2-699-154 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

'Copenhagen House', (c1872). Copenhagen Fields in Islington was an open area on the hill between Maiden Lane and Holloway popular for mass meetings. The house may have got its name through its use as a hostelry for Danish visitors when the King of Denmark came to the court of King James I in 1606. In the 18th century the grounds were used as a tea-garden, for skittles, dog-fighting and bear-baiting. In the 19th century it was the site of cricket matches and athletics. The Copenhagen House running grounds, also known as the Old Cope, became the main track in London from 1850-1853 after legislation was introduced to ban professional running from the roads. On 26 July 1852, Charles Westhall ran the mile there in 4:28.0, the first sub-four-thirty mile on a track. From Old and New London, Vol. II: A Narrative of Its History, Its People, and Its Places, by Walter Thornbury. [Cassell, Petter, Galpin & Co., London, Paris & New York]