The land that now forms Highbury was once part of the Manor of Tolentone which was granted to Ranulf following the Norman conquest of England. Two hundred years later the manor house and around 300 acres of land was given to The Knights of St John of Jerusalem (The Hospitallers), based at a nearby Benedictine priory. In the early 14th century a new manor house was constructed to replace Ranulf's Tolentone House. The new house was at a higher elevation and became known as Highbury Manor, giving the area its name. Highbury Manor House was located in what is now known as Highbury Barn, and survived until 1381. It met a fiery end when it was burnt down during the Peasants' Revolt. There is a commemorative green plaque on the side of the pub noting the approximate site.
Highbury Barn was primarily a dairy farm which included a cake and ale house. In later years it became quite an attraction as it was expanded into a venue with many entertainment facilities, the Barn even hosted an appearance by the original Siamese Twins, Chang and Eng Bunker. In 1913 the area gained its most-famous asset when Woolwich Arsenal Football Club relocated from south east London to north London, dropping the Woolwich part in the process. The area was largely agricultural until the end of the 18th century when the landowners began developing the land for housing. Initially a large part of the area had been earmarked as the site of a 250 acre park, to be named Albert Park. However this plan was abandoned and the entire area was developed. The only green spaces that were retained are the areas that are now Finsbury Park (to the north) and Highbury Fields.
Highbury Fields is a picturesque open expanse of grassland that sits between rows of the finest Georgian and Victorian townhouses. The construction of the houses that face onto it was started in the 1770's when the buildings along Highbury Place were constructed. This was followed in the 1790s by Highbury Terrace. Highbury Crescent, featuring pairs of Italianate Villas, was added in the 1840s. Notable occupants include the impressionist painter Walter Sickert, and Joseph Chamberlain, Liberal politician who had a major role in the Boer War. Incidentally Highbury Fields is home to a Boer War memorial, dedicated to the people of Islington who lost their lives in the conflict.
The central grass area feels like a large village green, and when combined with the houses creates a classic London scene. In fact Highbury Terrace was used during the final scene in the 1994 movie Four Weddings and a Funeral. The grassland is bordered by rows of London Plane trees and in total contains around 200 of them. This beautiful oasis of green was close to being lost to housing and it eventually took an Act of Parliament in 1885 to keep it safe. It covers 29 acres and this makes it the largest open space in the London Borough of Islington. In addition to the open space, it is home to eleven tennis courts, 4 netball courts, football pitches, a leisure centre and a children's playground. Since November 2011 it has also been home to Highbury Fields parkrun which is a free, weekly, timed 5 kilometre event open to all abilities including those who wish to walk and to wheelchair users.
This write-up is from my 2024 visit to Highbury Fields. My first was very special as it was held on a Thursday lunchtime on 26 July 2012 to coincide with the day the Olympic torch was carried through Islington. The fields were filled with all sorts of sporting activities for local residents to try and the area was buzzing with excitement. As part of this, a non-Saturday running of the parkrun was held on the parkrun course. As it was a special event, the results were recorded under parkrun's no-longer-used Bespoke parkrun name. This was Bespoke parkrun event number 3 and you can read about it here: Bespoke parkrun 3. I revisited one year and one day later (27 July 2013) to officially take part in Highbury Fields parkrun at their 90th event, the resulting write-up can be found here: Highbury Fields parkrun 2013 write-up. I also visited Highbury Fields junior parkrun back in 2016 where my daughter took part in the 2k event.
As Highbury Fields is quite close to the centre of London, driving is not recommended. However if you do happen to travel in a vehicle, here is the parking low-down. Islington Council has a number of different controlled parking zones (CPZs) and all of them have restrictions on when and how long non-residents can park in the bays. The area in the immediate vicinity of Highbury Fields falls within zone E which is one of the most heavily restricted zones and you simply cannot park there on Saturday mornings. The closest zones where on-street parking is allowed on Saturday mornings are Zones G and Q. These are to the north and northeast of the parkrun venue. The additional thing to keep in mind is that on match days some of the zones (including G and Q) have additional parking restrictions usually starting at noon on Saturdays, so shouldn't affect parkrunners. However, you can check if it is a match day by using the Arsenal F.C. fixtures calendar. The match day regulations are active for any Arsenal F.C mens and womens home games where the ticket sales exceed or are expected to exceed 10,000. The same also applies to non-football events at the stadium that are expecting over 10,000 attendees.
The most sensible travel options are to avoid using a car and use either public transport or bicycle. There are a number of stations in the local vicinity but the closest and best-served is Highbury and Islington Station. This is served by Great Northern National Rail services running between London Moorgate and Welwyn Garden City or Hertford North. Additionally it is on the London Underground Victoria Line and is served by London Overground services on their Windrush (direct from south London) and Mildmay (runs from south-west London, through north London and into East London) lines. Alternatively a large number of London buses stop nearby, most of them on Highbury Corner North, opposite the train station. For cyclists there are a number of cycle racks dotted all around the outside of Highbury Fields with the greatest concentration of these being outside the leisure centre.
