Finsbury
| Finsbury | |
|---|---|
 Finsbury
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| Finsbury shown within Greater London | |
| OS grid reference | TQ315825 |
| London borough | |
| Ceremonial county | Greater London |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | LONDON |
| Postcode district | EC1 |
| Postcode district | WC1 |
| Dialling code | 020 |
| Police | Metropolitan |
| Fire | London |
| Ambulance | London |
| EU Parliament | London |
| UK Parliament | |
| London Assembly | |
Finsbury is a district of central London, England. It lies immediately north of the City of London, east and north of Clerkenwell, west of Shoreditch, and south of Islington and City Road. It is in the south of the London Borough of Islington. The Finsbury Estate is in the western part of the district. The area should not be confused with Finsbury Park, a public space roughly three miles to the north which also gives its name to the surrounding residential area.
The name is first recorded as Vinisbir (1231) and means "manor of a man called Finn".
In the Middle Ages Finsbury was part of the great fen which lay outside the walls of the City of London. It gave its name to the Finsbury division of the Ossulstone hundred of Middlesex. In the early 17th century trees were planted and gravel walks made, and the area became a place for recreation. In 1641 the Honourable Artillery Company moved to Finsbury, where it still remains, and in 1665 the Bunhill Fields burial ground was opened in the area. The City of London Yeomanry (COLY) also had its headquarters in nearby Finsbury Square when founded at the time of the Second Boer War.
Building on Finsbury Fields began in the late 17th century. The parish church of St Luke's was built in 1732–33, and at the end of the 18th century a residential suburb was built with its centre at Finsbury Square.
In 1832 the parliamentary borough of Finsbury was created, covering a considerably wider area, part of the Finsbury division of Ossulstone hundred. In 1857 a park was opened some three miles north of Finsbury for the enjoyment of the residents of the parliamentary borough, and named Finsbury Park.
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Wikipedia