The
manor of Canonbury stood at a small distance to the north-east of the
parish church of St Mary, Islington,
and was originally built as a mansion house for the priors of St
Bartholomew. It dated from medieval times, but by the Regency period
most of it had been demolished, and houses built on its grounds. All
that remained by c. 1815 was the lofty square tower and several fragments
of park walls.
The
name Canonbury House had, by the late eighteenth century, been given
to a very considerable tea-house and gardens in the grounds of old Canonbury
manor. The tea house was often frequented by people of leisure.
See
another view of Canonbury
Tower.
