Invisible history

At the foot of this imposing building in a poor part of North London:

At the entrance to this dismal alley:

The local borough has affixed a plaque:

The brown plaque reads:

History site • London Borough Of Islington • In Elizabethan times a favourite spot for archery contests | Edward Lear 1812-1888 Born and lived nearby in Bowman’s Lodge

After the briefest research I’ve found that the more common blue plaques that can be observed fairly often around England are always there to reference a famous person - the blue plaque website states “Blue plaques celebrate great figures of the past and the buildings that they inhabited”. I’ve yet to ascertain the policy relating to brown plaques (though the quest has led me to the potentially interesting British History Online website). In this instance, I’m pleased to see Edward Lear mentioned; I am after all a big fan of The Owl and The Pussycat. What pleases me much more is the reference to the archery contests which would otherwise be unimaginable at this bleak and over-trafficked place (the intersection between the Holloway Road and Seven Sisters Road). All of a sudden, the decrepit, soot-stained buildings dissolve to reveal green fields bordered by trees, birdsong and the swish of arrows replace the roar of lorries and a different order supplants the current one, if only for a moment. That, 300 or so years later there was a ‘Bowman’s Lodge’ in this place is all the more pleasing. Looking at Google Maps, it appears that this particular alley is disappointingly called Hercules Place, but then I notice that the next road along, opposite the Odeon cinema is called Bowman’s Place. Lovely!

If only there were more plaques reminding us of the past in this way, but untethered to the famous, floating free of celebrity however well deserved.