• Continue along Pembroke Street to Carnoustie Drive walking around the block of flats…

 

• Take the short path on your left into Lyon Street…

 

• Turn right onto Caledonian Road crossing over and left into Huntingdon Street...

 

The next section of the walk contains an important plaque as well as many examples of the typical architecture of the period 18th - 19th Century when this area was developed.

 

• Turn right down Crescent Street, across Thornhill Crescent…

 

Ahead stands St. Andrew’s church. It was built by an Islington stonemasons firm - Dove Brothers in 1854. The siting of the church on this prominent site helped to establish Thornhill Square as a smart residential area.   ///dices.basis.grabs

 

• Enter Bridgeman Road on your left before crossing Hemingford Road to find Lofting Road…

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On the corner of Hemingford Road stands an old public house building - like so many in this part of London it no longer serves beer. Do note the unusual plaster images of hunting scenes.

 

Lofting Road once housed the North London Synagogue. Between the 1840’s and 1860’s, Barnsbury became a popular area for the affluent Jewish community with more than 1,000 people moving from the City and East London.  ///bless.rots.meals

 

The building (shown above not long before its demolition) was designed in Italian style and richly decorated with marble, plaster moulded into the shape of plants, coffered ceilings and stained glass. The synagogue followed the Ashkenazi Orthodox tradition.

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During the 2nd World War it was bombed and, as the Jewish community dwindled, it closed in 1958 to be replaced by a council estate. Many families moved further north where there are flourishing Jewish communities today.