Gray's Inn Road
Gray's Inn Road is a major road of ancient origins in central London, in the London Borough of Camden. It is named after Gray's Inn, one of the main Inns of Court.
Route
The road starts in Holborn, near Chancery Lane tube station and the boundaries of the City of London and the London Borough of Islington. From here it goes north and slightly west, forming the boundary between Clerkenwell to the east and Holborn, Bloomsbury and finally St Pancras to the west. Along its course it passes Gray's Inn, the headquarters of ITN and the Legal Services Commission, and the Eastman Dental Hospital. Near the north end of the road, where it meets Cromer Street and Acton Street, it turns into a one-way system heading towards Kings Cross station.
Throughout its route the road keeps to the higher ground, above the valley of the River Fleet to the east. In earlier times it was the principal route from London to Hampstead.
History
The area of Gray's Inn Road was clearly populated from palaeolithic times [1] and, given the road's height above the Fleet valley, it may have formed part of an ancient trackway.
The manor of Portpool formerly existed in the same area as Gray's Inn, and although the manor is not mentioned in the Domesday Book it came into possession of the Dean and Chapter of St Paul's Cathedral and may have formed a separate estate of one of the Canons.[1] From at least the 13th century onwards it was in the possession of the Grey family, after whom Gray's Inn is named.
The name "Purtepol Street" is recorded in the time of Henry III and this may be the first reference to the current Gray's Inn Road. In a document of 1299 it is called "Street of Pourtepol without London", which is appropriate as it lies only just outside the boundary of the City. In a document of 1468 the road is called "Graysynlane, otherwise Portpole Lane"[2]. Today's Portpool Lane, which leads off Gray's Inn Road to the east, is a separate road which is not mentioned prior to 1641.[3]
On the Agas map of c.1570 "Greys ynne la." is shown leading from Holborn Bars to Gray's Inn, from where it becomes an unnamed track leading into the country. John Ogilby and William Morgan's map of 1676 shows "Grayes-Inn Lane" which is clearly built up as far as Elm Street, although that is the limit of the map. John Rocque's map of 1738 depicts "Grays Inn Lane" which clearly applies to the stretch from Holborn to the edge of the built up area (somewhat south of the present Calthorpe Street), but when it passes into the country it is called "Road to Hampstead and Highgate".
Richard Horwood's map (updated by William Faden in 1813) calls the whole stretch from Holborn to modern Kings Cross "Grays Inn Lane", but by the mid-19th century it is Gray's Inn Road.
Street Survey
For ease of use this survey (currently under construction) is divided into four sections from south to north, each marked by intersections, namely:
1. High Holborn/Holborn to Theobalds Road/Clerkenwell Road
2. Theobalds Road/Clerkenwell Road to Guilford Street/Calthorpe Street
3. Guilford Street/Calthorpe Street to Cromer Street/Acton Street
4. Cromer Street/Acton Street to Euston Road/Pentonville Road
High Holborn/Holborn to Theobalds Road/Clerkenwell Road
(a) West side, south to north (odd numbers 3 and 5)
On the corner of High Holborn and Gray's Inn Road lies one of the four entrances to Chancery Lane tube station.
The modern red brick block on the corner, with its main entrance at 7 High Holborn, was completed in about 2001. A 1960s office building was refurbished and converted into 68 flats, including a new external facade and rooftop penthouses. There are retail premises on the street front, including a branch of Robert Dyas, the ironmonger's, which has its entrance on the corner, but whose formal address is 4 High Holborn. Nos. 1 to 23 Gray's Inn Road used to lie on the site of this block, but only nos. 3 and 5 (the actual numbers seemingly chosen at random) remain.
No. 3 "Secrets", an adult club featuring table dancing, with subterranean premises. (NB this address is not in Royal Mail's postcode database).
Postcode WC1X 8PH
No 5 A branch of Argos, the catalogue-based general store.
Here is a vehicle exit and pedestrian entrance to Gray's Inn.
