The Turnmills building was a warehouse originally on the corner of

Turnmill Street Turnmill Street is a street in Clerkenwell, London. It runs north–south from Clerkenwell Road in the north, to Cowcross Street in the south. One of the oldest streets in London, it has been variously known as Turnmill and Turnbull Street ove ...

and

Clerkenwell Road Clerkenwell Road is a street in London. It runs west–east from Gray's Inn Road in the west, to Goswell Road in the east. Its continuation at either end is Theobald's Road and Old Street respectively. Clerkenwell Road and Theobalds Road were ...

in the

London Borough of Islington The London Borough of Islington ( ) is a London borough in Inner London. Whilst the majority of the district is located in north London, the borough also includes a significant area to the south which forms part of central London. Islington has ...

. It became a bar in the 1980s, then a nightclub. The club closed in 2008 and the building was later demolished, replaced with an office building.

History

The Victorian building opened in 1886 and was originally used as a warehouse and stables by the Great Northern Railway Company. The building later became a warehouse for Booth's Dry Gin distillery before changing hands in 1985 and becoming a bar. The Clerkenwell area was well known for its gin distilleries during the Victorian era.

Gordon's Gin Gordon's is a brand of London dry gin first produced in 1769. The top markets for Gordon's are the United Kingdom, the United States and Greece. It is owned by the British spirits company Diageo. It is the world's best-selling London dry gin. G ...

distillery was originally sited in Goswell Road/Moreland Street, EC1, not far from Turnmills. In a bid to try to save the building from demolition, various objections were put forward to Islington Council. William Palin, secretary of Save Britain's Heritage, said that "It may not be as architecturally stunning as the

Sessions House A sessions house in the United Kingdom was historically a courthouse that served as a dedicated court of quarter sessions, where criminal trials were held four times a year on quarter days. Sessions houses were also used for other purposes to do wi ...

across the road but it’s a really good-quality commercial and industrial building. It’s a good example of an old building that’s been successfully re-used in a number of ways." Although

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

argued that the building possessed historic and aesthetic value, the building was finally deemed not to be of considerable significance to be saved from the wrecking ball. The building finally closed on 24 March 2008.

Club

In 1985 John Newman purchased the lease on the building and opened a bar/restaurant on the site. In 1990, the venue evolved into a nightclub. The first successful club night held at Turnmills was ''Xanadu,'' run and co-hosted by London club promoters Robert Pereno and Laurence Malice. The venue was the first to obtain a 24-hour dance licence in the United Kingdom, spearheading the move to all-night clubbing in the 1990s and became the home of several club nights including ''

Trade Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct excha ...

'', the first legal after-hours club in Britain. Soon after Turnmills became a nightclub venue, the small original sound system had to be rapidly improved to cope with the tough demands being made of it. An air cooled, single colour laser was also installed to complement the dance floor. A small video clip of Turnmills dance floor appeared in the 1993 video 'Trance Vision Dance Volume 1' to accompany the 11th track on the video 'Let's Rock' by E. Trax.

Club nights

Thursday nights

* Essence. (Autumn/winter 1992/3) Mostly DJs from the Bedlam free sound system, with the Liberator crew (Aaron, Julian and Chris) as regulars with guests including Aztek and Murph. Playing London underground pure acid and hard trance.

Friday nights

* The Gallery (in-house event) playing progressive house, trance and techno.

Saturday nights

* Xanadu - co-hosted and run by Robert Pereno & Laurence Malice * Heavenly Social *

(1990–2002 weekly, actually opened 4am Sunday Mornings) — hosted and run by Laurence Malice. * Together * Smartie Partie (2003–March 2008), monthly resident. Was suspended indefinitely in 2008 following a legal dispute with Nestlé over use of the trademark "Smarties". *City Loud (3rd Saturday of each month) — House music. *Roger Sanchez presents Release Yourself (various parties, 2002–2007) *Elements (2001) *Roach (2002–2003), Tom Stephan hosted a monthly deep & tech session.

Sunday nights

* FF (1989–1996) * Warriors (1996–1997) Hard House Techno Club originally run by Buffalo, Spike, Taz and DJ Lord Kaos (Nursie) * Melt (1997 - 1999) Techno, Nu-Nrg Club. * Habit (2000 - 2001)

Monday nights

*The Well (1998): Progressive trance music.

Closure

On 24 January 2008, Danny Newman announced the building would close on 23 March 2008 as a clubbing venue, due to the expiry of the lease on the building. The building was later demolished and a new office building (despite objections) was built in its place. Publicis Sapient are now located in the new building.

References

External links

Official website
{{Coord, 51, 31, 19.38, N, 00, 06, 21.24, W, type:landmark_region:GB-MAN, display=title Nightclubs in London Buildings and structures in the London Borough of Islington Music venues in London Defunct nightclubs in the United Kingdom Electronic dance music venues Farringdon, London