Somers Town, London facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Somers Town |
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 Somers Town
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| OS grid reference | TQ295825 |
| London borough | |
| Ceremonial county | Greater London |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | LONDON |
| Postcode district | NW1 |
| Dialling code | 020 |
| Police | Metropolitan |
| Fire | London |
| Ambulance | London |
| EU Parliament | London |
| UK Parliament |
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| London Assembly |
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Somers Town is a lively area in North West London. It's been greatly shaped by three big railway stations: Euston (built in 1838), St Pancras (1868), and King's Cross (1852). There was also a large railway goods depot nearby, where the British Library now stands.
The area got its name from Charles Cocks, 1st Baron Somers (1725–1806). Originally, the land was given by King William III to John Somers (1651–1716), who was a Lord Chancellor.
Historically, Somers Town covered a larger triangle of land. Today, it's more like a rectangle around Chalton Street. It's bordered by Pancras Road, Euston Road, Eversholt Street, Crowndale Road, and the railway lines leading to St Pancras station. Somers Town used to be part of the old Parish of St Pancras. In 1965, it became part of the London Borough of Camden.
Contents
Exploring Somers Town's Past
Early History: From 600 to 1839
St Pancras Old Church is thought to be one of England's oldest Christian sites. Its churchyard is now a park managed by Camden Council. Many famous writers, like Charles Dickens and Thomas Hardy, have connections here.
In the 1750s, the New Road was built to help traffic avoid busy London streets. Somers Town was just north of this road. In 1784, the first homes were built at a place called The Polygon. This was a new housing development in what used to be fields and market gardens.
The famous writer and philosopher Mary Wollstonecraft lived at The Polygon with her husband, William Godwin. She died there in 1797 after giving birth to Mary Shelley, who later wrote Frankenstein. Many middle-class people escaping the French Revolution came to live in this area. Today, a building called Oakshott Court stands where The Polygon was. It has a special plaque remembering Mary Wollstonecraft.
St Mary's Church opened near The Polygon in 1827. In 1830, a police officer named PC Joseph Grantham was killed here while breaking up a fight. This was the first time an officer from the new Metropolitan Police died on duty.
As railways started to be built in the 1830s, the area changed. More affordable housing was built, and many laborers moved in. Somers Town became very crowded.
Growing with the Railways: 1840-1899
When St Pancras station was built, a church called St Luke's was taken down. Its building was moved to Kentish Town. This meant about 12,000 people in Somers Town lost their church. However, St Mary's remained, and St Matthew's Oakley Square was added in 1856.
In 1868, a kind businessman named George Moore helped build Christ Church and a school next to it. The school could teach about 600 children. Sadly, both the church and school were destroyed during World War II bombings. Today, the site is a children's play area.
By the late 1800s, many houses in The Polygon were very crowded. Whole families sometimes lived in just one room. Social surveys from that time showed how difficult living conditions were.
Dickens and Somers Town
The famous writer Charles Dickens lived in The Polygon for a short time as a child. He knew the area well and included it in his books.
- In The Pickwick Papers (1836), The Polygon is mentioned when a character walks through Somers Town.
- In Bleak House (1852), The Polygon is home to a character named Harold Skimpole.
- In David Copperfield (1850), Johnson Street (now Cranleigh Street) is where the Micawber family lived.
- In A Tale of Two Cities (1859), a character is buried in Old St Pancras Churchyard.
- The story of Oliver Twist (1838) might have been inspired by Robert Blincoe, who was in the St Pancras Workhouse nearby.
- In Our Mutual Friend (1865), a character named Nicodemus Boffin became rich from a dust business in Somers Town.
Hospitals and Healthcare
An infirmary (a place for the sick) was added to the St Pancras Workhouse in 1848. This later became St Pancras Hospital. It's the only hospital in the area that is still open today. Other hospitals, like St Mary's Dispensary (later the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Hospital) and the National Temperance Hospital, opened in the late 1800s.
Modern Times: 1900-Present
Efforts to improve the crowded housing conditions began in 1906. The St Pancras House Improvement Society was started in 1924 by Father Basil Jellicoe and Irene Barclay, Britain's first qualified female surveyor. They built new housing estates, some with special art designs.
The Hospital for Tropical Diseases moved to the St Pancras Hospital site in 1948. More social housing was built by the London County Council, including the Ossulston Estate in 1927. Some older Georgian terraced houses are still standing and are protected as Grade 2 listed properties.
In the 1980s, some people bought their council homes at a discount. This led to new people moving into the area. Major construction work happened on the east side of Somers Town until 2008. This was to prepare St Pancras station for the Eurostar trains. Part of the St Pancras Old Churchyard had to be dug up, and human remains were moved to another cemetery.
