Information about Clerkenwell

Clerkenwell
Clerkenwell (Greater London)
OS grid reference	TQ315825
London borough	Islington
Ceremonial county	Greater London
Region	London
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	LONDON
Postcode district	EC1
Dialling code	020
Police	Metropolitan
Fire	London
Ambulance	London
UK Parliament	Islington South and Finsbury
London Assembly	North East
European Parliament	London
List of places: UK • England UK • London

Coordinates:



Clerkenwell is an area of central London in the London Borough of Islington. Clerkenwell was once known as London's "Little Italy" due to its extensive Italian population from the 1850s to the 1960s.

History

The Clerk's Well

Clerkenwell took its name from the Clerk's Well in Farringdon Lane. In the Middle Ages, the London Parish clerks performed annual mystery plays there, based on biblical themes. Part of the well remains visible, incorporated into a later (19th or perhaps early 20th century) building called Well Court. It is visible through a window of that building on Farringdon Lane.

Monastic traditions

The nuns of St Mary's, Clerkenwell, lived on the site of the present St James' Parish Church. The Monastic Order of the Knights Hospitallers of St John of Jerusalem had its English headquarters in Clerkenwell. (The Blessed Gerard founded the Order in order to give medical assistance during the crusades.) St John's Gate (built by Sir Thomas Docwra in 1504) survives in the rebuilt form of the Priory Gate. Its gateway, erected in 1504, and remaining in St John's Square, served various purposes after the suppression of the monasteries, being, for example, the birthplace of the Gentleman's Magazine in 1731, and the scene of Dr Johnson's work in connexion with that journal. In modern times the gatehouse again became associated with the Order, and was in the early 20th century the headquarters of the St John Ambulance Association. An Early English crypt remains beneath the neighbouring parish church of St John, where the notorious deception of the "Cock Lane Ghost," in which Johnson took great interest, was exposed. Adjoining the priory was St Mary's Benedictine nunnery, St James's church (1792) marking the site, and preserving in its vaults some of the ancient monuments. The Charterhouse, near the boundary with the City of London, once served as a Carthusian monastery. The Charterhouse later became a school and almshouse, which latter still remains.

Fashionable residential area

In the 17th century Clerkenwell became a fashionable place of residence. Oliver Cromwell owned a house on Clerkenwell Close, just off the Green. Before Clerkenwell became a built-up area, it had a reputation as a resort where Londoners could disport themselves at its spas, tea gardens and theatres. Sadler's Wells has survived, after rebuilding, as heir to this tradition.

Clerkenwell was also the location of three prisons: the Clerkenwell Bridewell, Coldbath Fields Prison (later Clerkenwell Gaol) and the New Prison, later the House of Detention, notorious as the scene of a Fenian attempted prison break in 1867, when it was sought to release prisoners by blowing up part of the building.

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 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 is home to Witherbys, England's oldest printing company. The company, which was established in 1740 and whose shareholding is mainly family-held, produces a wide variety of commercial work from business cards through to Report & Accounts. Clerkenwell Green lies at the centre of the old village, by the church, and has a mix of housing, offices and pubs. In conveying some impression of its history it probably gives the appearance of one of the better-preserved village centres in what is now central London. In Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist, Clerkenwell Green is where Fagin and the Artful Dodger induct Oliver into pickpocketing amongst shoppers in the busy market once held there. Indeed Dickens knew the area well and was a customer of the Finsbury Savings Bank on Sekforde Street, a street linking Clerkenwell Green to St John Street. The London Government Act 1899 incorporated the civil parish of Clerkenwell into the Metropolitan Borough of Finsbury. The parish included also the Pentonville area.

Radicalism

Clerkenwell Green has historically been associated with radicalism, from the Lollards in the 16th century, the Chartists in the 19th century and communists in the early 20th century.^[1] In 1902, Vladimir Lenin moved the publication of the Iskra (Spark) to the British Social Democratic Federation at 37a Clerkenwell Green, and issues 22 to 38 were indeed edited there. At that time Lenin resided on Percy Circus, less than half a mile north of Clerkenwell Green. In 1903 the newspaper was moved to Geneva. It is said that Lenin and a young Stalin met in the Crown and Anchor pub (now known as The Crown Tavern) on the Green when the latter was visiting London in 1903. In the 1920s and 1930s, 37a Clerkenwell Green was a venue for Communist Party meetings, and the Marx Memorial Library was founded on the same site in 1933. Clerkenwell's tradition of left-leaning publication continues today, with The Guardian and The Observer having their headquarters a short walk away - although both papers will move to Kings Cross in 2008.

