Clerkenwell
Clerkenwell | |
---|---|
Clerkenwell Green and St James's Church | |
Location within Greater London | |
Population | 11,490 (2011 Census. Ward)[1] |
OS grid reference | TQ315825 |
London borough | |
Ceremonial county | Greater London |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | LONDON |
Postcode district | EC1 |
Postcode district | WC1 |
Dialling code | 020 |
Police | Metropolitan |
Fire | London |
Ambulance | London |
UK Parliament | |
London Assembly | |
Clerkenwell (/ˈklɑːrkənwɛl/) is an area of central London, England.
Clerkenwell was an
The Marquess of Northampton owned much of the land in Clerkenwell, reflected in placenames such as Northampton Square, Spencer Street and Compton Street.
The watchmaking and watch repairing trades were once of great importance, particularly in the area around Northampton Square.[2] In the 20th century, Clerkenwell became known as a centre for architecture and design.
Clerkenwell is home to City University and the Royal Mail's Mount Pleasant sorting office. It includes the neighbourhoods of Farringdon and Exmouth Market.
Geography
Pentonville is a part of northern Clerkenwell, while the southern part is sometimes referred to as Farringdon, after the railway station of that name – which was named after Farringdon Road (an extension of Farringdon Street) and originally named Farringdon Street Station.[4]
Finsbury Town Hall and the Finsbury Estate lie in Clerkenwell, rather than Finsbury. They are named after the former Metropolitan Borough of Finsbury which included Clerkenwell, Finsbury and other areas.
History
For a list of street name etymologies in the Clerkenwell area see Street names of Clerkenwell and Finsbury.
Clerks' Well
Clerkenwell took its name from the Clerks' Well in Farringdon Lane (clerken was the
Monastic traditions
The Monastic Order of the
Adjoining the priory was
Black Mary's Hole
Black Mary’s Hole was a locality and small rural settlement in a low-lying area on the eastern, Clerkenwell side of the valley of the River Fleet. The area included fields called Black Mary’s Hole, and Robin Hood’s Field, which together with the name of the former local pub, The Fox at Bay, seem to reflect the lawlessness of the area. The locality was also known as a meeting place for gay men.[6]
New River Head
The construction of the New River between 1604 and 1613 resulted in the creation of the New River Head in Clerkenwell, on what is now Rosebery Avenue. The New River was constructed to supply London with fresh drinking water from Hertfordshire, and the New River Head originally consisted of a circular reservoir, the Round Pond and an associated building, the Water House. From here water was fed into a network of wooden mains which conveyed water to the cisterns of London.[7]
Over the years the New River Head complex expanded with the addition of further reservoirs and pumping stations, driven by
New River Estate
From 1810 to 1850, the New River Company developed housing on the land surrounding New River Head. At the centre is Myddelton Square, named after
Lloyd Baker Estate
The Lloyd Baker estate was laid out immediately to the west of the New River estate from 1820 to 1840. It takes its name from the family of Bishop William Lloyd who inherited the land from his godmother Flower Backhouse, Countess of Clarendon, a shareholder in the New River company.[9] The estate is characterised by neo-classical pedimented villas and garden squares.
Notoriety
As it was a suburb beyond the confines of the London Wall, Clerkenwell was outside the jurisdiction of the somewhat puritanical City fathers. Consequently, "base tenements and houses of unlawful and disorderly resort" sprang up, with a "great number of dissolute, loose, and insolent people harboured in such and the like noisome and disorderly houses, as namely poor cottages, and habitations of beggars and people without trade, stables, inns, alehouses, taverns, garden-houses converted to dwellings, ordinaries, dicing houses, bowling alleys, and brothel houses".[10]
During the Elizabethan era Clerkenwell contained a notorious brothel quarter. In Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part 2, Falstaff complains about Justice Shallow boasting of "the wildness of his youth, and the feats he has done about Turnbull Street".[11] Known now as Turnmill Street and adjoining Farringdon station, it had an infamous reputation for brothel-keeping and was described in Sugden's Topographical Dictionary as "the most disreputable street in London, a haunt of thieves and loose women".[12] The Clerkenwell Bridewell, a prison and correctional institute for prostitutes and vagrants, was known for savage punishment and endemic sexual corruption.
