Noel Road is a street in Islington, London. It runs roughly west to east from Colebrooke Row to St Peter's Street (and crosses Danbury Street), and the houses on the south side back onto the Regent's Canal. It was developed in 1841; and until 1938 was two streets, Noel Street and Hanover Street.
Many of its buildings are listed with Historic England. Former residents include the novelist George Gissing, artist Walter Sickert, playwright Joe Orton, and the author Nina Bawden. In 1967, Orton was murdered in his apartment at 25 Noel Road by his long-term partner Kenneth Halliwell, who committed suicide shortly after.
The street was developed in 1841; and until 1938 was two streets, Noel Street and Hanover Street, each side of the current junction with Danbury Street. [1] It was named after Noel Thornhill; and a Captain Noel Thornhill, nephew of Arthur John Thornhill, died in 1955, aged 73. [1]
Seven to nine, 13–53, 4–6, 12–54, 55–85, Hanover Primary School and The Island Queen pub are all Grade II listed buildings at Historic England's National Heritage List for England. [2] Hanover Street School was designed by E. R. Robson, and opened in 1877. [1] It was rebuilt in 1931, and the architect was then Edwin Paul Wheeler. [1]
The novelist George Gissing (1875–1903) lived at 5 Hanover Street (now 60 Noel Road) from 1879 to 1880. [1]
The playwright Joe Orton and his long-term partner Kenneth Halliwell lived in the top floor flat at 25 Noel Road from 1959 until 9 August 1967, when Halliwell killed the 34-year-old Orton there with nine hammer blows to the head, and then killed himself with an overdose of Nembutal. [3] [4]
The writer Lionel Hale (1909–1977) spent his later years at 76 Noel Road. [1] The author Nina Bawden lived at 22 Noel Road for 36 years, from 1976 until her death in 2012. [1]
Walter Sickert resided at number 56 Noel Road (now 54 Noel Road, but then 26 Noel Street) from 1925 to 1926. His painting The Hanging Gardens of Islington, is how he saw his back garden from Vincent Terrace across the other side of Regent's Canal, and Fading Memories of Walter Scott depicts local scenes. [1] [5]
John Kingsley Orton, known by the pen name of Joe Orton, was an English playwright, author, and diarist.
The London Borough of Islington is a London borough which forms part of Inner London, England. Islington has an estimated population of 215,667. It was formed in 1965, under the London Government Act 1963, by the amalgamation of the metropolitan boroughs of Islington and Finsbury.
Walter Richard Sickert was a German-born British painter and printmaker who was a member of the Camden Town Group of Post-Impressionist artists in early 20th-century London. He was an important influence on distinctively British styles of avant-garde art in the mid and late 20th century.
Islington was a civil parish and metropolitan borough in London, England. It was an ancient parish within the county of Middlesex, and formed part of The Metropolis from 1855. The parish was transferred to the County of London in 1889 and became a metropolitan borough in 1900. It was amalgamated with the Metropolitan Borough of Finsbury to form the London Borough of Islington in Greater London in 1965.
Prick Up Your Ears is a 1987 British film, directed by Stephen Frears, about the playwright Joe Orton and his lover Kenneth Halliwell. The screenplay was written by Alan Bennett, based on the 1978 biography by John Lahr. The film stars Gary Oldman as Orton, Alfred Molina as Halliwell, Wallace Shawn as Lahr, and Vanessa Redgrave as Peggy Ramsay.
Kenneth Leith Halliwell was a British actor, writer and collagist. He was the mentor, boyfriend and murderer of playwright Joe Orton.
Nina Mary Bawden CBE, FRSL, JP was an English novelist and children's writer. She was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1987 and the Lost Man Booker Prize in 2010. She was a recipient of the Golden PEN Award.
Cities of London and Westminster is a constituency returning a single Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons in the United Kingdom Parliament. As with all constituencies, the election is decided using the first past the post system of election. Until the 2024 general election, where the constituency elected a Labour Co-op MP, the constituency had always elected the candidate nominated by the Conservative Party.
White Conduit Fields in Islington was an early venue for cricket and several major matches are known to have been played there in the 18th century. It was the original home of the White Conduit Club, forerunner of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). Later it was used by The Islington Albion Cricket Club, who played their last game at the ground in 1834. Maps from the time show that the cricket field was a few hundred metres north of the White Conduit House, in the land surrounding the modern Richmond Crescent, and paintings suggest it was also possibly on the adjacent field to the south at the modern Barnard Park.
The London Borough of Islington is short of large parks and open spaces, given its status in recent decades as a desirable place of residence. In fact, Islington has the lowest ratio of open space to built-up areas of any London borough. The largest continuous open space in the borough, at 11.75 hectares, is Highbury Fields.
Highbury Fields is an open space in Highbury, in the London Borough of Islington. At 11.75 hectares, it is the largest open space in the borough.
The Old Red Lion (ORL), also known as the Old Red Lion Theatre (ORLT) and The Old Red, is a pub and fringe theatre, at Angel, in the London Borough of Islington.
Caledonian Road in the London Borough of Islington, England, connects North London, from Camden Road near its junction with Holloway Road, and central London's Pentonville Road in the south. A mile and a half long, it is known colloquially as the Cally and forms the entirety of the A5203.
Islington Local History Centre is a local studies centre and archive which holds material documenting the history of the London Borough of Islington.
The Island Queen is a Grade II listed public house at 87 Noel Road, Islington, London.
Nigel John Richardson is a British human rights lawyer who serves as a deputy district judge. He was appointed to that office in May 2009. As a lawyer, Richardson is known for representing victims of human rights abuses in high-profile criminal cases with international element.
The Good and Faithful Servant is a darkly comic television play by the English playwright Joe Orton. It was originally written in 1964 and was filmed for British television by the company Associated-Rediffusion for ITV as part of the Seven Deadly Sins anthology series, shortly before author Joe Orton's murder in 1967.
Gloucester Crescent is an 1840s Victorian residential crescent in Camden Town in London which from the early 1960s gained a bohemian reputation as “the trendiest street in London” and "Britain's cleverest street" when it became home for many British writers, artists and intellectuals including Jonathan Miller, George Melly, Alan Bennett and Alice Thomas Ellis.
Thornhill Square together with the adjacent Thornhill Crescent form a garden square in the Barnsbury district of Islington, North London. It is bounded by Victorian terraced houses, all of which are listed buildings. The central public gardens contain flower beds, mature trees, and a children's play area, and the Crescent gardens surround the Victorian Church of St Andrew.