-century suburban expansion transformed it into a continuous part of the metropolis. The familiar spine of Upper Street and the older village centre can be understood in relation to the lanes, estates and undeveloped land around them.

St Mary’s parish was the historic focus of Islington, and the map preserves the area when parish identity still mattered greatly to administration, poor relief, local government and everyday life. Streets and property divisions are shown with the precision expected of an early nineteenth-century town plan, giving the image real value for local and family history.

By 1805 Islington was already attracting residents who valued its comparatively open setting while remaining within easy reach of the City. That tension between town and country is one of the most interesting things about the map. It shows a place that is recognisably London, yet still contains the physical traces of the older Middlesex landscape from which the modern borough emerged.

For anyone with a connection to Islington, Canonbury or the surrounding districts, this map provides an unusually intimate view of the area before Victorian terraces and later urban development changed its character.

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Description

Edward and Benjamin Baker’s 1805 plan of Islington is a detailed local map centred on the parish of St Mary. Its dedication to the inhabitants of Islington and the surrounding area gives it the character of a map made for people who knew the district and wanted a careful record of its streets, estates and boundaries.

Map Details

Mapmakers: Edward and Benjamin Baker
Date: 1805
Area: Islington and its environs
Historic parish: St Mary, Islington
Map type: Detailed local town and parish plan

Islington at the Edge of Georgian London

At the beginning of the nineteenth century Islington occupied an unusual position. It was close enough to the City to attract commuters and prosperous residents, but far enough out to retain gardens, open ground and a semi-rural character.

The map captures that transition clearly. Established roads and areas of development sit beside larger plots, fields and estates that would later be filled by nineteenth-century housing.

St Mary’s Parish and the Older Village

The parish of St Mary formed the historic heart of Islington. Long before the modern London Borough of Islington existed, parish boundaries shaped local identity and administration. A map of this date therefore records not just streets but the framework through which residents understood their neighbourhood.

A Landscape About to Change

During the decades after 1805, London’s population expanded rapidly and Islington became increasingly urban. New terraces, squares and streets spread across land that this map still shows in a far more open state.

That makes the plan particularly useful for comparing modern Islington with its Georgian predecessor. Roads that survive today can be traced through a landscape whose density and appearance were very different.

Why This Map Stands Out

Unlike a general map of London, this is a focused local document. Its value lies in the close attention given to one district and its surroundings, making it especially rewarding for residents, local historians and anyone tracing family connections with Islington.

Supplied unframed as a fine art print.