Prisons
Clerkenwell was also the location of three prisons: the
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution changed the area greatly. It became a centre for breweries, distilleries and the printing industry. It gained an especial reputation for the making of clocks, marine chronometers and watches, which activity once employed many people from around the area. Flourishing craft workshops still carry on some of the traditional trades, such as jewellery-making. Clerkenwell was home to Witherbys, a printing company who have now split ownership, with the printers having relocated to north London and the publishers to Scotland (see also the Witherby Publishing Group).[13]
It was during the Industrial Revolution that Clerkenwell became known as London's Italian district, although the total number of Italian residents probably numbered no more than 2,000 at any one time.[citation needed]
The Kodak United Company opened a factory and storefront at 41–43 Clerkenwell and took advantage of the surplus of unemployed Jewelers and Watch makers to build their Stereoscopic and Folding Pocket Cameras that they produced and repaired. The location also allowed them easy access to the chemicals required for their Bromide based papers and negatives. During World War II, they were relocated for security reasons because of the fear that Axis bombs would destroy the photographic equipment used for the war effort.[14]
Clerkenwell Green
Clerkenwell Green lies at the centre of the old village, by the church, and has a mixture of housing, offices and pubs, dominated by the imposing former
Hockley-in-the-Hole was an area of Clerkenwell Green where bull-baiting, bear-baiting and similar activities occurred in the 17th and 18th centuries.[15][16]
Radicalism
Clerkenwell Green has historically been associated with radicalism, from the
Clerkenwell's tradition of left-leaning publication continued until late 2008 with
Local government
Clerkenwell St James was an ancient parish in the Finsbury division of the Ossulstone hundred of Middlesex.[20] Part of the parish of St James was split off as the parish of St John in 1723. However, for civil matters they remained a single parish. The parish vestry became a nominating authority to the Metropolitan Board of Works in 1855.
Under the
The area of the metropolitan board became the County of London in 1889. A reform of local government in 1900 abolished the Clerkenwell vestry and the parish became part of the Metropolitan Borough of Finsbury. Alexandra Park, an exclave of the parish, was transferred to Hornsey, Middlesex at the same time.[20] Clerkenwell Town Hall, which had been built on Rosebery Avenue in 1895, became Finsbury Town Hall. Finsbury became part of the London Borough of Islington in 1965 and the old town hall lay empty and deteriorating for many years. It has since been sold to the Urdang Dance Academy.
Post-war de-industrialisation and revival
After the
A general revival and gentrification process began in the 1980s, and the area is now known for loft-living in some of the former industrial buildings. It also has young professionals, nightclubs and restaurants and is home to many professional offices as an overspill for the nearby City of London and West End. Amongst other sectors, there is a notable concentration of design professions around Clerkenwell, and supporting industries such as high-end designer furniture showrooms. It is claimed that the area has the highest concentration of architects and building professionals in the world.[citation needed] Many of London's leading architectural practices have offices in the area.
Entertainment
Public houses
Pubs that serve the Smithfield Market meat workers are allowed to open at 5.30 am. These are Nicholson's Brewery's former Art Nouveau gin palace the Fox & Anchor, The Hope, and the Cock Tavern (which is situated under the market itself).
London's first gastropub, The Eagle, opened in Clerkenwell in 1991. The Eagle has been joined by, among others, the Peasant, the Coach and Horses and the Gunmakers and the Green, which as part of a nationwide evolution of the traditional public house have since converted to gastropubs.
It is said that Vladimir Lenin and a young Joseph Stalin first met in the Crown and Anchor pub (now known as the Crown Tavern) on Clerkenwell Green, when the latter was visiting London in 1903.[22]
The Betsey Trotwood (named after Betsey Trotwood in David Copperfield by Charles Dickens) adopted the name in 1983, having previously been the Butcher's Arms.[23]
Restaurants
In 2005
Bars
Clerkenwell is the home of several bars including Smith's of Smithfield and The Slaughtered Lamb. The evening economy is centred on the north side of
London's Little Italy
In the 1850s the south-western part of Clerkenwell and Saffron Hill in the nearby borough of Holborn became known as London's "Little Italy" because around 2,000 Italians had settled in the area. The community had mostly dispersed by the 1960s, but the area remains the 'spiritual home' of London's Italians, and is a focal point for more recent Italian immigrants, largely because of St Peter's Italian Church in nearby Saffron Hill. There are officially over 200,000 Italians in London, and possibly many more.[25] The Italian Procession of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Sagra takes place each July in the streets surrounding the church.
A small number of Italian businesses remain from the nineteenth century including organ builders Chiappa Ltd, and food outlets such as the deli Terroni of Clerkenwell and Gazzano's. Many other Italian firms survive from the period but have relocated elsewhere.
