Walking the Islington/Hackney border from Dalston to the Regent’s Canal

We trace the modern boundary of Islington/Hackney, from Dalston to the Regent’s Canal

We will walk the borough border along Balls Pond Road and Southgate Road, passing the areas of Mildmay, De Beauvoir and East Canonbury. There’s a wealth of interest either side of the border, including a leper hospital, almshouses, inns of pleasure and ill repute, pretty 19C residential roads, market gardens, a livestock market, vanished churches and factories.

‘Beating the Bounds’ to mark and confirm the borders between parishes is an ancient tradition, where the border was literally paced out, agreed and marked with stones each year. The borders of today’s Islington Borough have evolved over the centuries due to a mix of changing land ownership, parish church catchments, significance of early settlements and roads, and natural features such as springs and ponds.

The walk lasts for approx. 90 minutes and ends at the historic Rosemary Branch inn, Southgate Road, near the canal – 10 minutes walk from either Haggerston or Essex Road Stations and on numerous bus routes.