Pentonville Road

A battered street sign

Pentonville Road is a road in Central London that runs west to east from Kings Cross to City Road at The Angel, Islington. It was originally built as part of a new town away from the City of London.

Geography

The road is on the London Inner Ring Road (A501) and as such forms part of the boundary of the London congestion charge zone.

Most of the road is in the London Borough of Islington but a small part near Kings Cross is in the London Borough of Camden, including the Kings Cross Thameslink railway station. London Underground and National Rail stations in the vicinity include Kings Cross Station and Angel tube station.

There has been a bus service on Pentonville Road since 1829.[1] Regular bus routes running along the road are 30,73 and 146.[2]

History

The road was built as the final section of the New Road in 1756, connecting the City of London to the western suburbs, so that coach traffic could avoid Central London.[3][1] It was designed as part of Pentonville, a new suburb away from the City and became a local hub for manufacturing in the area.[4] As it was always intended to be a main road, a coach service began in 1798 between Paddington and Bank but was quickly withdrawn. The road was turnpiked in 1830 and renamed Pentonville Road after landowner Henry Penton in 1857.[1]

The street is distinguished by the "set back" housing lines originally intended to provide an atmosphere of spaciousness along the thoroughfare. Though the area had been designed to be a pleasant suburb, the arrival of railways in the 1840s turned the road into an industrial urban street, with factories and workshops aligning the road. A by-law was passed forbidding the construction of any building within 50 feet (15 m) of the side of the road.[5] The Thomas S. Jones organ builders was based at No. 25 Pentonville Road between 1860 and 1935.[5]

By the 21st century, most of the manufacturing base along Pentonville Road had disappeared. The original townhouses are now apartments.[6] SOAS, University of London has several halls of residence along Pentonville Road.

Cultural references

The road is one of the locations on the London version of the Monopoly board game, as a set with The Angel, Islington and Euston Road.[3]

References

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 Hibbert & Weinreb 2010, p. 634.
  2. ↑ "Central London Bus map" (PDF). Transport for London. Retrieved 4 July 2015.
  3. 1 2 Moore 2003, p. 210.
  4. ↑ Moore 2003, p. 219.
  5. 1 2 Moore 2003, p. 220.
  6. ↑ Moore 2003, p. 221.

Sources

  • Moore, Tim (2003). Do Not Pass Go. Vintage. ISBN 978-0-099-43386-6. 
  • Hibbert, Christopher; Weinreb, Ben (2010). The London Encyclopedia. Pan Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-405-04925-2. 

Coordinates: 51°31′52″N 0°7′2″W / 51.53111°N 0.11722°W / 51.53111; -0.11722

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