The canalside park opened in 1960 on land once covered by a white lead factory and its terraced streets. It took until the late 1970s to reach its full size.
Rosemary Gardens is a large park on the Regent’s Canal in Islington, N1. The land was once covered by a white lead factory and the terraced streets that grew up around it.
The park takes its name from the Rosemary Branch, a big pub on its south-east corner. Despite the name, the herb plays no part. The pub stood where a branch of the Ros stream ran, so it became the Ros Branch. Until about 200 years ago the area was fields. The canal arrived in the 1810s, and new roads and houses followed.
Samuel Walker, a Yorkshire ironmaster, bought the pub in 1786 and turned some of its land over to lead production. Two large windmills powered the early works before a steam engine took their place, and the factory grew until it occupied a large warehouse. Women made up most of the workforce, as they were believed to be less prone to lead poisoning. They were first given diluted sulphuric acid as a tonic, and milk later on.
Powder for household paint was the main product. During the Second World War the works switched to camouflage paint for warships. A V2 rocket caused heavy damage to the factory and the surrounding houses. Production survived the war, helped by the arrival of safer paint ingredients, and the buildings were pulled down in the late 1950s.
When the park first opened to the public in June 1960, it covered just two acres, all of it on what is now the northern half. Clearing the remaining houses was a slow, piecemeal job that took another decade, and by the late 1970s the park had grown to its present size. Almost every house was demolished. The exception was a small block beside the pub, which became new homes.
The way the park is laid out still loosely tracks how it grew. Children’s play equipment and sports courts now stand where the lead mills were. The mill’s former garden is protected as a conservation area, while lawns and a patch of woodland cover the old streets. The tree-covered mounds are leftovers from the clearance, and some still contain rubble kept for landscaping. Parts of the northern half keep their original stone sett paving.
The name comes from the Rosemary Branch pub on its south-east corner, which stood at a branch of the Ros stream. It has no link to the herb.
The first two acres opened to the public in June 1960, and the park grew to its full size by the late 1970s.
A white lead works that made powder for paint, along with the terraced houses around it.
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