It is only within the last decade that Clerkenwell has finally left its dangerous and seamy reputation behind to become one of the property success stories of London. Loft-living began in this parish and since 1990 1,450 new homes have been created here - many carved out of old industrial buildings.
What primed EC1 for this was the makeover of the Isle of Dogs into Docklands, which gave extra space to the City to go eastwards - but there has not been a complete break with the past in Clerkenwell.
The thread that does run is the replacement of its old printing and publishing trades with media and internet firms, and with the early Nineties boom of commercial conversions-to-residences now over it seems that these companies are here to stay.
Since the 1840s Clerkenwell has been split in two by Farringdon Road and the parallel railway, which were driven through the extreme criminal areas known as rookeries - Dickens had Fagin's home for boys and Bill Sikes' choice of pub placed on Saffron Hill.
The western half now lies on the rising hill going west to Bloomsbury. Clerkenwell Road and Rosebery Avenue converge to take you in this direction and it is here we find some of the earliest warehouse conversions in EC1.
The colossal Mount Pleasant Post Office is here (Mount Pleasant is an old sarcastic name for the area) and in its lee is Rosebery Avenue, dominated by huge Victorian commercial buildings and workmen's flats.
The old street plan survives hereabouts to host some pre-war flats and commercial buildings. On Saffron Hill is a rare new development of 20 flats. To the south is the famous jewel quarter of Hatton Garden, running off Holborn Circus and feeling part of Holborn.
The large and justly famous Leather Lane market parallels it to the west and a few inter-war flats struggle against the commerce of this area, where gleaming new blocks rub shoulders with old and dusty jewel-grinders' back rooms.
To the east of Farringdon Road is Clerkenwell Green, bereft of grass for two centuries but always a political hotbed for anti-authoritarian groups down the ages. Now resplendent with a few choice eateries, pubs and small head offices, its historical popularity must be at a peak.
South from here is the busy Clerkenwell Road, just before it becomes Old Street, but north from the Green, and lorded over by St. James' Church, is a pretty maze of streets with all manner of Georgian, Regency and Victorian survivals.
Sekforde Street in particular has pleasant 2/3 storey Regency terraces. Bellway have built a complex of flats behind the facade of a debtors' prison and three new sets of flats, largely by Islington Council, complement the Peabody Estate here.
Sans Walk has 46 flats placed in an old school by Persimmon Homes. This lovely area ends with the open grounds of Spa Fields and Exmouth Market, now a pedestrianised market road that can match any display of class put on by Clerkenwell Green.
To the east of the Green is St. John Street, and it and Goswell Road are the other two main thoroughfares in EC1 that run from north to south. Between the two is the old Clerkenwell estate of 8 acres, owned by the Governors of Sutton Hospital from 1645 to 1995 and now being redeveloped by Bee Bee in conjunction with Islington Council.
South from the Clerkenwell Road to the Smithfield Market is an intriguing area. Now at a premium for City workers' homes, many of the old houses are split into small offices and flats.
Conversions have happened on Britton Street and Turnmill Street and Berkeley Homes have converted an old 4-acre gin distillery into 213 flats, seven houses and several shops.
Just east of Farringdon station is Exchange Place, a completely new scheme of 100 flats, and a stroll down St. John's Lane is recommended for the wonderful Gate of the Order of St. John, built in 1504.
The eastern half of this area is Charterhouse. Based around a pleasant square, which on all but the south side is still gated against traffic, it houses Florin Court, a huge Art Deco creation of 1936 now renovated for some luxurious living and topped with a fine roof garden.
On its north side is the warren of buildings that are the remains of the 14th century Charterhouse, easily central London's best-kept secret, and a few fine Georgian buildings take up other positions around the square.
Here we have Smithfield market, the name a corruption of smooth field, an area flat enough for any number of vast public displays down the centuries. Criminals ran pickpocketing schools here, and the memorial to William Wallace, executed here, is never without its attendant posies and tributes.
Londoners' beloved St. Bart's Hospital is here, as of course is the meat market, still surviving after the fish at Billingsgate and the vegetables at Covent Garden fell to a constricting city. Its doom has long been prophesised, but a recent overhaul and the adoption of its lofts for office space show its rumoured demise to be premature.