The road is then lined by the red brick buildings of South Square, Gray's Inn and Gray's Inn Square, which have no doors leading to the road itself. In the midst of these are the east wall of the rebuilt chapel and a vehicle exit and pedestrian entrance to Gray's Inn Square.
Further on, after another vehicle exit, there is a seven-foot-high iron-banded brick wall. This is of early eighteenth century construction and is Grade II listed[2]. Behind this lies the early nineteenth century Verulam Buildings (part of the Inn), followed by the formal gateway to Verulam Buildings. Both Verulam Buildings[3] and the small lodge at the north-east corner of the buildings[4] are also Grade II listed.
The great majority of the buildings in South Square and Gray's Inn Square were destroyed in an air raid on 10 May 1941, and hence most (but not all) of the structures facing the street are 1950s reproductions of the seventeenth and eighteenth century originals.
The final building before Theobalds Road is the imposing light red brick Victorian Griffin Building. This is a former police station, bearing the date 1896, converted to offices in March 1999. It has become part of the Gray's Inn complex and accordingly now has no functioning entrance on either Gray's Inn Road or Theobalds Road, although its address has sometimes been given as 27 Gray's Inn Road. It is the home of Matrix Chambers.
Here is Theobalds Road.
(b) East side, south to north (even numbers 2 to 108)
On the corner of Holborn and Gray's Inn Road lies one of the four entrances to Chancery Lane tube station. This is also the location of Holborn Bars, the western boundary of the City of London, which is marked today by two griffins on concrete mounts on either side of Holborn.
This side of the road was completely rebuilt in 1879-80 by the Metropolitan Board of Works, and the road considerably widened. Fewer separate buildings were packed into the street; instead of the former 65 (nos 2 to 130) there remained only 54 (2 to 108). For that reason the physical location of (say) no 90 Gray's Inn Road today is not the same as it was before 1879.
This side also suffered heavily during the Blitz, resulting in the disappearance of several nineteenth century buildings.
The first four shops on Gray's Inn Road (nos. 2 to 8) are all part of 150 Holborn, a modern red brick office development with its entrance on the corner of Holborn and Gray's Inn Road.
Postcode WC1X 8HG
No 2 A branch of Next, the clothes shop.
No 4 A branch of Snow + Rock, the sports goods shop.
No 6 A branch of Moss Bros, the men's clothes shop (including dress hire), branded Moss.
No 8 Bagel's Inn, a coffee shop specialising in bagels - possibly a play on words, as it faces Gray's Inn, but there is another branch in Blomfield Street.
Postcode WC1X 8HN
No 14 (comprising former nos. 10 to 22) "Fox Court", a modern set of offices (backing onto Brooke Street) with a prominent disability access ramp, including the premises of the Disability Rights Commission and Bracher Rawlins LLP.
Fox Court was an alley leading from Gray's Inn Road (between nos. 18 and 20) to Brooke Street, which disappeared in post-war reconstruction. It was the birthplace of Richard Savage, the poet.
Nos 24 to 28 are housed in late Victorian buildings.
Postcode WC1X 8HP
No 24 Goldblatts, chartered accountants.
No 26 Sunset Sandwich Bar (which also calls itself Sunset Café Bar) on ground floor. Offices above include Railwise Ltd, Sedgwick Richardson and URBED (Urban and Economic Development) Ltd.
Postcode WC1X 8HR
No 28 Revenco News. Offices above include Vectra Group Ltd.
Nos 30-32 Communications and advertising offices, including Fenix Communications, Straightedge Direct and WARL Change Behaviour.
Nos 34-36 "Totara Park House", a small modern office block. Totara Park is in New Zealand and presumably lent its name to this building, but the connection is not obvious. Offices include Reed Accountancy, JM Legal, British Association for Performing Arts Medicine, and the secretariat for Queen's Counsel appointments.
Here is Brooke's Court, leading to the Anglo-Catholic Church of St Alban the Martyr.
