From tea to bull-baiting
Part 17th Century gabled mansion, situated on the hill between Maiden Lane (now York Way) and Holloway, possibly built as a hostelry for visiting Danes when the King of Denmark came to James I's court in 1606. Or it may have been named after its supposed occupation by the Danish ambassador during the Great Plague of 1665
Its magnificent uninterrupted view over London and up to Highgate, made it popular from the 1750's as a tea-garden. It was also licensed for Beer and Wine, with nine-pins and skittles in the grounds. Fives-playing proved a great favourite.
In 1780, a public subscription after the Landlady, Mrs.Harrington, suffered a brutal robbery, enabled the owner to build on a Long Room fo tea drinking, with a smoking room below.
In 1795, a mass meeting was held in the surounding fields by the London Corresponding Society
A late landlord, Tooth, encouraged a rough clientele, with bulldog fights and bull-baiting - his licence was suspended in 1816
Paths converged on Copenhagen Fields from all directions, and its popularity for recreation made it also a favourite place for mass meetings, fom the LCS to Dissenters, Chartists and radicals
In 1852, the City Corporation acquired the site (75 acres) for a new cattle market, in order to replace Smithfield.
Copenhagen House was demolished in 1853, with the market tower being built approximately on its site