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- Gardening in the Square
- Reporting disturbance in the Square
- Wilmington Square, by Vaughan Grylls
- Help us save the Regency-era railings!
- Listed houses in the Square
Gardening in the Square
The Wilmington Gardening Club, headed by Kim Segel, organises regular gardening days. All, including non-members of the Society, are invited to participate. More information at:
https://www.facebook.com/WilmingtonSquareGardeningClub
Reporting disturbance in the Square
The procedures in place for reporting are as follows:
- Criminal activity in the Square, like drug dealing, drug using, fear for your safety, should be reported directly to the Police on 999 (emergency) or 101 (non-emergency).
- Anti-social Behaviour (ASB) in the Square, such as noise, street drinking, intimidating gatherings, defecating, dog control should be reported to the ASB team:
- via the Islington Council ASB reporting form or
- on 020 7527 7272 or
- Clerkenwell@met.police.uk or
- Clerkenwell | Your area | Metropolitan Police | Metropolitan Police
- Rough sleeping in the Square should be reported thestreetlink.org.uk.
One of the reasons it is so important to report through the correct channels is that all reports are recorded. If there are multiple reports for a location it will come up as a hotspot and then resources can be allocated to help deal with the situation. Without reporting the correct teams do not know there is an issue and there is no justification to allocate resources. In addition, if a problem is reported at the time it is happening patrols can be allocated to respond, if available, to deal with the issue there and then.
Wilmington Square, by Vaughan Grylls
I moved to Islington from Swiss Cottage back in 1975, drawn by its distinguished architecture and its street buzz. South Hampstead this was not. But it was also great to be able to get away from that buzz sometimes. A place to be quiet and let the buzz go by.
Where to go? Easy. Any of Islington’s garden squares, and Islington seemed to have more than anywhere else in London to choose from. Then as now, each square had its own character.
Here are just four to make the point: Gibson, Myddelton, Thornhill and Wilmington. Gibson Square is immaculate, and that is because it was totally rebuilt after being destroyed in the building of the Victoria Line back in the 1960s. Yet the Victoria line left an excellent Regency-styled Underground vent behind, thanks to local pressure supported by the Royal Fine Art Commission. It provides a very attractive focus for the square. Myddelton Square is huge. Surrounded by perfect Regency terraces, it houses a large church, a playground, well-maintained gardens and lots of dedicated park benches. This square is a credit to the borough. Thornhill Square isn’t very square, but that doesn’t matter at all, because it is delicately pretty, thanks to its brilliant planting varieties.
And lastly, Wilmington Square. When I first arrived in Islington, Wilmington was the square that impressed me the most. That’s because it had a hidden, almost secret quality, thanks to its encasement in huge trees, its eccentric raised pavement on the north side and its elegant central pavilion. Wilmington Square was a bit scruffier than its sister squares, which made it less assuming.
I have lived in Wilmington Square since 2004. In 2012, a group of us in the neighbourhood started the Wilmington Square Society. Ever since, we have tried to preserve the square from further deterioration, most notably through the actions of the Wilmington Square Community Gardening Club.
But our biggest issue, which we still haven’t managed to resolve, is the dilapidated state of the railings. They are original, made from wrought iron.There are very few Regency-era railings left in Islington, indeed anywhere in London. Understandably, English Heritage lists them as an "asset at risk", and the risk is more than serious.
In a couple of places the dilapidation has been caused by a tree trunk pushing them over. It would be possible to deal with this by creating a railing extension inside the garden square, set back from the trunks. In many other areas, the railings have been broken by vandalism and nothing has been done for years and years by the railing’s owners, Islington Council. To be fair, in 2021, the Council did repair one small section with a new identically-modelled railing, after a vehicle smashed into them. It has been very well done. So it is quite possible to do the same with the rest. But this section was paid for by the car’s insurers.
To do essential repairs to the most damaged sections of the railings would cost around £75,000 plus VAT. That seems a small price to pay for protecting a public asset of this importance to Islington, in a square just across the road from Exmouth Market. It is enjoyed on a regular basis by many workers from the surrounding area, especially at lunchtimes.
There was allocated money in the pot thanks to the success of the planning application for the huge redevelopment of the nearby Mount Pleasant site. This included an undertaking from the developers to give funds to Islington Council for the improvement of the facilities open to the public in the surrounding area, citing Wilmington Square as the focus. That planning application was approved long ago. Today the Mount Pleasant redevelopment is well-advanced. But none of the promised money, has been directed from Islington Council to the refurbishment of Wilmington Square.
Apart from aesthetic and historic reasons for repairing the railings, the Square’s sheer accessibility at all hours, thanks to missing railings, has made it a place of choice for drug dealers and drops, which the police have to deal with and a health and safety risk that the residents have to suffer.