Nearby areas
- St Pancras to the west
- Bloomsbury to the west
- Hatton Garden to the west
- Holborn to the southwest
- Smithfield to the south
- Barbican Arts Centreto the southeast
- Golden Lane Estate to the east
- St Luke'sto the east
- Finsbury Estate to the north
- Islington to the north
- King's Crossto the northwest
Transport
Rail
Farringdon station is the only station in Clerkenwell itself. 12.618 million journeys began or ended at Farringdon in 2017–18.[26] The station first opened in 1863 as Farringdon Street.
London Underground
Farringdon is served by the London Underground Circle, Hammersmith and City and Metropolitan lines and the Elizabeth line. The next station west of Farringdon is King's Cross St Pancras, and all westbound trains call at Baker Street tube station. To the east, the next stations are Barbican, Moorgate and Liverpool Street in the City.
The Hammersmith and City and Circle lines both terminate in West London at
There are several tube stations near the fringes of Clerkenwell:
- Angel (Northern line)
- Barbican (Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines)
- Chancery Lane (Central line)
- Moorgate (Circle, Hammersmith & City, Metropolitan and Northern lines)
National Rail
Farringdon is a National Rail station served on the Thameslink route, served by Thameslink trains run by Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR). This links Clerkenwell directly to Luton and Gatwick airports, and destinations including Bedford, Brighton, Cambridge, Luton, Peterborough, and destinations in South London and Kent.[28][29] Moorgate is also nearby, with Great Northern services linking the area directly to North London and Hertfordshire destinations.
Road
Clerkenwell is in the London
Cycling
Transport for London (TfL) and the London Borough of Islington both provide cycling infrastructure in Clerkenwell, and the area is well connected to London's cycle network.
Quietways 2 and 10 are also nearby, both passing through Finsbury. Quietway 2 links Russell Square to Angel, Dalston and Walthamstow via Finsbury, whilst Quietway 10 runs from Finsbury to Finsbury Park.[35][36] Quietways use cycle paths and "side-streets" allowing cyclists to avoid busy roads. Quietways 2 and 10 are signed cycle routes.
Bus and cycle lanes are also provided on Rosebery Avenue, Clerkenwell Road and Percival Street.
Santander Cycles, a cycle hire scheme across Central London, has docking stations with bicycles for hire across Clerkenwell.[37]
Notable people
This section needs additional citations for verification. (July 2018) |
- John Bell (d. 1556), Church of Englandbishop
- Thomas Birch (1705–1766), English historian
- Thomas Britton (1644–1714), English charcoal merchant best known as a concert promoter
- James Duff Brown (1862–1914), English librarian, information theorist, music biographer and educationalist
- Rev. Moses Browne (1704–1787), Church of England priest and poet
- Robert Burnside (1759–1826), English Baptist minister
- Phil Cameron (b. 1972), English entrepreneur, the founder of No.1 Traveller, and a former Tony and Olivier Award-winning theatre producer
- Edward Cave (1691–1754), English printer and journalist
- William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Newcastle (1592–1676), English polymath and aristocrat, having been a poet, equestrian, playwright, swordsman, politician, architect, diplomat and soldier
- Oliver Cromwell (1599–1658), English military and political leader and later Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland
- James I of England, best remembered for his textbook on anatomy, Mikrokosmographia, a Description of the Body of Man
- Earl of Clanricarde (1832–1916), Anglo-Irish ascendancy nobleman and politician
- Daniel Defoe (c. 1660–1731), English trader, writer, journalist, pamphleteer and spy, now most famous for his novel Robinson Crusoe
- Charles Dickens (1812–1870), English writer and social critic
- Michael Fagan (b. 1948), Buckingham Palaceintruder
- Zaha Hadid (b. 1950–2016), Iraqi-British architect
- astrologerand mathematician
- Anthony Horowitz (b. 1955), English novelist and screenwriter specialising in mystery and suspense
- Bedford Alfred George Jezzard (1927–2005), English footballer and manager[38]
- Vladimir Lenin (1870–1924), Russian communist revolutionary, politician and political theorist
- Hannah Rosetta Dinah Parks (1860–1931), stage name Cora Cardigan, a virtuoso flautist known as the 'Queen of Flute Players'.
- Umberto Bert Rossi, criminal
- Charles Sabini (1889–1950), English criminal, leader of the Sabini gang
- Tom Smith (1823–1869), confectioner and creator of the Christmas cracker
- Jessie Vokes (1848–1884), actress and dancer
- Louis Wain (1860–1939), English artist
- John Weever (1576–1632), English antiquary and poet
- John Wilkes (1725–1797), English radical, journalist and politician
- Elizabeth Wilkinson (1700s), English bare-knuckle boxing champion, known to be the first female boxer
- George Ebenezer Williams (1783−1819), English organist and composer
See also
- Clerkenwell Priory
- Coldbath Fields Prison
- Coldbath Fields Riot 1833
- The Nether World
References
- ^ "Islington Ward population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Archived from the original on 24 October 2016. Retrieved 24 October 2016.