Nos 38 to 54 are late Victorian buildings.
Postcode WC1X 8JJ
No 38 Branch of Andrews Office Furniture.
Postcode WC1X 8LR
No 40 Locks Eleven, locksmiths, and Gray's Inn Road Dental Surgery.
No 42 Angel Lettings Ltd (four flats above).
No 44 London Copy Centre and Maxwell Alves, solicitors. This building housed the former shop of Geographers' A-Z Map Company Limited.
Postcode WC1X 8LP
No 46 A branch of Konditor & Cook, confectioners.
Here is Baldwin's Gardens
Postcode WC1X 8LT
No 48 Vine Café. Offices of the Institute for War and Peace Reporting. This building was the subject of the House of Lords decision in Christopher Moran Holdings Ltd. v. Bairstow and Another, 1999, relating to the disclaimer of an onerous lease.
Postcode WC1X 8LS
No 50 "Gray's Inn Specialist Dry Cleaners" (four flats above).
Postcode WC1X 8LT
Nos 52-54 Currently undergoing refurbishment. Formerly offices of Terence Higgins Trust.
Postcode WC1X 8AQ (Cyril Sweett) and WC1X 8LU (others)
No 60 (occupying the site of nos 56-62). A modern office block, including offices of Cyril Sweett, the construction consultancy, and G D F Britain Ltd (subsidiary of Gaz de France).
Nos 58-62 were the premises of Frederick Sage & Co, shopfitters, from their reconstruction in the 1870s to destruction in the Blitz on 17 April 1941[5]. This company was a substantial employer in the area with an international practice, including the design of La Rinascente in Milan.
Here is Verulam Street
Postcode WC1X 8BT (Boult Wade Tennant) and WC1X 8NH (others)
No 70 (occupying the site of nos 64-78). "Verulam Gardens", modern office block completed in 1980s. Fourth and fifth floors and reception refurbished 2006. Includes head office of Boult Wade Tennant.
Here is Portpool Lane
Postcode WC1X 8NH
Nos 80-86 Russell Jones & Walker, solicitors.
Nos 88 to 98 are late Victorian buildings.
Postcode WC1X 8AA
Nos 88-90 Redhead Hairdressers, Apex Creative Services (printing services), Dyer (architects) and DJPA Partnership (design agency).
No 88 contained the premises of Thorp, model makers, from 1883 to 1998. It was also the location of the novel "88 Gray's Inn Road -- A Living Space Odyssey" by William F. Temple, a fictionalised account of the time in the 1930s which the author spent in a flat at this address with Maurice Hanson and Arthur C. Clarke.
Postcode WC1X 8AD
No 92 Yerli Kaya's Sandwich Bar (also flat above).
No 94 E & M Office Equipment (also flat above).
Postcode WC1X 8AJ
No 96 Johin Sushi Bar (three flats above).
No 98 Bloomsbury Property Services (also flat above).
Postcode WC1X 8AL
No 100 "Holborn Hall", eight-storey modern office development of little aesthetic appeal, greatly out of keeping with its surroundings, covering area of former nos. 100-108. Refurbished in 2006. Radio base station on roof. Currently houses the Network Operations Centre of JANET(UK), Select Capital (recruitment agency) and Allied Irish Bank.
A NatWest cash machine is on the street front.
This used to be the site of Holborn Town Hall before it was moved to premises in High Holborn. Thereafter it was known as Holborn Hall, and was the headquarters of the Primitive Methodist Connexion. It was often used for large public meetings or sporting events.
Postcode WC1X 8AJ
No 108 Branch of Pret a Manger, prepared food and drink shop.
The 1879-80 reconstruction of this section of Gray's Inn Road also involved the widening of Clerkenwell Road, then called Liquorpond Street. The combined effect of the broader street frontage of the new buildings and the loss of frontage at the Clerkenwell Road end meant that nos 110 to 130 were no longer needed (the pre-1879 numbering survives north of Clerkenwell Road).
