Monopoly, UK version - The Angel Islington,
N 51° 31.921 W 000° 06.385
30U E 700691 N 5712959
The Angel Islington is unique amongst the properties on the UK Monopoly board. It is not a street, but a pub (or was).
Waymark Code: WMC04T
Location: London, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 07/10/2011
Views: 7
The Angel, Islington was once a pub on the corner of Pentonville Road (also a UK Monopoly property) and Islington High Street. Sadly the property is no longer a pub as it would have been at the time when the board was constructed, and is now home to a bank.
There is a pub nearby that has adopted the name 'The Angel' but it is owned by a national chain and is simply cashing in on the name.
The Angel stands on the A1 or Great North Road, an old major Coaching route from the North, notably York and London. The Angel was a coaching inn and is mentioned by Charles Dickens in Oliver Twist - 'The coach rattled away and, turning when it reached the Angel at Islington'.
The courtyard is also depicted in Hogarth's print 'Stage Coach':-
(
visit link)
The inn sign showing an angel can be seen behind the coach.
(Urban) legend has it that The Angel was chosen because the managing director of Waddingtons, based in Leeds, Yorkshire, who were to license the game in the UK, took his secretary to London in order to select the property names for the UK version. After visiting many locations in the capital, it is said that Victor Waddington and his secretary, Marjory Phillips stopped at The Angel, Islington to discuss the places they had visited. By this time the building had passed out of use as a pub and was a Lyon's Corner House. As a result The Angel Islington was included in the UK set.