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Home , Camden Town, Euston Road, London Borough of Camden

The Camden Democracy Walk

A self guided walk from Camden Hall to 5 Pancras Square

Produced by Camden Tour Guides Association on behalf of Camden Council June 2015

This walk celebrates the 50th years of the Borough of Camden -born in 1965 as a result of the merger of three previous Metropolitan Borough Councils (St Pancras, and ).

Directions are given in italics. Sights are in bold.

The walk starts at Hall in Judd Street, close to Kings Cross Underground Station. This walk should take about an hour and a half to complete. 1. Camden Town Hall, for a better view cross Judd Street and view from the from 1809-1820 on land left by Sir Andrew Judd in 1558 for the maintenance other side of the road. of Tonbridge School in Kent.

Camden Town Hall was Looking to the right the large building on the other side of completed in 1937 for St Pancras the is the Hotel Pullman St Pancras (the Coat of Arms above the door is building. This was built by Camden Council as a that of the old St Pancras Borough) combination Library and Theatre named after George and is built in -Palladian style Bernard Shaw who was elected an independent councillor by architect A J Thomas who in the first St Pancras Metropolitan Borough Council in worked with Sir Edwin Lutyens. 1900. The still remains in use behind the hotel, and used to be the base of the National Youth The building is the centre of Democracy in Camden, where Camden’s Mayor Theatre (or NYT). Many famous names are associated with presides over Council Meetings, and where Camden’s Cabinet and other the company including Daniel Craig, Daniel Day-Lewis, committee meetings take place. The public can attend the meetings to Helen Mirren and Tom Hollander. observe democracy in action. 3. Statue of John Cartwright. Continue to walk down Mabledon Place as it The building has experienced many demonstrations, protests and the Red becomes Cartwright Gardens, and stop in front of the statue of John Flag was first flown over the Town Hall by John Lawrence, St Pancras Labour Cartwright. Leader on May Day in 1958. One notable occupation was by homeless Bangladeshi families in 1984. John Cartwright (1750-1824) was a Captain in the Royal Navy, and a Major of the Nottingham Militia. He 2. 12 Mabledon Place continue by turning and walking East along lived and died at 37 Cartwright Gardens, and is Bidborough Street, and turn left into Mabledon Place. Stop opposite the sometimes called the “Father of Reform”. Even small white house. though a member of the establishment, he campaigned for the Democratic rights we take for This used to be The Skinner’s Estate Office. Most granted, at a considerable personal risk (many of his of the land on this side of the Euston Road is part of colleagues were imprisoned). His thinking was the private Skinners Estate (originally there was a fundamental for the Chartist movement which sought gate to prevent access from the Euston Road). six objectives (universal male suffrage, secret ballots, Before Councils emerged, landowners like the removal of property qualifications for MPs, payment of MPs, equal Skinners controlled much of Camden. The large constituencies, and regular elections). houses we see in the next part of the walk were built by James Burton for the Skinner’s Livery Company