Here is Clerkenwell Road
Theobalds Road/Clerkenwell Road to Guilford Street/Calthorpe Street
(a) West side, south to north (nos 29 to 137a)
The 1877 Grade II listed [6] Yorkshire Grey pub has an entrance on the corner here. Its address is sometimes given as 29-33 Gray's Inn Road but the address accepted by Royal Mail is 2 Theobalds Road, on which it has a longer frontage. There is an 1878 carved bas relief of a mounted soldier on the corner at the top of the building.
Postcode WC1X 8PG
No 35 Gandhi's Restaurant (four flats above).
Postcode WC1X 8PQ
No 37 Grays Inn Off-licence. Also Focus P C Support Services, Management Futures Ltd (management consultancy). Once the premises of Central Books, a left-wing bookshop.
Postcode WC1X 8PR
Nos 39-41 The Puzzle pub (six flats above). Formerly the Old Monk.
Nos 43-45 Russell Electrics (lighting supplier).
Postcode WC1X 8PP
Flats 1-3, 45 Gray's Inn Road
No 47 "Mange 2" café (six flats above).
No 49 Shop empty. Formerly Love Ketchup, art suppliers. Six flats above.
Nos 51-53 Condor Cycles. Eight flats above are called "Grays Court".
No 55 "T HQ", an organic cafe and tea bar, opened October 2007. Formerly Lino's Café and Restaurant. Three flats above have the postal address of no. 55a.
Apart from the late seventeenth century buildings of Gray's Inn Square this is the oldest surviving building on Gray's Inn Road, dating from about 1714 and probably built by Robert Rossington. The shop front (dated 1882) is a later addition. Grade II listed[7].
No 57 L'Osteria (restaurant). Three flats above have the postal address of no. 57a.
Here is Northington Street
Postcode WC1X 8TL
No 59 The Food Bazaar (three flats above).
No 61 Refurbished offices (no shop front).
Nos 63 to 69 are four terraced properties dating from c1791 (the shops are later additions). They are Grade II Listed[8].
No 63 La Provence Café. 10 flats above. Registered as a house in multiple occupation[9].
No 65 Liteway sandwich bar (two flats above)
No 67 Shop currently unoccupied. Formerly Tote Bookmakers. Flat above.
Postcode WC1X 8TP
No 69 Branch of Evans Cycles (two flats above)
No 71 Azographics (four flats above)
No 73 "Zucchero" Restaurant (opened July 2007 - previously Mosaique Restaurant and Bar). Three flats above.
Postcode WC1X 8US
Nos 75-81 date from about 1791 and are Grade II listed[10]
No 75 House containing offices.
Postcode WC1X 8TS
No 77 Grays Inn Medical Practice.
Postcode WC1X 8TT
No 79 Chambers of W Forster-Jones.
Postcode WC1X 8TP
No 81 Starr Pharmacy (three flats above)
No 81b Rudi's sandwich bar (entrance on Roger Street)
Here is Roger Street
Postcode WC1X 8TX
No 85 Modern black marble-faced office block (occupying the site of nos 83 to 89) housing the headquarters of the Legal Services Commission. Designed by the Comprehensive Design Group. Completed 1992.
Nos 91-93 A dark 1970s office building called Flint House (apparently empty and inaccessible), together with Onyx Bar (formerly Centro Bar).
Nos 95 and 97 are late 18th or early 19th century structures.
No 95 Hearing Concern, organisation dedicated to improving the quality of life of those who are hard of hearing.
No 97 Proline Edit, video editing company. Fascia board states "ZigZag Post Productions".
Postcode WC1X 8TY
No 99 "Fanz House", a modern brick office block occupying the site of nos 99-105 and including the offices of IDG Communications.
Postcode WC1X 8TZ
No 107 Another modern brick office building, occupying the site of nos 107-113, housing Reliance Care, Barretts Solicitors and other offices.
