Online House Hunter: Clerkenwell | Alan Cleaver | Independent Property Blogs

Online House Hunter: Clerkenwell | Alan Cleaver | Independent Property Blogs

THE term ‘historic’ is over-used by all writers but it’s an irresistible term when you start discussing Clerkenwell in London EC1. All places are historic – unless they only popped into our reality a few months ago – and yet Clerkenwell is one area where it’s just dripping in links to the past. Dickens is the first image to spring to mind, perhaps because of the proximity of the Old Curiosity Shop in Portsmouth Street and the Charles Dickens Museum in Doughty Street. The tour guides will point out the Dickensian links with Clerkenwell including the association with the tale of Oliver Twist.

Fortunately the Dickensian squalor is long gone and Clerkenwell has become a fashionable part of the borough of Islington. The collection of local shops, museums and art centres draw me here on visits to central London. It’s a pleasant enough walk but for commuters to the centre, there are plenty of public transport options. For the motorist, Clerkenwell is a simple drop down from the A501. And once in Clerkenwell, there’s a dramatic change in the pace of life from the hustle and bustle of working London. ....