Description
Percy Circus was laid out and designed by William Chadwell Mylne for the New River Estate. It is named for Robert Percy Smith, a director of the New River Company and brother of Sydney Smith, the English clergyman and essayist and one of the founders of the Edinburgh Review in 1802. The circular garden is on a sloping site with paths, raised beds around the centre and mature trees, shrubs and the original C19th railings.
Practical Information
| Site location | Percy Circus |
|---|---|
| Postcode | WC1 |
| What3Words | ///exists.beam.leaps |
| Type of Site | Garden Square; |
| Borough | Islington |
| Open to Public | Yes |
| Opening Times | 8am - dusk |
| Public Transport | Tube: Angel (Northern), King's Cross (Northern, Metropolitan, Hammersmith & City; Circle, Victoria, Piccadilly). Bus: 30, 73, 205, 214, 476 |
| Research Updated | 1 April 2012 |
| Last Updated | 18 October 2026 |
Full description
This 'residential circus is an oddity indeed, all but unique in London - the vanished Polygon in Euston was probably the nearest parallel - and further, it is built on a steep hill' (Mary Cosh). There are five entrant streets into the Circus, which is surrounded by various C19th houses with attached railings. Part of Percy Circus was lost and another part demolished for the Royal Scot Hotel, which was built with a replica façade. The Hotel was on the site of No. 16 and has a plaque with the information that Lenin and his wife stayed here in 1905 when attending the 3rd Congress of the Russian Social and Democratic Labour Party. Current improvements at Percy Circus are currently underway, including re-cutting and re-laying all the York stone paving; new tarmac perimeter path; formal yew hedge edging; selective tree removal to improve sight lines and let in light and two new borders of shade tolerant plants, including geraniums, crocosmia and other colourful flowers.
Further Information
| Grid Reference | TQ309828 |
|---|---|
| Size in hectares | 0.11 |
| Site Ownership | LB Islington |
| Site Management | Greenspace |
| Dates | 1841-43 |
| Designers | William Chadwell Mylne |
| Listed Structures | LBII: 1 - 15 Percy Circus and attached railings |
| 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 | Yes |
| Local Authority | Islington |
| In Conservation Area | Yes |
| Conservation Area Name | New River |
| Tree Preservation Order | No |
| Nature Conservation Area | No |
| Green Belt | No |
| Metropolitan Open Land | No |
| Special Policy Area | No |
| Other LA Designation | Local/strategic view corridor |
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
A small area beside the main road, Vernon Square was laid out as a garden in the late 1950s. Already part of an enclosure leased by the New River Company to Finsbury Borough Council, in 1957 the MPGA negotiated that the site be provided as a public garden. It opened to the public in 1960, a paved area with some seating, with short flights of steps from Vernon Rise and the main road, shrub beds at the corners, and trees along the main road boundary and across the centre of the garden. Re-landscaping has taken place and the garden is now enclosed by railings.
Holford Gardens is on the site of the last square to be built in Clerkenwell. Holford Square was part of the New River Estate, laid out as an ornamental garden square. Among its residents was Vladimir Lenin, who lived at No. 30 in 1902/3. In 1934 the railed garden had a public bowling green and in WWII it was used as a balloon site, but much of the square was destroyed by a landmine in 1941. The site was levelled and Bevin Court was built by 1954, a Y-shaped block of flats set in landscaped areas. Now called Holford Gardens, the public gardens overlooked by the housing consists of lawn with rose beds, perimeter path and trees.
Granville Square was planned in 1828 by John Booth and William Joseph of the Drapers Company for the Lloyd Baker Estate and built in 1841-43. The square originally had a church in the centre but this was demolished in 1938. The estate was in private hands until 1975 and it was acquired by Islington Council in 1978. The houses were then rebuilt and converted into flats in c.1980.