Page 2 of 9 4. Tiger House. Walk down Cartwright Gardens, and then follow the curve around the gardens and turn left into Burton Place. Turn right into Burton You passed Woburn Walk which was built by Street and stop opposite at 39 Burton Street, also called Tiger House. for the Duke of Bedford in 1822, and can claim to be one of the first “shopping This entrance to Tiger House is the site of the malls” in the world. Burton Street Hall built as a Baptist Church in 1811, and demolished in 1937. It was used by (originally the drill social reformer Robert Owen who held the first hall of The Artists Rifles built meeting of the London Cooperative Society by Robert Edis in 1889) is here. Although best known for founding the the entrance to one of Cooperative Society movement, Robert Owen Camden’s many arts venues was also an educational reformer - promoting - in this case, a centre for Dance which includes a Dance Theatre and The Contemporary Dance the novel idea of educating infants. School. The Artists Rifles was the equivalent to a modern territorial army unit. The members included The grand houses in Burton Street built by James famous artists like , Holman Hunt, Burton look well cared for today. But the houses John Everett Millais, John Nash and Noel Coward and have fought in many were under threat of demolition in 1973. Camden engagements, winning 8 VCs since their creation. Council bought the houses, and for a number of years the council allowed the Shortterm Community 6. New Hospital for Women. Walk up Dukes Road to the main Euston Road. Housing company to let accommodation to students, Cross over the road using the traffic lights on the left hand side of the artists and musicians. Members of the Pogues and junction. Please be careful crossing the road, as there is no pedestrian light the Sex Pistols lived here during this time. We’re here. Move a little down Church Way, and stop to look back across the road also standing outside the back of Tavistock House at St Pancras Parish Church. now owned by the BMA - but built on the site of a The St Pancras Parish Church is the Civic large house where the author and social reformer lived from Church for Camden. The parish church in 1851 to 1860. Greek Revival style was completed in 1822, to the designs of father and son builders, 5. The Place. Continue walking up Burton Street, then left into Dukes Road, William and Henry Inwood who went on to and follow Dukes Road around to the right. Stop opposite the red building build most of the Parish Churches in the borough of St Pancras. Note the unusual As you enter Dukes Place we leave The Skinners Estate, and move Tribunes with caryatids based on those on into the Duke of Bedford’s land. the Erechtheum in Athens, holding Page 3 of 9 extinguished torches and empty jugs (as this was the entrance to the burial the entrance to rented offices, but this is where the famous Connolly Leather vault – today an interesting art gallery). Well before the creation of Borough Factory used to operate from. They provided Leather to provide the seats for Councils, Democracy in Camden started with the Parish Vestries, where from the House of Commons and the House of Lords, and also the Leather for 1831 ratepayers voted for representatives to manage local services. In 2015 Rolls Royces, Bentleys and many other car makers. the church was the venue for a Labour Party Primary election where Keir The Churchway Estate consists of three Starmer was selected as the Labour party candidate. large blocks of red brick flats built in arts and craft style, Wellesley House, Seymour House If you now look over Church way you can see a large and Winsham House by the London County red building on the corner. This was the New Council (led by W E Riley) and completed in Hospital for Women, later renamed the Elizabeth 1901. Somers Town was very crowded, and Garrett Anderson Hospital after the founder, the first the building of the to St Woman to qualify as a Doctor in . It moved Pancras led to the destruction of a large here in 1890 and is built in “Wrennaissance style” to number of houses. People displaced by the the designs of architect John Brydon. It was sited railway tended to move in with neighbours, and by 1900 Somers Town was here because of the appalling levels of child mortality overcrowded with very poor housing. in Somers Town, where nearly 1 in 5 babies died before their first birthday. Health is still a major issue 8. Somers Town Coffee House. Continue down Church Way, cross over, and for the borough today, Men in the more deprived areas of the borough live turn down the narrow passageway on the right also called Church Way. Turn for 11 years less than those in the most affluent areas. Today this building is left down Chalton Street, and stop opposite the Somers Town Coffee House. part of the Unison Headquarters building and contains a small museum that is well worth visiting. Unison has strong links with the Council, as it has over As you pass down the passageway you pass the 3000 members in Camden, and about 75% are employed by the council or Mosjid or Islamic Cultural & Education Centre, a subcontractors of the council. Unison is one of many Trade Unions that are Bangladeshi Mosque. This area has been the home of based in this area many different waves of migration. One of the most recent is the Bengali families who were housed here 7. The Leather Works. Continue by Camden Council in walking down Church Way on the the 1980s. left hand side, carefully crossing Grafton Place on the corner, and Opposite you can crossing Church Way to stand by see the Somers The Leather Works Gate. Town Coffee House which was rebuilt in 1928, but is close to the site of the original The Leather Works gate is now Coffee House. This was established in the

Page 4 of 9 early 1800s when this area saw the first wave of migration as a result of the the borough, low rise, often stepped, larger rooms, and each unit provided French Revolution. Many french exiles moved into Somers Town and built with separate front doors to the street, and schemes set in areas that have institutions including a school and a church (which are still functioning today). plenty of green space. Oakeshott Court is named after local councillor Bill They were joined by Spanish exiles in the 1840s, and then by Irish who first Oakshott, and was one of the last of the schemes to be completed in 1976. came to build the canals and railways. building in Camden has recently restarted as a result of the Community Investment Programme - an innovative 25 year plan that involved 9. The Cock Tavern. Continue travelling up Chalton Street, to the corner with building new houses, redeveloping schools and community assets, funded Phoenix Road. Find a place just in left in Phoenix Road where you can see the by selling off surplus land. Cock Tavern. This site is also the site of The Polgyon a very unusual housing development The Cock Tavern is the last survivor of the by Jacob Leroux in 1791. This was a set of 16 pairs of houses set in a many that used to line Chalton Street, polygon shape with a garden in the middle. Originally destined as upmarket and is important to the community - both as housing, it was the home of Philosopher William Godwin and his wife Mary a local, but also because the room upstairs Wollstonecraft. Mary was an author and political thinker, famous for the has been used for many years for community “Vindication of the Rights of Women” which could be said to have started the meetings, trade union meetings and for fight for female emancipation. Tragically Mary died here in 1797, giving birth many protest and left-wing causes. The to her second daughter Mary. Mary, later is best known as the has recently been under threat of conversion author of Frankenstein. . into housing, but community action led to the pub being declared an Asset of Community Value by the Council which gives 10. Somers Town Community Sports Centre. Continue by crossing some protection against change of use. Phoenix Road, and continue down Charlton Street. Cross Polygon Road, and Aldenham Street, and stop outside St Anthony’s Flats, opposite the building Alongside Phoenix Road you can labelled STSCS see Oakshott Court. This is one of the 47 different housing Somers Town has a strong schemes throughout the borough community, perhaps partly due to initiated by Camden Council the community facilities supported between its formation in 1965 and by the council. On your left you 1973. Camden’s Chief Architect can see the Somers Town Youth was Sydney Cook, and he led a Centre (STYC) which is a state of team of young architects (in this case Peter Tabori) sometimes called ‘The the art centre including gym, art Camden Crew’. Sydney Cook didn’t like tower blocks, and the team room, snooker and pool tables, developed a very distinctive style of housing which can be seen throughout badminton courts and a cafe and