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Should toilet facilities be required there is one located at the southern tip of the park which requires a 20p coin to gain access. There is also an identical toilet at the northern end of the park located in-between the main cluster of tennis courts. Finally there is a toilet which does not require payment located in the children's playground, but it is noted that it is only for the use of children or adults accompanying children to the playground. The Islington Council website notes that the playground toilets do not officially open until noon, but that operational times may vary. It also states that many of their public toilets may be out of order due to high levels of misuse. The safest bet may be to pop into a cafe, the McDonalds or the Wetherspoons pub on the main road at Highbury Corner on the way to the parkrun.
Upon arrival at Highbury Fields, parkrun attendees need to head to the meeting point which is located at the southern end of the park on the grass field which sits just to the north of the leisure centre and the playground. The first timers' briefing is held here just before 9am, and the full briefing is held once the participants have assembled at the start line. Highbury Fields parkrun is quite famous for its course, as it is one of only a handful that takes place over five laps, and they are negotiated in an anti-clockwise direction. The full course features a short start and finish tail on either side of the five laps. Please note that the start and finish areas have changed since my last visit - for anyone that is interested in the old course, a link to the 2013 GPS data can be found at the bottom of the page.
With the exception of the start area, the entire course is on tarmac paths, so road shoes are fine all year round. The course has a slight rise and fall each lap and my 2024 GPS data reported that the total elevation change was 46 metres. The start line itself is lovely and wide, but depending on the time of year, the grass underfoot may feature sections that are left to grow a little longer. This section is very short and the course joins the main loop after around 100 metres. The laps take place on the main tarmac path that goes around the perimeter of the southern section of the fields, and when looking at a map it is shaped like a 'D' but flipped so the curve appears on the left hand side.
The main bulk of the lap consists of using the beautifully wide, tree lined walkways. However there are sections at the northern and southern ends where the path is significantly narrower, with the narrowest path being found at the southeast tip of the route. Being a five lap course, a big feature of this parkrun is the large amount of lapping that takes place. To give you an idea, the lead runners are likely to begin lapping those at the very back when the tail walker reaches the 400 metre point. I was run-walking with my six-year-old and the lapping started at around 500 metres into our first lap. As the laps progress, the varying paces mean that at one point in the event (about 15 minutes in) there are people simultaneously on their second, third, fourth and fifth laps.
When I visited in 2013 there were 96 attendees, but in the eleven years that passed between my visits, attendances have swelled and the event now regularly attracts over 500 people. Interestingly there has been a noticeable surge in attendees over the course of 2024 and at the time of writing the top 8 most attended events have all been in 2024. This does of course mean that the course remains heavily congested throughout the entire event, but the wide paths mean that filtering through is mostly trouble-free. Overtaking or being overtaken (most people will experience both) can be quite tricky at the narrower spots mentioned above. We found it best to keep to the outside edge of the pathways and let those lapping us take the inside line, especially so on the approach to the finish area.
I wanted to cover the elevation because I was quite surprised to see the 46 metres of elevation change on my GPS data. It didn't feel like that much. The long, shallow incline begins at the southeast tip and continues all the way along the eastern and northern paths, where you gain about 8 metres in height over 500 metres of distance. The downward part on the northwest section is only 200 metres in length so is a little more noticeable. Once five full laps have been completed, the participants bear slightly left and follow the path which leads diagonally across the start tail before joining the park's central path, called Queen's Walk, and the finish can be found about halfway along here. Barcode scanning takes place in the same place as the meeting point, on the grass.
Post-event refreshments are noted on the parkrun's course page as taking place at 'one of the many local cafes in the local area'. The closest options are near Highbury Corner, notably Black Sheep Coffee, Amici Coffee Deli and Temptations. There are also some larger name establishments on the corner such as McDonalds, Starbucks, Pret, and a Wetherspoons called The White Swan. If you head north to Highbury Barn there is a Greggs and a whole host of other independent cafes and a tea shop. If you feel in the mood for exploring, it is definitely worth heading to the north of the fields to see the Highbury Clock Tower which commemorates Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee. Of course the home of Arsenal Football Club, the Emirates Stadium, which can hold 60,704 people seated, is also close by so it's worth taking a peak at that too.
I've already mentioned my GPS data, but I also uploaded it to the Relive app where it created a lovely fly-by video showing the course. I've uploaded it to YouTube so feel free to take a look if you would like to see a visual of the route. The parkrun results for event 597 were processed and online a short while later, and 584 people participated in the 5k. Twenty-three people were credited as volunteers and I'd like to add a huge thank you to all of them for doing so, and for making us feel welcome.
Related Links:
- My GPS data from event 597 (27 July 2024)
- The Relive course fly-by video from event 597 (27 July 2024)
- My GPS data from event 90 (27 July 2013) (note different start and finish points)
- Bespoke parkrun 3 write-up (blog7t)
- Highbury Fields parkrun 2013 write-up (blog7t)
- Highbury Fields junior parkrun 2016 write-up (blog7t)
- Thames Path parkrun, Woolwich write-up (blog7t - Arsenal F.C. link)
- The London parkrun venues (blog7t page)
