York Way is a major
roadA road is a thoroughfare, route, or way on land between two places, which typically has been paved or otherwise improved to allow travel by some conveyance, including a horse, cart, or motor vehicle. Roads consist of one, or sometimes two, roadways each with one or more lanes and also any...
in the
London Borough of IslingtonThe London Borough of Islington is a London borough in Inner London. It was formed in 1965 by merging the former metropolitan boroughs of Islington and Finsbury. The borough contains two Westminster parliamentary constituencies, Islington North and Islington South & Finsbury...
, running north for one mile from the junction of Pentonville Road and
Euston RoadEuston Road is an important thoroughfare in central London, England, and forms part of the A501. It is part of the New Road from Paddington to Islington, and was opened as part of the New Road in 1756...
, adjacent to King's Cross railway station towards
Kentish TownKentish Town is an area of north west London, England in the London Borough of Camden.-History:The most widely accepted explanation of the name of Kentish Town is that it derived from 'Ken-ditch' meaning the 'bed of a waterway'...
and
HollowayHolloway is an inner-city district in the London Borough of Islington located north of Charing Cross and follows for the most part, the line of the Holloway Road . At the centre of Holloway is the Nag's Head area...
. At its northern end the road becomes Brecknock Road. For its entire length York Way forms the boundary between the
London BoroughThe administrative area of Greater London contains thirty-two London boroughs. Inner London comprises twelve of these boroughs plus the City of London. Outer London comprises the twenty remaining boroughs of Greater London.-Functions:...
s of
IslingtonThe London Borough of Islington is a London borough in Inner London. It was formed in 1965 by merging the former metropolitan boroughs of Islington and Finsbury. The borough contains two Westminster parliamentary constituencies, Islington North and Islington South & Finsbury...
and
CamdenIn 1801, the civil parishes that form the modern borough were already developed and had a total population of 96,795. This continued to rise swiftly throughout the 19th century, as the district became built up; reaching 270,197 in the middle of the century...
.
History
York Way was named
Mayde Lane (1467) and
Maiden Lane (1735) (commemorated in the
Maiden Lane Estatehttp://www.maidenlaneestate.org,
Maiden Lane Bridge - over the
Regent's CanalRegent's Canal is a canal across an area just north of central London, England. It provides a link from the Paddington arm of the Grand Union Canal, just north-west of Paddington Basin in the west, to the Limehouse Basin and the River Thames in east London....
and the former
Maiden Lane railway station), it became
York Road in the 19th century, and the current name was only adopted in 1938. It had been a significant route in the
Middle AgesThe Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
, between Grays Inn and High Barnet.
The modern road passes the new
Kings PlaceKings Place is a building in London’s Kings Cross area, providing music and visual arts venues combined with seven floors of office space, a home for The Guardian newspaper since December 2008 and the headquarters of Network Rail...
development,
Bingfield ParkBingfield Park is a small park area located in the Caledonian Ward and parish of St. Michaels area of the London Borough of Islington. The Park has existed since about 1970 when the Beaconsfield Buildings were purchased by the Greater London Council and demolished...
, crosses the
Regent's CanalRegent's Canal is a canal across an area just north of central London, England. It provides a link from the Paddington arm of the Grand Union Canal, just north-west of Paddington Basin in the west, to the Limehouse Basin and the River Thames in east London....
, and runs alongside the
King's Cross redevelopment areaKing's Cross Central is a multi-billion pound mixed-use property development in central London. The site is owned and controlled by London and Continental Railways and Exel, which selected Argent St George to be the developer for King's Cross Central, after an extensive selection process...
.
Near the northern end of the road was the
Metropolitan Cattle MarketThe Metropolitan Cattle Market in Islington, north London was built by the City of London Corporation and opened in June 1855 by Prince Albert...
; now the
Market EstateMarket Estate is a public housing estate consisting of 271 flats and maisonettes situated to the north of Caledonian Park in the London Borough of Islington. It is named after the Metropolitan Cattle Market held in the area for many years up until the 1960s...
and Caledonian Park.
The famous Karthik Parthiban once lived on a side road near York Way, his landlord was the 12th
ShahShāh is the title of the ruler of certain Southwest Asian and Central Asian countries, especially Persia , and derives from the Persian word shah, meaning "king".-History:...
of Ellstree.
Transport
At the southern end, after the main line King's Cross station was the smaller suburban York Road station, with services both north and to Moorgate.
After the canal the road is adjacent to the former Kings Cross goods station and, standing on the corner of Bingfield Streetand, the red tiled surface building of the disused
York RoadYork Road tube station is a disused station on the London Underground. It opened on 15 December 1906 and was one of the original stations on the Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway , now the Piccadilly line....
UndergroundThe London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...
station is located. The station was closed in 1932 and was served by the
Piccadilly lineThe Piccadilly line is a line of the London Underground, coloured dark blue on the Tube map. It is the fifth busiest line on the Underground network judged by the number of passengers transported per year. It is mainly a deep-level line, running from the north to the west of London via Zone 1, with...
.
Between here and the former Maiden Lane railway station the road was rebuilt in the 2000s to enable the tunnel entrance for High Speed 1 to be constructed.