The area took its name from the Great Fen outside the original City walls of mediaeval London.  It used to freeze in winter and be used for skating.  Finsbury Fields became a leisure area.  Moor Gate was opened in the City wall to allow easy access to it.  Because it was outside the City walls, it became a place where religious dissenters could live in peace, and Bunhill Fields became their burial ground.  During the Great Plague in the 1660s, it was also used as a huge burial pit, and refugees lived in tents there after the Great Fire had destroyed their homes in the City.  Bethlem Hospital for lunatics was built in Moorfields in the 17th century - “Bedlam” was the colloquial name.  There were several hospitals and it was a centre for the medical profession until they decamped to Harley Street in the late 1800s. John Wesley opened his Methodist Chapel here and regularly preached in the open fields.  The area began to be developed as a residential area in the late 18th century, when Finsbury Square was built.  In the 20th century the area was extensively redeveloped mainly for commercial and office purposes as an overspill from the City.

Between King’s Cross Road and Rosebery Avenue is the Finsbury area which includes the Lloyd Baker Estate. This contains large Georgian houses in the area around Lloyd Square, such as Great Percy Street, Wharton Street and Lloyd Baker Street. The houses were built by the estate in the early 19th century. Amwell Street marks the boundary with another Victorian Estate, the New River Estate, where houses from the early 19th-century centre on Myddleton Square.