Seven Sisters Road

Seven Sisters Road is a road in north London, England which runs within the boroughs of Islington, Hackney and Haringey. It is an extension of Camden Road, running from Holloway Road (the A1 road) at the Nags Head crossroads then on to another crossroads with Blackstock Road and Stroud Green Road. It carries on uphill alongside Finsbury Park to Manor House, and from there downhill to the junction with Tottenham High Road (the A10 road) at Seven Sisters Corner. The road was authorised in 1829 and constructed in 1833 by the Metropolitan Turnpike Trust.[1] Seven Sisters Road is part of the A503. The stretch running past Finsbury Park is open to the park on the west side, and on the east side are large Victorian villas now used mainly as hotels.

History

Pair of Victorian gothic houses facing Finsbury Park.
The "St Ann's Snail" mural on the end wall of a house in Tottenham, a local landmark facing Seven Sisters Road for over 30 years.

The "Seven Sisters" after which the road is named were seven trees located opposite its junction with Tottenham High Road. This is made clear in the legislation authorising its construction, where the route of the road was described as running:

...from the Stamford Hill Road in the Parish of Tottenham , in the said County of Middlesex, nearly opposite to certain Trees called the Seven Sisters...[1]

This junction is known as Wards Corner, reflecting the name of the large department store that stood on this corner. The Hetchins bicycle shop and frame factory was situated in Seven Sisters Road, on the site of what is now Apex House.

References in popular culture

Singer Shirley Bassey was a resident of Seven Sisters Road during the 1950s before she became famous.

The street is the subject of the song "Seven Sisters Road" by UK heavy rock band Allen Stash Tin.

The 1979 single "Saturday Night (Beneath the Plastic Palm Trees)" by the Leyton Buzzards features the line "I discovered heaven in the Seven Sisters Road".

Portland, Oregon based rock band Dan Reed Network released a song written by Dan Reed called Seven Sisters Road on the album Slam in 1989.[2] The song was also included on the album Live At Last in 1997.

The Swedish singer Meja's 1998 album "Seven Sisters" featured a track called Seven Sisters Road and contained the lyric "I'm going home on the Seven Sisters Road".

Rob Fleming, the main character in Nick Hornby's book High Fidelity, lives in Seven Sisters Road.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Metropolitan Turnpikes Act 1829 (c.59)
  2. ↑ Dan Reed Network: Slam (1989), Mercury/Polygram Records, 838 868-2

Coordinates: 51°33′40″N 0°06′49″W / 51.56101°N 0.11363°W