Description
Formerly called Addington Mansions, this was one of the first groups of council flats by Islington Borough Council. Designed by E C P Monson and built in the early 1920s Taverner Estate is on the site of a number of earlier villas. The Taverner Estate consisted of 2 series of flats laid out as squares and was opened in July 1922 by the Mayor of Islington; a plaque on site records that it was named after Alderman Frederick John Addington, a Trade Unionist and Councillor until 1925. When it underwent modernisation from 1977, the estate was later renamed Taverner Estate after Louis Taverner, a landowner in the Highbury Grove area in the mid C19th. The eastern Taverner Square was completed in 1979 and the western Peckett Square in 1981, the latter named after George Peckett who was on the local Vestry in the 1860s and was involved in the creation of Finsbury Park. The two squares have trees, grass and some seating.
Practical Information
| Site location | off Highbury Park |
|---|---|
| Postcode | N5 |
| What3Words | ///beans.keeps.fuel |
| Type of Site | Housing/Estate Landscaping |
| Borough | Islington |
| Open to Public | No |
| Opening Times | private, for residents use |
| Public Transport | Rail/London Overground/Tube (Victoria): Highbury and Islington. London Overground: Canonbury. Bus: 4, 19, 236 |
| Research Updated | 1 November 2004 |
| Last Updated | 18 October 2026 |
Further Information
| Grid Reference | TQ320856 |
|---|---|
| Site Ownership | LB Islington |
| Site Management | Housing |
| Dates | 1922; 1977-81 |
| Designers | E C P Monson |
| On National Heritage List for England (NHLE), Parks & Gardens | No |
| Registered common or village green on Commons Registration Act 1965 | No |
| Protected under London Squares Preservation Act 1931 | No |
| Local Authority | Islington |
| In Conservation Area | No |
| Tree Preservation Order | No |
| Nature Conservation Area | No |
| Green Belt | No |
| Metropolitan Open Land | No |
| Special Policy Area | No |
Please note the Inventory and its content are provided for your general information only and are subject to change. It is your responsibility to check the accuracy.
Nearby parks and gardens
The site is an oblong enclosed area set back from the hilltop road beyond Highbury Barn, which forms the frontage to Highbury Park Terrace, a range of 20 elaborate Grecian terraced houses. The strip of garden is above pavement level behind a retaining wall and contains grass and a row of horse chestnuts. It is shown on Cruchley's map of 1829.
The churchyard of Christ Church Highbury is a triangular plot that forms the northern tip of Highbury Fields. Christ Church was built in 1848 by Thomas Allom of Balham, who was later surveyor of the Ladbroke Estate in North Kensington. The site along with £100 was donated by Henry Dawes, a descendent of John Dawes of Highbury Place and Canonbury. The churchyard is laid to grass, with shrubs around the perimeter, and surrounded by reproduction railings dating from c.1980. Trees include notable robinia, horse chestnut and sycamore. Opposite the church is a fine cast iron and granite clock tower, erected in 1897.
Much of the land here was once part of the extensive grounds of Highbury House, a late C18th villa set in parkland. From the 1830s the estate was gradually built over as Islington changed from a rural to suburban area. Aubert Court, named after an owner of Highbury House, is on part of the former grounds of Highbury College of Dissenters, a theological institution founded in 1783 in Mile End but which opened here in 1826. In 1946-53 Aubert Court was built on part of the former college grounds as council housing for Islington Borough Council,