Holloway, London: Difference between revisions

Holloway is an inner-city district in the London Borough of Islington and follows for the most part, the line of the Holloway Road (A1 road). At the centre of Holloway is the Nag's Head area.

At the 2001 census, the population of Holloway was 11,214, of those 47% male and 53% female. It is home to a very multicultural population and is one of the most densely populated areas of London.

The origins of the name are disputed; some believe that it derives from Hollow, or Hollow way, due to a dip in the road caused by the passage of animals and water erosion, as this was the main cattle driving route from the North into Smithfield. In Lower Holloway, the former Back Road, now Liverpool Road was used to rest and graze the cattle before entering London. Others believe the name derives from Hallow and refers to the road's historic significance as part of the pilgrimage route to Walsingham. No documentary evidence can be found to support either derivation^[1]; and by 1307, the name Holwey was applied to the district around the road^[2]. The main stretch of Holloway Road runs through the site of the former villages of Tollington and Stroud. The exact time of their founding is not known, but the earliest record of them dates from the Domesday Book. The names ceased to be used by the late 17th Century, but are still preserved in the local place names Tollington Park and Stroud Green^[1].

The original route, from London, led through Tollington Lane, but such was the state of this road by the 14th century, that the Bishop of London built a new road up Highgate Hill, and was claiming tolls by 1318. This was the origins of the Great North Road, now the A1, which passes through Holloway^[2].

Until the 19th century the area was predominantly rural, but as London expanded in the second half of the 19th century it became extremely built-up. By the 1960s, much of Holloway was covered with dilapidated late Victorian terraced housing, and the area had a reputation as a run-down district with many larger properties used for light industrial purposes.

Today, Holloway remains one of the poorer parts of Islington, however, gentrification is occurring, particularly in the Hillmarton and Mercers Road/Tavistock Terrace conservation areas. There are also many luxury development projects taking place over a large area between the Arsenal stadium development and Caledonian Road. In addition, Islington Council have earmarked many improvement projects for the Nag's Head area over the next decade.

Holloway is often best known for its prison, HMP Holloway in Parkhurst Road, which was first built in 1852, originally housing both male and female prisoners, but since 1902 it has housed only women and is the UK's major female prison. Prisoners that have been held at the original prison include Ruth Ellis, Isabella Glyn, Christabel Pankhurst, and Oscar Wilde.

Holloway is also known for the very large Andover Estate, built in the late 1960's until the late 1970's. It is a prominent hotspot for many of London's grafitti artists.

• Keith Allen, actor, previously lived in Fairmead Road.
• Lily Allen, singer, daughter of Keith Allen, previously lived in Fairmead Road.
• John Betjeman, poet laureate, lived at 329 Holloway Road.
• Ben Chaplin, actor
• James Collinson, artist and co-founder of the pre-Raphaelite movement, lived at 15 St John's Grove.
• Martin Clunes, actor, lived on Mercers Road
• Charlie George, the legendary Arsenal footballer, grew up in this area and attended Holloway School.
• Katherine Hamnett, fashion designer, lived in Hillmarton Road.
• Bob Hoskins, actor, lived on Penn Road.
• Jonathan Cohen, local gay musician.
• Edward Lear, poet and illustrator, was born in Bowman's Place, now replaced by the playground of Grafton Primary School.
• John Lydon, better known as Johnny Rotten, lead singer of the Sex Pistols lived in Benwell Road.
• Charles Pooter, fictional diarist in the classic 19th century novel Diary of a Nobody, lived in Brickfield Terrace, Holloway.
• William Heath Robinson, cartoonist, was born in Hornsey Rise in 1872 and moved to Benwell Road in 1878. He later lived in Cathcart Hill.
• Skinnyman, British rapper, grew up on Six Acres Estate
• Suggs, lead singer of Madness.
• Kate Winslet, actress on Penn Road.
• Fay Presto, close up magician and artiste.
• Marc Bannerman, former Eastenders TV actor.
• Charlotte Coleman, actress lived in a flat in Holloway
• Joe Meek, genius record producer lived, worked and died in his flat in 304 Holloway Road.
• The Holloways All lived on or near Holloway road, They formed at the pub Nambucca 596 Holloway Road.

Arsenal Football Club have moved, after 93 years at Highbury, to a new stadium at Ashburton Grove in Holloway. It was informally known as Ashburton Grove until a naming rights deal with Emirates Airline was announced, and that name is still used by some people. The stadium opened in the summer of 2006, and has an all-seated capacity of 60,355, making it the second biggest stadium in the Premiership after Old Trafford and the third biggest in London after Wembley Stadium and Twickenham Stadium. The overall cost of the project was £390 million.

• Islington
• Barnsbury
• Canonbury
• Highbury
• Tufnell Park
• Camden Town
• Kentish Town
• Archway

• Holloway Road tube station
• Caledonian Road tube station
• Highbury & Islington tube station (BR interchange)

• Caledonian Road & Barnsbury railway station
• Drayton Park railway station
• Highbury & Islington railway station

• St Mary Magdalene's Church, Holloway Road