Coldharbour Lane is a road in

south London South London is the southern part of London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, London Borou ...

, England, that leads south-westwards from

Camberwell Camberwell () is a district of South London, England, in the London Borough of Southwark, southeast of Charing Cross. Camberwell was first a village associated with the church of St Giles and a common of which Goose Green is a remnant. This e ...

Brixton Brixton is a district in south London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Brixton experienced a rapid rise in population during the 19th ce ...

. The road is over long with a mixture of residential, business and retail buildings - the stretch of Coldharbour Lane near

Brixton Market Brixton Market comprises a street market in the centre of Brixton, south London, and the adjacent covered market areas in nearby arcades Reliance Arcade, Market Row and Granville Arcade (recently rebranded as 'Brixton Village'). The market sell ...

contains shops, bars and restaurants. Between the junctions of Coldharbour Lane and

Denmark Hill Denmark Hill is an area and road in Camberwell, in the London Borough of Southwark. It is a sub-section of the western flank of the Norwood Ridge, centred on the long, curved Ruskin Park slope of the ridge. The road is part of the A215 road, A21 ...

SE5 and Coldharbour Lane and Denmark Road lies part of the boundary between

Lambeth Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, in the London Borough of Lambeth, historically in the County of Surrey. It is situated south of Charing Cross. The population of the London Borough of Lambeth was 303,086 in 2011. The area expe ...

and

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

boroughs. The other end of Coldharbour Lane meets

Acre Lane List of A roads in zone 2 in Great Britain starting south of the River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the ...

in central Brixton to form the A2217. The

Loughborough Junction Loughborough Junction is an area of South London, in the London Borough of Lambeth, which is located equidistant between Brixton, Camberwell and Herne Hill. Loughborough Junction is centred on a rail junction consisting of seven railway bridg ...

area, surrounding the

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

, marks the approximate centre point of Coldharbour Lane and the change in postcode from SE5 to SW9.

History

Coldharbour Lane was formerly known as Camberwell Lane. Former British Prime Minister

John Major Sir John Major (born 29 March 1943) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997, and as Member of Parliament ...

lived in a flat at 144 Coldharbour Lane when a child from 1955 to 1959. The lane close by Brixton Market became very derelict by the mid-1960s, when many drug houses flourished dealing mainly in cannabis. In 1981 the Brixton riots occurred in roads near Coldharbour Lane and some windows were broken on the street itself. With the support of community leaders and shop owners, plans were put in place to set up a mini-police station on Coldharbour Lane in the former premises of a drug dealer. Police Safer Neighborhoods Teams worked from number 411 with another base near

at number 236. Both closed in 2019.

Origins of the name

A possible derivation of the name is Cool Arbour Lane, dating from the time Camberwell was in the country. This is cited in 'The Streets' by Anthony Quinn (2012) as the place the

Camberwell beauty ''Nymphalis antiopa'', known as the mourning cloak in North America and the Camberwell beauty in Britain, is a large butterfly native to Eurasia and North America. The immature form of this species is sometimes known as the spiny elm caterpillar ...

was first sighted. A "cold harbour" was an uninhabited shelter for travellers, often along a well-known route, somewhat similar to a modern

bothy A bothy is a basic shelter, usually left unlocked and available for anyone to use free of charge. It was also a term for basic accommodation, usually for gardeners or other workers on an estate. Bothies are found in remote mountainous areas of Sco ...

. Unlike an inn, there were no staff, food or drink to be had. There would be a roof, door and possibly a simple hearth, although it was the traveller's responsibility to gather fuel. They were generally little more than open-faced barns or animal shelters. J. C. Hahn, in ''

Notes and Queries ''Notes and Queries'', also styled ''Notes & Queries'', is a long-running quarterly scholarly journal that publishes short articles related to " English language and literature, lexicography, history, and scholarly antiquarianism".From the inne ...

'' Series 3, 7, 253–254 (1 April 1865) and later in Series 3, 8, 71–72 (22 July 1865) wrote an article entitled "Remarks on the Origin of 'Cold Harbour'". In this, the author remarks upon relatively early equivalent place names in Germany and traces back the origins of Coldharbour/Cold Harbour to the Old High German Kalte Herberge. There is a village in Germany and another in Austria called Kaltherberg. This etymology was accepted by the authors of the dictionary

Merriam-Webster Merriam-Webster, Inc. is an American company that publishes reference books and is especially known for its dictionaries. It is the oldest dictionary publisher in the United States. In 1831, George and Charles Merriam founded the company as ...

. Our author concludes that "our Cold Harbour was a name given to any cold abode, cold retreat, brought over to England by our Saxon ancestors—Cold Harbour = Cold Station, Cold House, Cold Lodge." And thus has a wider meaning than that attributed by the supporters of a basic type of lodgings. "Coldharbour" also survives as the name of a village in

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

, and

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

has both a "Coldharbour Road" and a "Cold Harbour Lane". Coldharbour Lane also gives its name to Coldharbour ward in

although approximately one third of Coldharbour Lane is located in

Herne Hill ward Herne Hill is an administrative division of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. It is located in Herne Hill and contains Brockwell Park, Ruskin Park and Herne Hill railway station. Loughborough Junction railway station and King's College Hospi ...

Crime

April 1997 shooting

In April 1997, Devon Dawson, a 29-year-old Jamaican in the UK with a six-month visa, was shot dead with a sub-machine gun outside the Green Man pub on Coldharbour Lane.