Postcode WC1X 8TQ
Nos 115-119 St Mungo Association. A 1990s purpose-built structure housing a "high support project" with 15 beds for men and women with mental health needs.
Postcode WC1X 8TU
No 121 Residential (three flats). An early 19th century listed building[11]
No 123 Post-war building housing the International Centre for Excellence in Dentistry, owned by the Eastman Dental Institute. Occupies site of nos 123-129.
No 133 Blue Lion public house, a late 19th or early 20th century building with a bas relief of a lion on the third storey. Occupies site of nos 131 and 133.
No 135 Unique-24 off-licence (three flats above, numbered 135a).
No 137 Chutney Raj restaurant (three flats above).
No 137a Tito's Pizzeria (three flats above).
Here is Guilford Street
(b) East side, south to north (nos 132 to 238)
Postcode WC1X 8AS
No 132 Corner Shop and Stationers
No 134 Innsight Leather Goods
No 136 Empty
Here is Mount Pleasant
Postcode WC1X 8AX
No 138 Galleria Charlick, art gallery, associated with John Charlick Foods at no 142, below.
Postcode WC1X 8AZ
No 140 Tiverton Mansions, containing 18 flats. Building owned by SPH Housing, a housing association, who bought it in 1978. Originally constructed by a builder of working class homes, James Hartnoll, in the late 19th century[12]. Other buildings described below (Dawlish, Dulverton and Churston Mansions) were also constructed by him and (like Tiverton Mansions) are all named after places in Devon.
Postcode WC1X 8AX
No 142 John Charlick Foods (restaurant)
Nos 144-148 Sevenoaks Sound & Vision
No 150 Prontaprint
No 152 London Flowers
Postcode WC1X 8BA
No 154 Dawlish Mansions, containing three flats. See entry for no 140 above.
Postcodes WC1X 8EU and WC1X 8ED
Nos 156-158 The Brain Yard, a small courtyard development where older buildings have been converted into offices, including recording studios and the premises of Hare & Humphreys (building conservation). The street door for no 158 (facing Gray's Inn Road) is not currently in use.
Postcode WC1X 8ED
A low-rise set of three buildings with small pediment above, possibly early Victorian.
No 160 Andrews Restaurant
No 162 Adana Graphic Supplies
No 164 Retail 24 off-licence
Postcode WC1X 8EH
Dulverton Mansions (nos 166-170, possibly also including the site of former no 172) is a large red brick Victorian block built in the 1880s. It is owned and managed by SPH Housing, a housing association.
No 166 Dulverton Mansions, Flats 1-15.
Postcode WC1X 8EJ
No 168 Dulverton Mansions, Flats 16-29.
Postcode WC1X 8EL
No 170 Dulverton Mansions, Flats 30-50.
Here is Elm Street
Postcode WC1X 8EW
No 174 Gray's Inn Traders, newsagents
Postcode WC1X 8ER
Churston Mansions (nos 176 and 186, which lie over nos 178-184) is a late Victorian red brick residential block. It has been the subject of a Determination by the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal[13].
No 176 Churston Mansions, Flats 1-12.
Postcode WC1X 8EW
No 178 Wiggle Salon, hairdressers.
No 180 Café 180
No 182 Aki Japanese Bistro
No 184 Valet Dry Cleaners
Postcode WC1X 8ES
No 186 Churston Mansions, Flats 12a-27
Postcode WC1X 8EW
No 188 Fab Food Patisserie Ltd
No 190 Currently vacant (formerly Mango café)
Postcode WC1X 8XZ
No 200 Headquarters of Independent Television News, occupying space of former nos 192-212. A modern ten-storey office building of 340,000 square feet, built between May 1989 and June 1990[14]. Not in character with other buildings on this side of the road. Also contains offices of ITV and Globecast.
