Camden Passage is a picturesque pedestrian street, minutes from the

Angel tube station Angel is a London Underground station in the Angel area of the London Borough of Islington. It is on the Bank branch of the Northern line, between King's Cross St. Pancras and Old Street stations, in Travelcard Zone 1. The station was original ...

off

Upper Street Upper Street is the main street of the Islington district of inner north London, and carries the A1 road. It begins at the junction of the A1 and Liverpool Road, continuing on from Islington High Street which runs from the crossroads at Pentonv ...

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 ...

. The passage is known for its

antique shop An antique shop (or antiques shop) is a retail store specializing in the selling of antiques. Antiques shops can be located either locally or, with the advent of the Internet, found online. An antiques shop can also be located within an anti ...

s, 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 club runs nightly at the Camden Head

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

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 Superdry plc (stylised as SUPERDRY®︎冒険魂) is a UK branded clothing company, and owner of the Superdry label. Superdry products combine vintage Americana (culture), American styling with Japanese-inspired graphics. It is listed on the ...

store. In 2016, it became a sofa.com 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 In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. Its severe windowless brick aspect is dictated by its original use,

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 ...

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 George Dance the Younger RA (1 April 1741 – 14 January 1825) was an English architect and surveyor as well as a portraitist. The fifth and youngest son of the architect George Dance the Elder, he came from a family of architects, artists a ...

), 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
{{coord, 51, 32, 07, N, 0, 06, 12, W, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Retail markets in London Streets in the London Borough of Islington Pedestrian streets in the United Kingdom