- ^ Moore, W. G. (1971) The Penguin Encyclopedia of Places. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books; p. 178
- ^ "West of Farringdon Road | British History Online". www.british-history.ac.uk. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
- ^
Rose, Douglas (1999). The London Underground: A diagrammatic history. Capital Transport Publishing. ISBN 1-85414-219-4.
- ISBN 0-19-869103-3.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link - ^ Liddell, Stephen (23 June 2022). "On the hunt for Black Marys Hole". Retrieved 8 February 2023.
- ^ a b "New River Head". British History Online. Institute of Historical Research/University of London. 2008. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
- ^ "Church of St Mark". British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 24 December 2022.
- ^ 'Lloyd Baker Estate', in Survey of London: Volume 47, Northern Clerkenwell and Pentonville, ed. Philip Temple (London, 2008), pp. 264-297. British History Online accessed 23 September 2022.
- ^ Middlesex Justices in 1596; cited in Schoenbaum 1987, p. 126.
- ^ William Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part 2. Act 3, Scene 2.
- ^ Nicholl C. (2007) The Lodger, p.204.
- ^ "Witherby Company History". Archived from the original on 14 March 2022. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
- ^ "Information on Camera Makers and Companies – Antique and Vintage Cameras". www.earlyphotography.co.uk.
- ^ "Hockley-in-the-Hole | British History Online". www.british-history.ac.uk.
- ISBN 9781139094375
- ^ Andrew Rothstein, A House on Clerkenwell Green, London: Lawrence & Wishart, 1966. A history of 37a Clerkenwell Green and activism in the area.
- ^ Historic England. "The Crown Tavern Public House (1195546)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 12 November 2016. Has address 43 and 44, Clerkenwell Green
- ^ "May Day: Thousands participate in rally". BBC News. 1 May 2011.
- ^ a b Great Britain Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, Clerknwell parish (historic map). Retrieved {{{accessdate}}}.
- ^ The London Gazette Issue: 21802. 20 October 1855. pp. 3887–3888. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
- ^ Lenin met Stalin here, The Shady Old Lady, retrieved 31 January 2017
- ^ "Website of The Betsey Trotwood". Thebetsey.com. Archived from the original on 28 July 2013. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
- ^ Bittman, Mark (8 May 2005). "Clerkenwell's Revival Is Bliss for Foodies". The New York Times. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
- ^ Squires, Nick (8 October 2014). "Young Italians abandon la dolce vita to move to Britain". Archived from the original on 12 January 2022 – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
- ^ "Estimates of station usage | Office of Rail and Road". orr.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 18 December 2018. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
- ^ "Tube". Transport for London. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
- ^ "Thameslink Route Map" (PDF). Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR). Retrieved 7 April 2019.
- ^ "Tube and Rail". Transport for London. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
- ^ "Congestion Charge (Official)". Transport for London. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
- ^ "Low Emission Zone". Transport for London. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
- ^ "Ultra Low Emission Zone". Transport for London. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
- ^ "OpenStreetMap". OpenStreetMap. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
- ^ "CS6: King's Cross to Elephant and Castle" (PDF). Transport for London (TfL). Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 April 2019.
- ^ "Quietway 2 (East): Bloomsbury to Walthamstow" (PDF). Transport for London (TfL). Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 October 2018.
- ^ "Quietway 10". Cycle Islington. 1 February 2018. Archived from the original on 7 April 2019. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
- ^ "Find a docking station". Transport for London. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
- ISBN 0-9527458-0-1.
Further reading
- Richard Tames (1999), Clerkenwell and Finsbury Past, London: Historical Publications, ISBN 978-0-94866-756-5
- OCLC 12878129
External links
- London/Holborn-Clerkenwell travel guide from Wikivoyage
- Media related to Clerkenwell at Wikimedia Commons
- Map of Clerkenwell, showing location of the Clerks' Well
- Description and history of Clerkenwell from an 1868 Gazetteer
- Islington Museum and Local History Centre Archived 4 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine
- Information about Lenin's stay in Clerkenwell
- Craft Central
- St James Church Clerkenwell Archived 27 May 2013 at the Wayback Machine
- stmarks-clerkenwell.co.uk
- GraceLife London at Woodbridge Chapel, for many years known as Clerkenwell Medical Mission