Page 5 of 9 internet room. One the right you can see the Somers Town Community 11. . Continue walking down Chalton Street, cross Sports Centre, recently refurbished in collaboration with UCL, and providing Bridgeway Street and Cranleigh Street and stop opposite the School indoor courts for 5 a side football, basketball, table tennis, martial arts, and a buildings. studio for dance and gymnastics. This centre is used by the community, the local school and students from UCL. A third community organisation the The Regent High School is a Camden Council school, and recently Somers Town Community Association is in nearby Ossulton Street, and completed a major redevelopment costing £25m including the provision of includes nursery provision, community cafe with lunch club for elder people, new areas, a theatre, drama workshops and studios, a large library and new plus training and meeting rooms. science facilities. There are 800 pupils, and partnerships with UCL, Turning around you can admire St Rothschilds, and The Francis Crick Anthony’s Flats completed in Institute. About 3/4 of the school 1938 - one of the many housing intake is eligible for the pupil developments in the area created premium. Nasir Ali, OBE attended by the St Pancras Housing this school when it was called the Association (SPHA) which was South Camden Community established by Father Basil School, and when elected Mayor Jellicoe, a curate who came to this of Camden in 2003 became the UK’s youngest Mayor, and also the first area in the 1920s, was horrified by the standard of housing in Somers Town Bangladeshi and Muslim Mayor. and campaigned to built decent housing. The SPHA flats are large and airy, and were decorated by artists - even the washing lines had pottery finals on The older frontages of the school include the LSB monogram for the London the tops (not visible here - but the has some on display in the School Board - a body that built schools all over London. They built public areas Medburn School here in 1877 (named after a now vanished road). The current school can be traced back to this earlier building. Camden as an Father Basil Jellicoe also took over authority has only been responsible for primary and secondary education and ran various pubs in the area as since the abolition of the London School Board’s successor the community centres including The Education Authorities in 1990. Anchor pub on the other side of the road, now converted to housing. He banned spirits, and laid on cheap dinners to attract families. George, the future King visited the pub in 1930,

Page 6 of 9 12. Unity Mews. Walk to the end of Chalton Street, and turn right down the This was built as housing for the “working class” by the St Pancras passageway (also called Chalton Street), cross Charrington Street and stop Metropolitan Borough and completed in 1902. The playwright George just before Unity Mews. Bernard Shaw was one of the first elected members of the Council and is said to have lobbied for these flats. It is now managed by the Origin Unity Mews is a block of modern Housing Association. housing (built by the SPHA), on the site of The Unity Theatre. The St Pancras Gardens was created converted chapel opened in 1937 in 1877 from two burial grounds was renown for over 40 years as a which closed in 1855. You can see centre for left-wing drama. Many the church of Old St Pancras really famous actors started in this through the trees - this is a very theatre including , early church built on the shores of Bob Hoskins and Warren Mitchell. the (now under the road Lionel Bart directed his first musical here, an agitprop version of Cinderella. running past the gardens), and may Paul Robeson the well known American singer and civil rights champion date back as a religious site to the C6th. appeared here as an unpaid member of the cast in 1938. Camden still has many theatres. and the council has a unit which promotes Art and The burial grounds covered a larger area, truncated by the Entertainment in the area. railway which cut through the graveyard in 1863. Thomas Hardy the author, at that time training to be an architect 13. St Pancras Gardens. Continue ahead, cross Goldington Crescent, and was given the job of supervising the removal and reburial turn left until you get to Crowndale Road. Cross Crowndale Road, Royal of the bodies. Many famous people were buried in the College Street and St Pancras Way using the pedestrian crossings, and graveyard (tours of the churchyard can be provided - ask continue down Pancras Road until you get to St Pancras Gardens. Turn left at the church). Mary Wollstonecraft who we met at the into the first entrance, bear left past the large monument (keeping it to you Polygon earlier in the walk is commemorated in the right). You come to a circle of pathways - take the one that aims at the back Godwin family vault (she was initially buried here when she entrance to the Gardens. Stop died in 1797, but her body was moved to Bournemouth in before Mary Woolstonecraft’s tomb 1851). Her daughter Mary Godwin courted Percy Bysshe Shelley by walking which is the nearest of a group of through the gardens, and they came to a mutual understanding over her two tombs standing alone on the mother’s gave. left hand side of the path. Now continue the path around to the left, and stop in front of the St Pancras As we crossed Crowndale Road Coroner’s Court. we passed Goldington Buildings.