Here is Coley Street
Postcode WC1X 8HB
No 222 "New Printing House Square", a brown marble-faced office building, not in character, recently refurbished. Home to ITV's new media and consumer enterprises, such as ITV.com and ITV Local The whole complex (including no 236, below) occupies the site of former nos 214 to 236. Constructed between 1972 and 1975 for Times Newspapers, publishers of The Times, and later used by SJ Berwin LLP. Over 284,000 square feet.
Postcode WC1X 8HL
No 236 Part of the same complex as no 222 but with a separate entrance. Various offices including the home to recruitment network Milkround Online, specialising in graduate recruitment.
Postcode WC1X 8HB
No 238 Former premises of Litvinoff & Fawcett, furniture suppliers, now vacant.
The building on the corner with its front door facing Gray's Inn Road is actually No 2 Calthorpe Street. It is one of a row of listed buildings [15].
Here is Calthorpe Street
Guilford Street/Calthorpe Street to Cromer Street/Acton Street
(a) West side, south to north (nos 139 to 243)
The building on the corner, a former branch of Unwins (off-licence), is no 111 Guilford Street.
Postcode WC1X 8UB
No 139 Sick Children's Trust. A listed building of about 1811-20[16].
Nos 141-151 are of the same age and also listed[17].
No 141 Residential (four flats)
No 143 Residential (four flats)
No 145 Residential (three flats)
No 147 Residential (four flats)
No 151 Residential (nine flats). Includes former no 149 (entrance converted to window).
Postcode WC1X 8UE
No 153 Residential.
No 155 Reached through the arch under no 153. Former warehouse converted for use as offices. Kensington & Edinburgh Estates Ltd.
Nos 157-163 Early 20th century building housing the London Welsh Centre (Canolfan Cymry Llundain), the base for the London Welsh Trust.
No 165 A terraced house of 1811-20, used as offices, refronted in the 20th century. Grade II listed[18]. Currently being refurbished.
Nos 167-169 Jubilee House, sheltered housing managed by Circle 33 Housing Trust (part of Circle Anglia) containing 23 flats. Plaque on front commemorates the opening by Joan Bartlett OBE in 1985
Nos 171-173 Reuter Brooks Couriers
Nos 175-185 Refurbished 1950s office building providing serviced office space managed by Office Group Holdings Limited. Users include Morango Web Design[19], Blue Star Movies and the Social Research Association. On the street front are Vic Johnson & Son, barbers, and the Carrot café.
Postcode WC1X 8UL
Nos 187-189 Hubbards Office Furniture
There are then a garage and advertising hoardings, before
Nos 197-99 Hubbards Office Furniture. In front there is an 1885 cattle trough, which is Grade II listed[20].
Here is Heathcote Street
Nos 201, 203, 205 and 207 constitute a terrace of residential buildings reconstructed in regency style.
There is then the site of a branch of Westminster Kingsway College (postal address 45 Sidmouth Street). Following damage in the Second World War the former public baths and other buildings were removed. In their place college buildings were constructed between the 1950s and 1990s in the Brutalist and other styles[21]. These are now to be demolished, and the 1974 block fronting Gray's Inn Road and Sidmouth Street ("a late and rather unsuccessful expression of the Brutalist genre of unremarkable sculptural quality") was demolished in March 2007. A replacement is due to be completed in 2008[22].
Here is Sidmouth Street
Postcode WC1X 8RH
No 215 Modern yellow brick residential structure, with entrance on Sidmouth Street.
Then "Warnham" post-war blocks of flats, with entrance in Sidmouth Mews to rear. The following four premises back on to the Warnham block:
No 225 "The Hairdressers"
No 227 A & H Eastern Halal Fresh Food
No 229 Cafe Carmel
No 231 Dental Surgery
Here is Harrison Street
Postcode WC1X 8RB
Nos 233-241 Telephone exchange of pre-war design, with main entrance in Harrison Street. Former site of Olive Branch public house.
No 243 Victorian building dated 1889 housing Nahlis Christou solicitors and Pascalides & Co, solicitors (six flats above).