Our chunk of the City within EC1 lies south of here, hemmed in by Newgate Street and Aldersgate. The City Corporation is trying to push the area as ready for residential development, but they are few and far between in a small pocket dominated by St. Bart's and the vast headquarters of British Telecom. One exception is the 140 flats built by St. George Homes on Little Britain.
The northern edge of EC1 is the long sweep of the City Road, built as a reliable route out of London in 1761. To the east is St. Luke's, a council-flat oriented place trapped between the City Road and Old Street.
A land of post-war low maisonettes and blocks of flats, it does have a leisure centre and many open spaces, some dedicated to particular sports and an especially large piece of ground round St. Luke's Church. This is also the location for the sizeable King Square, a more sympathetic and considered approach to post-war planning.
St. Luke's south of Old Street, running down to EC2 and the Barbican, contains the Golden Lane estate, a highly prized post-war rebuild now mostly in private hands. East from here is a vast Peabody Estate, interspersed with council flats and a few warehouse conversions.
Stopping these going all the way to the City Road are Bunhill Fields, the old cemetery for Dissenters, and the grounds of the Honourable Artillery Company, successors to the old Trained Bands of local militia and given this land by Parliament as a reward for its loyal service in the Civil War.
As we head west up the City Road in the direction of Islington, and past the many Georgian homes set well back from this hectic thoroughfare, we come to Finsbury. Home to the City University, Finsbury is a perplexing place, littered with the detritus of old industry and a little unsure of where, seemingly, it wants to go. Not surprising that other Finsburys in London, such as Park, Square and Circus, seem somehow to have hijacked the name.
Its best side is seen at the north end, by the Angel. Here is the New River Estate, a Regency creation, based around the great Myddleton Square. There are many flat-fronted Georgian terraces about here, and the recently rebuilt Sadlers Wells theatre and Angel tube show the high tenor of the area.
The Grade II listed offices of New River Head have become luxurious flats (the old boardroom is a communal area), replete with gymnasium, and some new blocks are appearing here under the exotic titles Nautilus, Hydra and Remus.
Close to the City Road are vacant and derelict plots, awaiting a lucky or far-sighted entrepreneur. Postwar council flats appear at the Finsbury Estate, between Rosebery Avenue and Goswell Road - including one 23-storey monster on stilts - and Goswell Road itself is still mildly shabby.
But around Northampton Square, dominated to the north by the seven-storey City University and its ancillary buildings, are several terraces of Georgian houses, and to the west is the 24-flat complex of College Heights, boasting its own gym.
So, from council flats to penthouse conversions, EC1 is a complex beast and can provide a scene for all seasons.
In addition EC1 has, historically, been far too busy to provide open spaces for the repose of the workers, but there are many pleasing squares and churchyards frequented by the downtrodden masses at lunchtime.
Spa Fields, site of one of Britain's most vicious riots, in 1816, is the biggest open land (Bunhill Fields is mostly fenced off) and there are lovely squares at Myddleton, Charterhouse and Northampton.
There is a fascinating oddity called Postman's Park, on Aldersgate, where one wall is filled with Victorian and Edwardian plaques recalling brave deeds performed by working men and women all of whom died in carrying out their heroic acts; it is a very moving place. But the real gem is the churchyard of St. Bartholomew the Great, south of Smithfield Market and on a delightful road called Cloth Fair, a road with no peer in central London for feeling positively mediaeval.
TransportThe City Road bends round the eastern and northern edge of our postcode and Rosebery Avenue will take you from Islington and the Angel to the West End.
The underground is well represented here, with the appearance of the Northern Line (Bank branch, Old Street and Angel stations) and the Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines at Farringdon.
Farringdon is our undoubted hub when it comes to public transport, thronged to capacity at peak hours, seemingly far too small for the tremendous workload it labours under.
This workload now includes Thameslink, which also appears at the small City station on our southern border, at Holborn Viaduct, a station built within the ruins of the old Ludgate Hill stop which closed in 1929.
Steve Roberts.
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