So our plea to Islington Council is this: could you urgently repair the Wilmington Square railings, please?
Vaughan Grylls is an artist and writer.
Where to go? Easy. Any of Islington’s garden squares, and Islington seemed to have more than anywhere else in London to choose from. Then as now, each square had its own character.
Here are just four to make the point: Gibson, Myddelton, Thornhill and Wilmington. Gibson Square is immaculate, and that is because it was totally rebuilt after being destroyed in the building of the Victoria Line back in the 1960s. Yet the Victoria line left an excellent Regency-styled Underground vent behind, thanks to local pressure supported by the Royal Fine Art Commission. It provides a very attractive focus for the square. Myddelton Square is huge. Surrounded by perfect Regency terraces, it houses a large church, a playground, well-maintained gardens and lots of dedicated park benches. This square is a credit to the borough. Thornhill Square isn’t very square, but that doesn’t matter at all, because it is delicately pretty, thanks to its brilliant planting varieties.
And lastly, Wilmington Square. When I first arrived in Islington, Wilmington was the square that impressed me the most. That’s because it had a hidden, almost secret quality, thanks to its encasement in huge trees, its eccentric raised pavement on the north side and its elegant central pavilion. Wilmington Square was a bit scruffier than its sister squares, which made it less assuming.
I have lived in Wilmington Square since 2004. In 2012, a group of us in the neighbourhood started the Wilmington Square Society. Ever since, we have tried to preserve the square from further deterioration, most notably through the actions of the Wilmington Square Community Gardening Club.
But our biggest issue, which we still haven’t managed to resolve, is the dilapidated state of the railings. They are original, made from wrought iron.There are very few Regency-era railings left in Islington, indeed anywhere in London. Understandably, English Heritage lists them as an "asset at risk", and the risk is more than serious.
In a couple of places the dilapidation has been caused by a tree trunk pushing them over. It would be possible to deal with this by creating a railing extension inside the garden square, set back from the trunks. In many other areas, the railings have been broken by vandalism and nothing has been done for years and years by the railing’s owners, Islington Council. To be fair, in 2021, the Council did repair one small section with a new identically-modelled railing, after a vehicle smashed into them. It has been very well done. So it is quite possible to do the same with the rest. But this section was paid for by the car’s insurers.
To do essential repairs to the most damaged sections of the railings would cost around £75,000 plus VAT. That seems a small price to pay for protecting a public asset of this importance to Islington, in a square just across the road from Exmouth Market. It is enjoyed on a regular basis by many workers from the surrounding area, especially at lunchtimes.
There was allocated money in the pot thanks to the success of the planning application for the huge redevelopment of the nearby Mount Pleasant site. This included an undertaking from the developers to give funds to Islington Council for the improvement of the facilities open to the public in the surrounding area, citing Wilmington Square as the focus. That planning application was approved long ago. Today the Mount Pleasant redevelopment is well-advanced. But none of the promised money, has been directed from Islington Council to the refurbishment of Wilmington Square.
Apart from aesthetic and historic reasons for repairing the railings, the Square’s sheer accessibility at all hours, thanks to missing railings, has made it a place of choice for drug dealers and drops, which the police have to deal with and a health and safety risk that the residents have to suffer.
So our plea to Islington Council is this: could you urgently repair the Wilmington Square railings, please?
Vaughan Grylls is an artist and writer.
Help us save the Regency-era railings!
The wrought-iron railings around the central garden date back to 1819 and are Grade II listed (under No. 1195789) as one of the few remaining examples of such metalwork in London squares. Unfortunately they are also listed as "assets at risk" by Historic England:
Condition: Very bad
Priority: C - Slow decay; no solution agreed
Previous Priority: C
Ownership: Local authority
Contact Details: Claire Sutton 020 7527 4936
In order to help us raise £75,000 to save the railings, please donate to JustGiving Crowdfunding Page: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/wilmington-square?utm_term=V665Ky9Z9
Listed houses in the Square
NUMBERS 1 TO 12, 12A TO 12C (CONSECUTIVE) AND ATTACHED RAILINGS
- List Entry Number: 1292438
- Heritage Category: Listing
- Grade: II
- List Entry Number: 1195788
- Heritage Category: Listing
- Grade: II
- List Entry Number: 1298020
- Heritage Category: Listing
- Grade: II
- List Entry Number: 1209836
- Heritage Category: Listing
- Grade: II
- List Entry Number: 1297954
- Heritage Category: Listing
- Grade: II
- List Entry Number: 1292455
- Heritage Category: Listing
- Grade: II