Introduction

The prospectus highlights local assets and current projects as well as present opportunities and a shared vision for the town centre – whilst encapsulating the council’s community wealth building approach and its key priorities. The overall aim is to increase local stakeholders’ sense of ownership, stimulate positive ideas, and help to guide and shape change and investment as well as lever in future funding, including from prospective developers.

This prospectus was commissioned by Islington Council‘s Local Economies Team and is funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. The document has been created by Office S&M Architects with support from Jamila Saha and additional community engagement carried out by Holloway Neighbourhood Group. A microsite, created by Adam Tarasewicz, has been developed to go with this document.

Download the prospectus here!

History of Nag's Head

Nag’s Head Town Centre dates back to medieval times when it began taking shape along Holloway Road (the A1). Connecting London to the North, it is an ancient route used since the 1300s. Set in a valley surrounded by countryside and Hackney Brook, the Nag’s Head Town Centre and Holloway Road were transformed by the 1700s into a key coaching route, with houses and tea gardens lining the road.

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Past

Celebrating Nag’s Head’s heritage, culture, and diversity

‍1800s

1812 — Nag’s Head was the birthplace of the artist and poet Edward Lear, born in Holloway in 1812.
1890s — Nag’s Head became a major shopping centre, with the Nag’s Head pub and Beale’s Restaurant at its heart.
1890s — Culture blossomed with the opening of entertainment venues like the Holloway Empire, Parkhurst Theatre and Marlborough Theatre, today replaced by AXO Islington, Holloway Arcade and the Marlborough Building.
1895 — James Selby acquired Treharnes and its two shops on Holloway Road.

1900s

1960s — Joe Meeks opens the pioneering Triumph Recording Studios at 304 Holloway Road
1970s — Nag’s Head Town Centre faced significant changes. Beale’s was demolished and replaced by Sainsbury’s,
1970s — Large-scale council housing redevelopments reshaped the area, with tower blocks and estates such as Harvist Estate and Bennett Court.
1971 — Mothers and children of Lorraine Estate campaigned for and created a new play space for local children, which is today Biddestone Park.
1972 — Responding to redevelopment, groups like the Holloway Tenant Co-Operative resisted displacement and preserved affordable housing.
1990s — Jones Brothers is closed and replaced by Resource for London.
1990s — Holloway became a setting in Nick Hornby’s novels, particularly "Fever Pitch."

2000s

2004 — The 2000s saw a revival, with the construction of the Graduate Centre at London Metropolitan University.
2006 — The opening of Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium further transformed the area, spurring new residential and mixed-use developments on Hornsey Street and Caledonian Road, marking a new chapter in Nag’s Head’s evolution.

Engagement

Between June 2024 and February 2025, we spoke to a wide range of community members including youth groups to ensure local young voices are heard, businesses to capture the diverse range of retail interests in the town centre and nearby Tenants and Residents Associations (TRA) to involve local residents. To ensure the prospectus aligns with the wider council priorities, the stakeholder engagement also involved the Nag’s Head ward councillors, along with various key departments of Islington Council, including Planning, Cultural Enrichment and Transport as well as Local Economies.
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We understand the importance of listening to and making local voices heard as local peopleare experts on the local area. As part of Nag’sHead Prospectus of Ideas, we set out to find what local businesses, residents and visitors think of the town centre and what would make it better for all, now and in the future.

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Opportunities for environmental, social and economic improvements

Through community engagement, conversations with stakeholders, policy research, and on-the-ground interactions, we've uncovered a range of environmental, social and economic opportunities to improve all aspects of life in Nag’s Head Town Centre.

Nag’s Head Town Centre has a wealth of existing initiatives, from bustling markets to spaces for culture, that should be celebrated and supported in order to bolster local businesses and communities and to help create a more resilient town centre. Additionally, existing Islington-based initiatives could be replicated to address challenges.

As a hub for small businesses, the town centre creates opportunities for entrepreneurs and employment. To strengthen this, businesses could better help each other by keeping money circulating locally, buying goods and services from each other, sharing knowledge and recruiting locally. By better presenting themselves, traders could also make the current offer more appealing and visible to shoppers. There are also opportunities for building on the work of the Nag’s Head Town Centre Management Group and the Business Crime Reduction Partnership to strengthen local connections and a sense of safety.

Nag’s Head Town Centre’s range of community centres and rich culture of food, theatres and music heritage create a unique place. There is an opportunity to celebrate local culture, highlight local assets and unlock community spaces for outreach programmes and events. This would help unify the town centre both with physical and non-physical improvement.

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Key Opportunities

Social

Celebrate the unique identity and diverse communities to help create a greater sense of unity
Create employment opportunities for young people in local trades

Environmental

Creatively unlock public space to encourage people to dwell and socialise
Encourage walking, wheeling and cycling by improving roads and pavements
Strengthen the sense of place to create a more joined-up town centre

Economic

Bolster small and local businesses through initiatives that encourage people to shop locally
Encourage collaboration between stakeholders to create a more resilient town centre

“We need to create a stronger sense of community. I would like the people around to be really proud of our area!”

“Nag’s Head has a world of people and culture and I want to keep that”

A clear vision for Nag's Head

The vision weaves together local communities and stakeholderes to create an improved sense of place and a more resilient town centre.

The foundation of this vision and the catalogue of ideas lies in the wealth of initiatives and projects already happening in the Nag’s Head area. The aim with this vision is build onto and celebrate these initiatives while at the same time outline new ideas that together with the the existing opportunities envision the future of Nag’s Head.

Create stepping stones for local businesses to growth and testing new ideas and celebrates Nag’s Head as a small business hub. It also identifies opportunities for young people in the area both through creative and trade paths.

The vision outlines opportunities for improvements from a social, economic and environmental view point.

It aims to enhance the current daytime economy and programming while at the same time identify opportunities for the evening or night time economy to grow. This will help activate the town centre throughout all hours of the day.

Through the catalogue of ideas presented in this chapter we show examples of how future improvements can be made in Nag’s Head that respond to the aspirations and needs of local people and stakeholders.

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Funding streams

The vision and set of environmental, social and economic project ideas act as a guide for future improvements that could happen in the town centre. To help move us towards this, Nag’s Head Prospectus of Ideas aims to support the process of sourcing future funding. The project ideas are structured in a way to move from quicker and cheaper interventions to slower and more expensive outcomes, to assist with delivery, as different parts of a project can fit within a range of funding budgets.

There is a range of resources and other organisations available to help access funding streams for future projects, both from council funds and charities. The list below identifies some key funding streams and resources that can support the future delivery of the prospectus.

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Voluntary Action Islington

Voluntary Action Islington is a charity that supports local community organisations and volunteers in Islington, providing advice, training, and resources to strengthen the voluntary sector.

Islington Giving

Islington Giving is a local charity that works to tackle poverty and inequality in Islington by funding community projects, supporting residents in need, and encouraging volunteering.