June 1997 shooting

On 3 June 1997, Anthony Baker was shot in the head during a raid at the Control Tower takeaway in Coldharbour Lane, Brixton, where he worked. The shooting happened just a few hundred yards from

Lambeth Town Hall Lambeth Town Hall, also known as Brixton Town Hall, is a municipal building at the corner of Brixton Hill and Acre Lane, Brixton, London. The town hall, which is the headquarters of Lambeth London Borough Council, is a Grade II listed building. ...

where, at the same time, Chief Inspector Alan O'Gorman was telling a packed meeting that gun crime in the area was becoming out of control.

2003 most dangerous street claim

In a 2003 London Evening Standard journalist David Cohen described Coldharbour Lane as the most dangerous street in the most dangerous borough in London. The headline asked whether the street is 'the most dangerous in Britain'.

2018 graffiti artists hit by train

On 18 June 2018, three graffiti artists died when they were hit by a train at Loughborough Junction station on Coldharbour Lane. The three men's deaths sparked controversy after a former Transport for London (TfL) board member Brian Cooke described the dead men as "common scum who cost the railway millions and keep fares high".

2014 Council Election

Coldharbour

- Rachel Heywood was elected as a Labour Councillor. Heywood resigned the party whip in April 2016 and now sits as an Independent councillor.

Pubs and bars

There are several pubs and bars on Coldharbour Lane: the Prince of Wales in Brixton which has been on the same site since 1800; the Prince Albert which has occasional live music and quiz nights; the Dogstar, a "three-floor DJ bar"; Living; Club 414, and the Plough. The Green Man, the Angel, the Enterprise and the Hero (alatterly the Junction) all ceased trading between 2000 and 2007 .

In popular culture

With a nod to

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...

' ''

Exile on Main St. ''Exile on Main St.'' is the 10th British and 12th American studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released on 12 May 1972 by Rolling Stones Records. Recording began in 1969 in England during sessions for ''Sticky Fingers'' a ...

'', Brixton-based band Alabama 3 named their debut album '' Exile on Coldharbour Lane'' after the road. Although "

Woke Up This Morning "Woke Up This Morning" is a song by British band Alabama 3 from their 1997 album ''Exile on Coldharbour Lane.'' The song is best known as the opening theme music for the American television series ''The Sopranos'', which used a shortened version ...

" on this album mentions Coldharbour Lane, the mention is omitted from the "Chosen One Mix", used as the theme song for ''

The Sopranos ''The Sopranos'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, crime drama television series created by David Chase. The story revolves around Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey-based American Mafia, Italian-American mobster, portraying h ...

''. "Coldharbour Lane" — with the hook "So long / I've done my time / Coldharbour Lane / Goodbye" — is a single from The Quireboys's 2001 '' This Is Rock'n'Roll'' release.

Markus Schulz Marcus, Markus, Márkus or Mărcuș may refer to: * Marcus (name), a masculine given name * Marcus (praenomen), a Roman personal name Places * Marcus, a main belt asteroid, also known as (369088) Marcus 2008 GG44 * Mărcuş, a village in Dobârl� ...

named his own recording label "Coldharbour Recordings" in honour of the time when he lived in a flat in Coldharbour Lane. The area features in the 2008 novel ''The Room Of Lost Things'' by

Stella Duffy Stella Frances Silas Duffy (born 1963) is a London-born writer and theatremaker. Born in London, she spent her childhood in New Zealand before returning to the UK. Early life and education Born in London in 1962 to a New Zealand father and an ...

, set in a dry cleaners on Coldharbour Lane.

Oladipo Agboluaje Oladipo Agboluaje (born 1968) is a British-Nigerian playwright. He was born in London Borough of Hackney, Hackney and educated in Britain and Nigeria, studying theatre arts at the University of Benin (Nigeria), University of Benin. He later wrot ...

set a play referencing the street in 2007 "The Christ of Coldharbour Lane", about the sudden reappearance of Jesus Christ in Brixton. Parts of ''Honeytrap'', a 2015 film directed by Rebecca Johnson and starring Jessica Sula, were filmed on the street. In chapter 3 of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's novella ''

The Sign of Four ''The Sign of the Four'' (1890), also called ''The Sign of Four'', is the second novel featuring Sherlock Holmes by British writer Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Doyle wrote four novels and 56 short stories featuring the fictional detective. Plot ...

'' (1890), Coldharbour Lane is the address of Thaddeus Sholto.

Joy Crookes Joy Elizabeth Akther Crookes (born 9 October 1998) is a British singer-songwriter. She incorporates details about relationships, self-reliance, her culture, her South London roots, and her identity in her music. Crookes has released three exten ...

refers to Coldharbour Lane in the pre-chorus of her 2021 single "When You Were Mine", as well as making a reference to Brixton in the chorus.

The Camberwell beauty

The rare migrant butterfly, the

(''Nymphalis antiopa'') was so named after the discovery of two specimens in Coldharbour Lane in 1748.Asher, Jim. ''The Atlas of Butterflies of Britain and Ireland'', Oxford University Press.Thomas, Jeremy, and Richard Lewington. ''The Butterflies of Britain and Ireland'', Dorling Kindersley. The butterflies had probably arrived as stowaways on ships delivering timber from Scandinavia to the Surrey Docks two miles to the north.Emmet, A. M. and Heath, J. (1989). ''The Moths and Butterflies of Great Britain and Ireland'', Harley Books, Colchester.

References

{{coord, 51.4659, -0.1024, type:landmark_region:GB-LBH, display=title Streets in the London Borough of Lambeth Streets in the London Borough of Southwark Camberwell Brixton