INTO THE 20TH CENTURY: TWO LUCKY ESCAPES

Florence Street remained littled changed until the 1920s, apart from the creation of the fire station in the late 19th century. But it had two narrow escapes.

Below: The old St. Mary's Church in 1869. After the 12th century, then the 15th century church were replaced, this building dated from the 1750s. It was largely destroyed in by a WWII bomb in 1940.

Into the 20th century: Body

19th century: near demolition

Upper Street became an increasingly fashionable destination for shoppers, with a wide range of clothing and other shops for the middle classes. But it had not been built with that in mind. At its narrowest it was only 30 feet wide, including paving, making it difficult for carriages to stop and pass each other.

The Metropolitan Board of Works, as part of its London-wide project to upgrade the roads network, decided to fund the widening of Upper Street between Islington Green and Barnsbury Street. This required the demolition of existing property and rebuilding further back, and an allowance was provided for purchasing working people's accommodation. The total cost of the re-purchase scheme was £253,000, which was one of the more expensive parts of the project.

This widening took place on the east side from Islington Green to Cross Street, i.e. the Florence Street side. However, thanks to the Unity Chapel being on the east side of the street, from Cross Street to Barnsbury Street Upper Street was widened on the west side.

Into the 20th century: Intro

Above: The old Queen's Head on Essex Road.

At the end of the 19th century the fire authorities decided that the fire station on the Lower Street was too small and impractical and they wanted a new one on Upper Street. They started by buying the properties on Upper Street where the fire station is currently situated. This did not create a sufficiently large site for the fire-station and suitable accommodation for firemen, so they tried to purchase four adjacent properties in Florence Street, numbers 42-45.

No.43, however, had a restrictive covenant limiting use of the premises to a private residential dwelling. The solicitor’s reported on 13 November 1894 to the Fire Brigade Committee: "If, therefore, it be decided to obtain the premises, the solicitor advises that the only course open to the [London County] Council is to obtain statutory authority to acquire them compulsorily, thus overriding the covenant."

The Council accepted his advice and concluded: "The Parliamentary Committee be instructed to insert in one of the Bills to be presented at the next session of Parliament a clause authorising the Council to acquire compulsorily the premises No.s 42, 43, 44, 45 Florence Street, Islington."

The London County Council General Powers Act received royal assent on 6 July 1895 with the needed clauses. Somewhat later, having bought No.42-44, the Metropolitan Fire Brigade decided that they didn't need number 45 after all.