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Estorick Collection

Highbury · 0.6 miles

Modern Italian art finds a dedicated home in Canonbury Square, Islington, where the Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art occupies a converted Grade II-listed Georgian house known as Northampton Lodge. The gallery, recognised as the United Kingdom’s sole institution devoted exclusively to this period, operates as a registered charity and lies close to the Highbury area. The collection originated with Eric Estorick (1913–1993), an American sociologist who began acquiring works after relocating to England following the Second World War. A honeymoon visit to Milan in 1947 introduced the Estoricks to Futurist theory, prompting purchases from Mario Sironi’s studio and a focused building of the holdings between 1953 and 1958. Early public showings included a 1956 exhibition at the Tate Gallery, and a long-term loan to the Tate ran from 1966 to 1975. Shortly before his death, Eric Estorick established the Eric and Salome Estorick Foundation, bequeathing the Italian works to the trust. In 1998 the collection moved to its present premises, a project aided by a Heritage Lottery Fund grant and the former home of architect Sir Basil Spence. Visitors can view Futurist masterpieces by Giacomo Balla, Umberto Boccioni, Carlo Carrà, Gino Severini, Luigi Russolo and Ardengo Soffici, alongside pieces by Giorgio de Chirico, Amedeo Modigliani, Giorgio Morandi, Mario Sironi and Marino Marini, spanning from 1890 to the 1950s. Temporary exhibitions complement the permanent displays. Admission carries a charge, wheelchair access is limited, and opening times are published on the gallery’s listing.

Queer Britain

King's Cross · 0.6 miles

A museum devoted to British LGBTQ history and culture occupies the ground floor of 2 Granary Square in the King’s Cross area of London. Operated by Queer Britain Museum Ltd, the venue presents three interlinked galleries together with a shop, and sits within a building owned by the Art Fund. Visitors can move freely between the exhibition spaces, and the site offers step-free access and on-site toilets; admission is free and opening hours are listed on the museum’s public timetable. Founded in February 2018 by former Gay Times editor Joseph Galliano-Doig and Ian Mehrtens, the organisation was registered as a charity in September 2019. After a series of temporary shows, the museum opened its permanent location on 5 May 2022, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of Britain’s first gay pride march. The inaugural display, “Welcome to Queer Britain”, drew from the museum’s photography archive, and the first full exhibition, “We Are Queer Britain”, filled all three galleries from July 2022. Following a closure for refurbishment in November 2025, the museum reopened in February 2026 with a new collections gallery organised around six themes—Resist!, Club Kids, Queer Creativity, Body and Mind, Live, Laugh, Love and The World Around Us. Recent special exhibitions, “Queer Print” and “40 Years of BFI Flair”, were launched at that time, while the broader collection remains stored at the Bishopsgate Institute when not on display.

Regent Square Gardens

High Holborn · 1.2 miles

A public garden set within the historic Regent Square provides a green focal point in the St Pancras area of north-central London. The square lies close to High Holborn, Kings Cross and Bloomsbury and has been part of the London Borough of Camden since the mid-1960s. The garden was laid out around a large central lawn in the Harrison Estate and first occupied in 1829, echoing the garden-square pattern typical of Bloomsbury’s better-known developments. The southern side of the square retains its original early-nineteenth-century façades, which are collectively protected as a Grade II-listed group, and a traditional red telephone box situated within the gardens also carries a listed status. The site once accommodated two churches – the National Scotch Church, built between 1824 and 1827 and later an English Presbyterian congregation, and St Peter’s Church of the Church of England. Both structures were destroyed by wartime bombing and removed after the Second World War, leaving the surrounding architecture and the garden as the principal features. The park is managed by the London Borough of Camden and remains freely accessible to the public. Entry is from the surrounding streets, with the nearest reference point being High Holborn. No admission fee is required, and the space is open for typical park activities such as walking, casual recreation and appreciation of the listed surroundings.

Highbury Fields

Highbury · 1.2 miles

Spanning 11.75 hectares, this open space in Highbury forms the largest parkland within the London Borough of Islington. It runs north from Highbury Corner almost to Highbury Barn, creating a wide green corridor that links the surrounding streets. Managed by Islington Council, the fields are freely accessible and are a well-used thoroughfare for walkers heading toward the nearby Emirates Stadium. Within the park, the landscape is complemented by a range of recreational amenities. Tennis courts are laid out on the lawns, and Highbury Pool, which reopened after a refurbishment in January 2007, offers swimming facilities for locals. The surrounding streets are lined with Georgian and Victorian terraces, notable for their architectural quality and high residential demand. Highbury Place, Highbury Crescent and Highbury Terrace display early examples of town houses built from the late-18th century onward, with some historic occupants such as painter Walter Sickert and politician Joseph Chamberlain recorded in the area’s development history. At the southern edge of the fields stands a war memorial designed by Bertram Mackennal in 1905; the monument bears a wreath, cannons and captured standards, commemorating Islington residents who fell in the Boer War. Public transport is provided by Highbury and Islington station, situated a short walk away, making the park readily reachable for visitors from across London.

Kingsland Basin

De Beauvoir Town · 1.2 miles

A historic water basin forming part of the Regent’s Canal lies in the De Beauvoir Town area of the London Borough of Hackney. Dating from 1830, the basin—also known as Kingsland Road Basin—has become surrounded by a series of housing redevelopments, reflecting its integration into the urban landscape while retaining its original canal character. The site is occupied by the Canals in Hackney Users Group (CHUG), a charity established in 1983 to promote canal use in the borough. Following an early-1980s Hackney Council grant, the previously abandoned basin was dredged and moorings for residential boats were installed. CHUG’s work over the past three decades has included education about the canal’s environmental and historical aspects, collaboration with schools and local organisations, and campaigning for sustainable development around the basin. The group maintains the self-managed moorings, described as unique in the United Kingdom, which provide affordable residential berths in central London. In partnership with the Laburnum Boat Club, the basin serves as a training space, with CHUG supplying resources and funding for sporting activities. Ongoing housing redevelopment plans are noted as a factor that could influence CHUG’s capacity to continue managing these moorings.

Cartwright Gardens

High Holborn · 1.2 miles

A crescent-shaped green space set within Bloomsbury offers a quiet alternative to the surrounding streets, with the nearest main thoroughfare being High Holborn. Managed by the London Borough of Camden, the park is open to the public and is bounded by iron railings that enclose mature plane trees, grassed areas and a network of circular walks. A bronze statue by George Clarke, dating from 1831, stands on a granite plinth that records the reform work of John Cartwright, after whom the gardens were renamed in 1908. Unusually for a central London garden, several tennis courts are available for residents of the surrounding buildings and hotels. The surrounding crescent was originally laid out between 1809 and 1811 as Burton Crescent, part of the Skinners’ Company Estate designed by James Burton. Early occupants included a number of prominent 19th-century figures such as social reformer Edwin Chadwick, postal reformer Rowland Hill and writer Sydney Smith. The east side of the gardens was largely demolished in the early 20th century; an Art Deco block, Canterbury Hall, was erected in the 1930s and later incorporated into University of London inter-collegiate halls, including Commonwealth Hall in the 1950s and Hughes Parry Hall in 1969. Those structures gave way to the Garden Halls built between 2014 and 2016, although the tower block of Hughes Parry Hall remains. Several of the Georgian houses, numbered 27-43 and 46-63, retain Grade II listed status, preserving the architectural character of the original development.