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Henry VIII frequently visited Islington to call on noblemen of his court, including Dudley, Earl of Warwick, who held the manor of Stoke Newington; and Algernon Percy, Earl of Northumberland, who had a mansion on Newington Green. As has already been noted, Elizabeth I came to see Sir John Spencer in Cross Street, around the corner from the future Florence Street.
In 1603, when James I and all his Scottish courtiers rode into London, he was met at Stamford Hill by the Lord Mayor, aldermen, and 500 of the principal citizens. They escorted him through the Islington Fields to the Charterhouse, passed along the Upper Street, which was for a short time afterwards was known as King Street.
At this time, a famous resident was Sir Walter Raleigh who had a house built at the corner of Upper Street and Theberton Street, although it is not fully certain if he ever lived there but he certainly owned it for a number of years, many of which he was exploring the world.
Henry VIII to Pepys: Welcome
The village of Islington was a convenient location for those who wanted to stay unobtrusively in touch with the Court and Parliament, but remain outside London.
In the later 17th century it acquired popularity with Londoners following the exploitation of Islington Spa, opposite Sadler's Wells, as a resort.
A well-known late seventeenth century song pointed out other attractions of the area.
"At Islington a fair they hold
Where cakes and ale are to be sold
At Highgate and at Holloway
The like is kept here every day
At Totnam Court and Kentish Town
And all those places up and down"
Samuel Pepys, too, recalled: "Thence we walked through the ducking-pond fields; but they are so altered since my father used to carry me to Islington to eat cakes and ale."
Henry VIII to Pepys: Welcome
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