Post-war decline and revival

After the Second World War Clerkenwell suffered from industrial decline, though the area benefited from several acclaimed social housing projects commissioned by Finsbury Borough Council. Modernist architect and Russian émigré Berthold Lubetkin's listed Spa Green Estate, constructed 1943-1950, has recently been restored. Finsbury Estate Constructed 1968 includes flats in a typical Brutalist style.

A general revival and gentrification process began in the 1990s, and the area is now known for loft-living young professionals, nightclubs, restaurants and art galleries. It also houses many professional and business offices as an overspill area for the nearby City of London and West End, alongside social housing.

Entertainment

Pubs

London's first gastropub, The Eagle, opened in Clerkenwell in 1991. The Eagle has been joined by, among others, The Well, The Peasant, The Coach and Horses and The Green, Clerkenwell pubs which have since been converted to gastropubs.

Restaurants

Clerkenwell is said to be home to some of London's best restaurants.^[2] Examples are St John, a traditional English restaurant often listed as one of the best and most influential restaurants in the world and the Spanish/Moroccan restaurant Moro.

Nightclubs and bars

Clerkenwell is the home of two of London's largest nightclubs, Turnmills and Fabric. The nightlife is centred on the north side of Smithfield market, revellers gathering alongside delivery teams from across Europe at the meat market on nights throughout the week. Several pre-club bars such as Smith's of Smithfield have flourished in the area.

A number of traditional pubs also line the market and the surrounding warren of streets. Those which serve the Smithfield meat workers are allowed to open at 5.30am. These are Nicholson's former gin palace The Fox & Anchor, The New Market, The Hope and The Cock (which is situated within the market itself).

In the streets north of Smithfield Market, the only pub owned and tied to the Suffolk brewer St. Peter's, The Jerusalem Tavern can be found on the site of a medieval tavern of the same name.

Famous residents (past and present)

• John Bell (Bishop of Worcester)
• William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Newcastle
• Earl of Clanricarde
• Oliver Cromwell
• Daniel Defoe
• V.I. Lenin
• John Weever
• Thomas Britton

Nearby areas

• St Pancras to the west
• Bloomsbury to the west
• Holborn to the south-west
• Smithfield to the south
• Barbican Estate and Barbican Arts Centre to the south-east
• St Luke's to the east
• Finsbury Estate to the north
• Islington to the north
• King's Cross to the north-west

Nearest railway and London Underground stations

Farringdon station, which provides both mainline rail and tube services, is the only station in Clerkenwell itself. However Angel, King's Cross St Pancras, Chancery Lane and Barbican stations all lie near the fringes of Clerkenwell.

External links

• Map of Clerkenwell, showing location of the Clerk's Well
• Local History Trail (1.2 MB download)
• Description and history of Clerkenwell from an 1868 Gazetteer
• Information about Lenin's stay in Clerkenwell
• Clerkenwell Green Association
• St James Church Clerkenwell
• St Mark's Church, Myddelton Square, Clerkenwell
• Woodbridge Chapel, for many years known as Clerkenwell Medical Mission
• St John restaurant
• Fabric nightclub

References

•  • [ e] London Borough of Islington

Districts: Archway • Angel • Barnsbury • Canonbury • Clerkenwell • Finsbury • Finsbury Park • Highbury • Holloway • Islington • Kings Cross • Mildmay • Newington Green • Pentonville • St Luke's • Tufnell Park Attractions Almeida Theatre • Emirates Stadium • The King's Head Theatre • Sadler's Wells Theatre • St Luke's LSO • Union Chapel Parks and open spaces in Islington Street markets Camden Passage • Chapel Market • Exmouth Market • Nag's Head Market • Whitecross Street Market Constituencies Islington South and Finsbury • Islington North

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