Page 7 of 9 The St Pancras Coroners Court Note after you pass under the bridge the St Pancras was built in 1886 by architect Cruising Club founded in 1958 on the Regents Canal and Frederick Eggar, (it is said he using an old British Waterways Board workshop building. owned a brick business and There is a dry dock, and the club is very popular with wanted to show off his wares) and Narrow Boat owners, and home to about 50 boats. is erected on higher ground originally used for the reburial of The Natural Park is bodies exhumed when the railway another example of local democracy. cut through the burial grounds. The local Coroner investigates deaths across The site was acquired by the Greater North East London, not just in Camden. But many high profile deaths have London Council with the intention of been covered here including the 31 Kings Cross Underground fire victims creating a coach park here. The local residents persuaded who died in 1987. It took 16 years of work to finally identify the last unknown the Council (and , the ex- victim. Camden Councillor who by then was the Leader of the GLC) to convert it into a nature park. The park is a The Borough is also responsible delightful supporting many plants, birds and animals, for the operation of the next door including Kingfishers. recently modernised St Pancras Public Mortuary was built in 2015 15. Granary Square. Continue down Camley Street, and by PaulMurphyArchitects. The turn left into Goods Way. Pass the Green wall on your left, Mortuary stores bodies and and stop where you have a good view of the canal and the undertakes autopsies. It handles steps leading up to Granary Square. around 600 bodies each year - including people who die in the . As you turn into Goods Way, we are entering the Kings Cross Central development. The land in the area is owned 14. Camley Street Nature Park. Cut through between the Corners Court by a consortium of property companies and has been and the Morgue and take the steps down to Camley Street. Cross the road developed and is managed by Argent. The site is 67 carefully using the traffic island to your left and then turn right and go under acres in size, and when completed will have 50 new the bridge. Stop outside the gates of Camley Street Natural Park. buildings, around 2,000 new homes, 20 new streets and 10 new public Alternatively, if you are unable to use stairs, then return through the Gardens squares. The plan (developed in conjunction with Camden’s Planning to the entrance, and turn left. The road bears left under the railway bridge. Department) has provided lots of public space, and the Green Wall you are Travel under the bridge (this is still Pancras Road), and turn left into Camley passing is a good example of the effort to promote different species of plants Street. Cross Camley Street, turn left, to reach the entrance to Camley Street and animals, and provide very high levels of sustainability across the site. Natural Park.

Page 8 of 9 If you look at Granary Square you can also the bottom of Pancras Square, where there is an entrance to Kings Cross see how the development has maintained Underground, and you can also access the facilities available around the the industrial heritage of the area. The station. Granary Building was completed in 1852 by Lewis Cubitt the same builder who later built Kings Cross Railway station. This was part of a complex of buildings that made up the main goods station served by road, rail and If you have enjoyed this self-guided walk, you might like to visit canal services. It worked seven days a week, 24 hours a day, bringing food, camdenguides.com and check out the guided walks that are available in the grain and coal into London, and shipping other products North. The main Camden area. building is now the home of the University of the Arts. If you have the time, do visit the Visitors Centre which is sited to the left hand side of the building.

16. 5 Pancras Square. Cross Goods Way, turn right down King’s Boulevard, Many thanks to the for commissioning this walk, and take the first turning on the right which leads through a passageway into the Camden History Society for the two books “Streets of St Pancras, Pancras Square. Stop where you can see 5 Pancras Square. Somers Town and Railway Lands” edited by Steven Denford and Peter Woodford, 2002 and “Streets East of ” edited by Steven Denford The walk ends at 5 Pancras Square. This is now home and David A Hayes, 2008. The maps and plans are based on to the majority of Council employees. The building OpenStreetMap mapping provided under the Open Database License. designed by Bennetts Associations opened in 2014, Images are (c) by members of Camden Tour Guides Association. with the aim of reducing money by centralising the staff in a low operating cost building built to the highest environmental standards. The cost of the building is covered by selling the vacated council premises. Note the Mark Titchner light box installation at the top of the building - the motto “not for self but for all” is a translation of the latin motto on the Borough Coat of Arms. By the door you also have a good example of the logo for Camden adopted in 1965 and designed by Main Wolff & Partners. The four pairs of hands represent voting, giving, receiving and unity.

If the building is open then you can visit to check out the cafe, the library and sports facilities and there are also toilets available as well. If not, continue to

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