Camden Passage is a picturesque pedestrian street, minutes from the Angel tube station off Upper Street in the London Borough of Islington. The passage is known for its antique shops, markets and its array of independent shops, cafes, and restaurants. It hosts an antique market every Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday (on the Corner of Camden Passage and Charlton Place, and at the Pierrepont Arcade Market space), a book market on Thursday and Friday (at the Pierrepont Arcade Market space) and a market with an eclectic mix of vintage and retro clothes, pictures, vintage luggage, interesting one-off items, collectables and bric-a-brac on Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (along the Passage near the Camden Head pub). Angel camden passage 1

The independent shops, cafes and restaurants are typically open seven days a week, and the

Angel Comedy Angel Comedy is a free comedy night that runs seven nights a week at two pub venues in London, England; above the Camden Head and in The Bill Murray. The club was founded by Barry Ferns, Sarah Pearce, Rachael Warnes and Dec Munro, and describes i ...

club runs nightly at the Camden Head public house.

History

The passage was built, as an alley, along the backs of houses on Upper Street, then Islington High Street, in 1767. The antiques market was founded in the 1960s, in conjunction with the

Metropolitan Borough of Islington Islington was a civil parish and metropolitan borough in London, England. It was an ancient parish within the county of Middlesex, and formed part of The Metropolis from 1855. The parish was transferred to the County of London in 1889 and became ...

by John Payton. The venture was initially successful, attracting over 350 traders, but recently the centre of Islington has undergone regeneration, leading to higher rents being asked at the renewal of leases. Following some years of lying derelict, a former tram shed was reopened on 14 November 1979, as The Mall Antiques Arcade, and at its height housed over 35 dealers on its ground and lower ground floors. The building also housed other businesses, such as a restaurant in its upper floors, but the mall closed in 2008. In 2013, it became a

Jack Wills Jack Wills is a British clothing brand founded in Salcombe, Devon, in 1999. History Peter Williams and Robert Shaw founded the brand in 1999. Williams was 23 when the first store opened at 22 Fore Street, Salcombe, and it was created with � ...

shop, and as of 2014 was a Superdry store. In 2016, it became a

sofa.com Sofa.com is a UK-based company founded in 2006 whose primary business is selling sofas, sofabeds, chairs and beds online. It has 3 showrooms in London (Chelsea, Bankside and Islington) as well as Nottingham, Bath, Glasgow, Harrogate and Guildford. ...

store. The closure of the arcade reflects the reduction in the number of antique traders in the nearby Camden Passage. The building is a Grade II listed building. Its severe windowless brick aspect is dictated by its original use, English Heritage describe its architecture as influenced by, and a tribute to,

Newgate Prison Newgate Prison was a prison at the corner of Newgate Street and Old Bailey Street just inside the City of London, England, originally at the site of Newgate, a gate in the Roman London Wall. Built in the 12th century and demolished in 1904, t ...

(by George Dance the Younger), which had been demolished in 1902, three years before this building's construction by the LCC.

References

External links

Official Camden Passage website

Official Camden Passage Facebook page

Camden Head pub - free comedy
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