Here is Cromer Street
(b) East side, south to north (nos 240 to 306)
Postcode WC1X 8JR
No 240 Fourways News, in a listed[23] building of 1821-6. The buildings on the corner itself form part of a terrace of houses of the same age fronting Calthorpe Street, which are separately listed[24].
No 242 Manisha's Mini Market, in an early 19th century listed[25] building.
Nos 244-250 form a terrace of early 19th century houses which is Grade II listed[26].
Nos 244 Four Provinces Bookshop
No 246 Shop not used
No 248 C Antoniou, tailor
No 250 Cafe Angel
No 252 Calthorpe Arms, a Grade II listed[27] public house.
Here is Wren Street
Entrance to St Andrew's Gardens. St Andrew's Gardens cover the site of the former burial ground of St Andrew, Holborn, consecrated in 1754. It was one of the first burial grounds to be located well away from the church to which it related. The ornamental wrought-iron entrance gates (both here and at the two other entrances to the Gardens) are Grade II listed[28].
Postcode WC1X 8JT
No 252a
St Andrew's House (NB this bears the number 252, but in the Royal Mail postcode database this number is given to the Calthorpe Arms). Includes three flats.
Postcode WC1X 8XG
No 252b OPM (the Office for Public Management)
No 252c "Sphinx House".
Postcode WC1X 8JX
No 254 Trinity Court, a block of 90 flats of 1930s design built on the site of Holy Trinity Church.
Further entrance to St Andrew's Gardens.
Postcode WC1X 8LD
No 256 Eastman Dental Hospital & Institute. The largest postgraduate dental academic centre in Europe[29]. The site was at one time occupied by the barracks of the Light Horse Volunteers. In 1844 the Royal Free Hospital took over the site, creating the building which stands today. The name of the Royal Free Hospital is still prominently displayed on the pediment. In 1944 the building was severely damaged by a flying bomb. In 1926 George Eastman, the creator of popular photography, was approached by Lord Riddell, the Chairman of the Royal Free Hospital, to fund a dental clinic in London. He agreed to give £200,000, which was matched by £50,000 each from Lord Riddell and Sir Albert Levy, the Royal Free honorary treasurer. Eastman had suffered greatly from neglected dentition and had already contributed to the creation of new dental facitlites in the United States. The Eastman Dental Clinic was opened on 20 November 1931 as part of the Royal Free Hospital[30]. The Royal Free Hospital moved to Hampstead in 1974, but it took several more years before the Institute was secure in its ownership of the site.
Postcode WC1X 8LH
Nos 258-274 Calthorpe Community Project. This 1.2 acre space was saved from redevelopment in 1984 and has been turned into a "green oasis" and community centre for the local population[31].
Here is Ampton Street
Postcode WC1X 8EB
No 276 "Venus", Grays Inn Off Licence
No 278 Shop not used. Three flats above.
No 280 Dreader Dan CD - shop selling vinyl records and housing company registration agents. Formerly offices of Stephen Fidler & Co, solicitors.
No 282 Residential
No 284 Residential
No 286 Residential
No 288 Residential
No 290 Steven Lee Food & Newspapers ( three flats above)
No 292 Grays Inn Fish Bar (three flats above)
Here is Frederick Street
Postcode WC1X 8DX
No 294 Sign Trading Ltd
No 296 Pao Thai Quick Meals (two flats above)
No 298 Gerrard Forbes, estate agents (opened June 2007)
Postcode WC1X 8DU
Nos 300-306 BUPA Medical Research
Here is Acton Street
Cromer Street/Acton Street to Euston Road/Pentonville Road
(coming soon)
Sources
Major sources for the street survey include:
1. Royal Mail postcode database
2. 1873 and 1914 Ordnance Survey maps of Holborn reprinted by Alan Godfrey
3. Historical "A to Z" maps published by the London Topographical Society on Elizabethan London, Restoration London, Georgian London, Regency London and Victorian London.
4. Websites of occupiers