Highbury Butcher Shop Since 1905, Order by 13 Dec: Godfrey's

Godfrey's, at 7 Highbury Park, London N5 1QJ, is a family butcher shop in Highbury Barn that opens Monday to Saturday from 8am to 5pm and stays closed on Sunday. It has been in the same family since 1905. If you are hunting for a butcher shop near me in Islington before the holidays, put one date in the diary now: the last day to order for Christmas collection or delivery is Sunday 13 December 2026.

The company was founded by Frank Godfrey in 1905, originally in nearby Stoke Newington, and the family's own history page notes that Frank acquired the rights to graze his livestock in Clissold Park. Today the business is run by three of his great-grandsons, the brothers Jeremy, Christopher and Phillip, and Christopher runs the shop in Highbury Barn. The family was also one of the founding members of the Q Guild of Butchers, the trade body for independent quality butchers.

That long line shows up in the sausages. Godfrey's Original Lincolnshires are made to what the shop calls its original 1905 recipe, a herby pork sausage seasoned with sage, and a pack costs £8.28. If you buy one thing to understand the shop, buy these: they are the same product the business has sold for more than a century, and they suit a weekday breakfast as well as a Christmas tray of pigs in blankets.

Highbury Park is the stretch of road that runs north from Highbury Barn towards Finsbury Park, lined with independent food shops, cafes and a pub or two. The nearest Tube and Overground interchange is Highbury & Islington, on the Victoria line and London Overground, about fifteen minutes on foot through Highbury Fields. Buses along Highbury Park cut the walk if you are carrying a heavy bird.

The business also runs a separate unit at 12 Morris Place, near Finsbury Park. For shopping in person and for Christmas collections, the Highbury Park address is the one you want.

The Free Range Bronze Turkey is the centrepiece. The shop explains that its turkeys are hung in the feather, like game, to mature the flavour, and then dry-plucked and dressed by hand. The product page lists sizes from 3kg up to 11kg and shows a price of £128.58, and it advises allowing about half a kilo per person when you choose. Birds are available for Christmas from 17 December, and the same page notes they can also be ordered for Canadian and American Thanksgiving.

For smaller tables, the Free Range Demi Bronze Turkey now comes in 2.2kg and 3.2kg sizes, from £83.98, which is the sensible pick for four to six people. A Free Range Whole Goose starts at £158.78, and the Three Bird Roast here is duck, partridge and guinea fowl rather than the usual turkey combination, priced at £129.98. An honest call: the goose is expensive for the meat it yields, so choose it only if you want the fat for roast potatoes.

Godfrey's is candid about its December crowds. The shop says it always has substantial collection queues, and it points customers to its dedicated collection service, which avoids the long Christmas line. The rule is simple: order online or in the shop by Sunday 13 December 2026, and you can collect from the Highbury shop on any day up to and including Thursday 24 December.

On Christmas Eve, Thursday 24 December, the Highbury shop trades from 7am to 3pm. Be aware that once an order has been placed it cannot be cancelled, and refunds are not given, so settle your numbers before you pay. If you do end up buying on the day, arrive close to the 7am start, because the shop's own warning about long Christmas queues applies most to walk-in buyers.

Outside the festive weeks, the beef counter is the draw. The Free Range Rib Eye Steak is dry-aged on the bone and starts at £14.98, and the sirloin starts at £10.28, which makes the sirloin the better-value choice for a weeknight. Ask for the rib eye thick and cook it hard in a hot pan; the dry-ageing gives the fat a nutty edge that a supermarket steak cannot match.

Plan around the calendar. Sunday is closed, so if you want meat for a Sunday roast, shop on Saturday, and remember that the 5pm close comes early in winter. A weekday visit soon after the 8am start gives you the counter at its quietest point in the day and time to talk through a cut with the butcher before work.

Highbury Barn is a compact parade of independent food shops and cafes, and the butcher sits at the heart of it. La Fromagerie runs a Highbury Park shop for cheese, which makes it easy to pair a joint of beef with a board for the table. Walking the parade end to end takes only a few minutes, so it is simple to combine several errands in one trip.

For a longer walk, head south across Highbury Fields, the largest open space in Islington, with its grand Georgian terraces along the edge. To the north-east, Clissold Park in Stoke Newington, where Frank Godfrey once grazed his livestock, has a lake, deer enclosure and a cafe in Clissold House. It is a fitting loop for a shop with that much history.

Address: Godfrey's, 7 Highbury Park, Islington, London N5 1QJ. Hours: Monday to Saturday 8am to 5pm; Sunday closed. Christmas Eve, Thursday 24 December: 7am to 3pm. Nearest station: Highbury & Islington, Victoria line and Overground. Christmas order deadline: Sunday 13 December 2026, for collections up to and including 24 December. Orders cannot be cancelled once placed.

Prices quoted come from the shop's website in October 2026: Free Range Bronze Turkey £128.58, Demi Bronze Turkey from £83.98, whole goose from £158.78, Three Bird Roast £129.98, Original Lincolnshire sausages £8.28, rib eye from £14.98 and sirloin from £10.28. The Karpo APP can suggest a Highbury Barn cafe for a coffee while you wait for your collection.