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Newington Green is an open space in Islington, London that gives its name to the surrounding area. (The north side of the square is actually in Stoke Newington, Hackney, but it is sensible to treat the green as a unit.) The Newington Green area is roughly bounded by Ball's Pond Road to the south, Petherton Road to the west, the line Green Lanes-Mathias Road to the north, and Boleyn Road to the east.

Newington Green looking northwest from Mildmay Park. Traffic calming and an abundance of pedestrian crossings have restored the green's value as an amenity. (October 2005)

The green, far from being one of Islington's pleasant and well-manicured squares, was for many years more of a large, leafy traffic island. However, a recent project has installed traffic calming measures that have eased the notorious local congestion. And extra pedestrian crossings have meant that strollers no longer risk life and limb in the quest for a bit of greenery. The square itself was renovated in 2005 to include more lawn space and a new café. So the green has grown in popularity with young families, evinced by the children that now play in the formerly deserted park.

Newington Green, and Newington Green Road to the south, constitutes the commercial and cultural centre of the district. This area shares in Islington's general gentrification, so the old shopping area has now been supplemented by a number of new and trendy shops, bars and restaurants.

52-55 Newington Green - London's oldest surviving brick terrace, dated 1658. (November 2005)

This outlying area of Islington carries a surprising wealth of historic architecture. To the west of the green, numbers 52-55 Newington Green constitute London's oldest surviving brick terrace and are, unsurprisingly, Grade I listed. These were built in 1658, with shop fronts added to all of them in the 1880s. The shops have now been removed on three of the houses (see picture), presumably restoring something like their original appearance. Residential London, particularly outside Westminster and the City, is essentially a 19th-century city. Even in the centre, there are no brick houses this old, predating the Great Fire of 1666. Two of the properties have been extensively renovated under the guidance of Bere Architects (Islington).

There are also two important Grade II listed buildings on Newington Green, the China Inland Mission on the west side and to the north, the modest Unitarian chapel. (The latter is actually in Stoke Newington.) Built in 1708, this is the oldest non-conformist place of worship in London still in use. Probably the most famous chaplain was Richard Price, a political radical, moral philosopher and friend of both Joseph Priestly, and Thomas Bayes. He is, however, probably best known for his friendship with Newington Green's most famous relative: Mary Wollstonecraft. Mary Wollstonecraft, the feminist and reformer, was a congregant at the chapel from 1782 to 1785 and delivered a famous speech there condemning slavery. From 1784 to 1785 she also ran a school for girls on the green.

The Unitarian chapel was built in 1708. (October 2005)

The China Inland Mission, one of two Grade 2 listed buildings on Newington Green. (October 2005)

The Newington Green area has largely absorbed the small settlement of Mildmay, to the south and east of the green, though this designation is still used by the local council and can be seen in the names of many local streets. It is a quiet and unpretentious corner of Islington.

Mildmay may have started on the road to eclipse as early as 1934, when its North London Railway station, Mildmay Park, on the road of the same name, was closed. The old station building was demolished in 1987, but remnants of the old platforms can still be seen at track level. The area has also suffered by being wedged between areas with far more well-established identities, Newington Green itself, prosperous Canonbury and dynamic Dalston in the London Borough of Hackney