An Illustrated Map Of Clerkenwell - Scattered With Local Memories

Will Noble
By Will Noble Last edited 25 months ago

Last Updated 15 March 2022

An Illustrated Map Of Clerkenwell - Scattered With Local Memories
an illustrated map bristling with locations including - churches, post boxes, shops
Click image for a high-res version.

Pre-fab housing, eels, a Lyons Corner House and the 'Zeppelin Building' appear on this unusual map of Clerkenwell.

Clerkenwell Now & Then is a map concocted from the memories and stories of of older local residents, who also illustrated it.

Josie Hadley was a pupil at the then-Hugh Myddelton Junior School, when she experienced her first air raid. Says Hadley: "I can still picture my dad running towards me, scooping me up and my bike up and running home with me in his arms."

Bill Gilliam also went to the school; his memory is of a group of workmen contracting diphtheria after digging up a plague pit in the playground. "The next morning the entire school were made to line up at the door to the school hall to be inoculated for the infection," he recalls.

In another memory, Mary Smith fondly remembers visiting the Lyons Corner House, where her dad and his friends turned sugar cubes into dice, before playing with them.

the illustrated anecdotes featuring everything from eels to pre-fab housing to Joseph Grimaldi
Click image for a high-res version.

The location of each of these wonderful little anecdotes is numbered on the illustrated map, alongside recognisable landmarks like St John's Gate, Exmouth Market, Ironmonger Row Baths and Spa Fields.

Locals worked with artist SiƓn Ap Tomos to create the map.

Clerkenwell locals taking part in the project

Clerkenwell Now & Then is a collaboration between House of Illustration (due to reopen as the Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration in Clerkenwell in 2023) and local organisations The Peel Institute and London Metropolitan Archives.

You can pick up a free copy of the map at various Islington locations

You can get a physical copy of the map for free at The Peel Institute, London Metropolitan Archives, Islington Museum, Crafts Council, Sadler's Wells and various Islington Libraries.