A new medical research center, the Francis Crick Institute, was built in Somers Town. It's a big institute for medical research, created by several important organizations like Cancer Research UK and University College London (UCL).
Arts and Culture in Somers Town
Somers Town has a busy street market on Chalton Street from Wednesday to Friday. Every July, the START (Somers Town Art) Festival of Cultures takes place there. It's the biggest street festival in the Camden borough, attracting about 10,000 people. It celebrates the many different cultures in the area.
Community and Transport
Hospitals Today
Most hospitals in the area have closed since 1980. St Pancras Hospital is still open. Its large red brick building is mainly used as a rehabilitation hospital for older people. Other parts of the hospital complex house offices for local health services and a mental health unit.
Schools in Somers Town
There are two secondary schools in Somers Town:
- The Roman Catholic Maria Fidelis Convent School FCJ on Phoenix Road.
- The state school Regent High School on Charrington Street. This school has been around since 1877 and used to be called South Camden Community School.
A sports center was built on part of Regent High School's playground. It's used by the school and UCL, which is a big employer nearby.
There are also three primary schools:
- Edith Neville (state school)
- St Aloysius (state-aided Catholic school)
- St Mary and St Pancras (state-aided Church of England school)
The children's charity Scene & Heard is also based here. It helps children in Somers Town by pairing them with volunteer theater professionals. The children write and perform plays, which helps them feel successful and get one-on-one attention.
Getting Around: Transport Links
Somers Town is well-connected by public transport.
- The closest London Underground stations are Mornington Crescent, Euston, and King's Cross St Pancras.
- National Rail train services run from nearby London King's Cross, London St Pancras, and London Euston stations.
- St Pancras International is where the Eurostar trains arrive from Europe.
Places Nearby
- Camden Town to the north
- Euston to the west
- King's Cross to the east
- St Pancras to the south-east
- Bloomsbury to the south
Housing Estates in Somers Town
Some of the modern housing estates in Somers Town include:
- Oakshott Court
- Cooper's Lane Estate
- Ossulston Estate
- Godwin Court
- Crowndale Estate
- Sidney Estate
- Ampthill Square Estate
- Aldenham House
- Wolcott House
- Churchway Estate
- Mayford Estate
- Clyde Court
- Goldington Street Estate
- Bridgeway Street
Famous People from Somers Town
Many interesting people have lived in Somers Town over the years:
- Sir James Bacon (1798–1895), a judge, was born here.
- Andrés Bello (1781–1865), a Venezuelan poet and philosopher, lived in Clarendon Square.
- Natalie Bennett, a former leader of the Green Party of England and Wales.
- Maria Caterina Brignole (1737–1813), a princess who fled the French Revolution.
- Nell Campbell, an actress and singer from The Rocky Horror Show.
- Guy-Toussaint-Julien Carron (1760–1821), a French priest who started institutions here.
- Joe Cole, a famous England football player.
- Louis Joseph de Bourbon (1736–1818), a French prince who fled France.
- Jean François de La Marche, Bishop of St. Pol de Léon (1729–1806), a bishop who fled the French Revolution.
- Catherine Despard (d.1815), a political activist.
- Samuel De Wilde (1751–1832), a portrait painter.
- Charles Dickens (1812–1870), the famous author, lived here as a child.
- Arthur Richard Dillon (1721–1806), an archbishop who fled the French Revolution.
- Francis Aidan Gasquet (1846–1929), a Cardinal and Vatican Librarian, was born here.
- Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin (Mary Shelley) (1797–1851), author of Frankenstein, was born here.
- William Godwin (1756–1836), a philosopher, lived on Chalton Street.
- John Gale Jones (1769–1838), a radical speaker.
- Tom Keell and Alfred Marsh published the anarchist newspaper Freedom from Ossulston Street.
- George Lance (1802–1864), a painter.
- Ethel Le Neve (1883–1967), known for her connection to Dr Crippen.
- Dan Leno (1860–1904), a famous music hall comedian.
- Doris Lessing (1919–2013), a Nobel Prize-winning novelist.
- Samuel Mitan (1786–1843), an engraver.
- William Nutter (1759–1802), an engraver and draughtsman.
- Sidney Richard Percy (1821–1886), a popular landscape painter.
- Antonio Puigblanch (1773–1840), an author.
- Mary Ann Sainsbury (1849–1927), who helped found the Sainsbury's supermarket chain. Her family's shop was on Chalton Street.
- Edward Scriven (1775–1841), a leading engraver.
- Benjamin Smith (1754–1833), an engraver.
- Fred Titmus (1932–2011), a cricketer.
- James Tibbits Willmore (1800–1863), an engraver.
- John Wolcot (1738–1819), a well-known poet.
- Mary Wollstonecraft (1759–1797), a writer and philosopher.
- William Wordsworth (1770–1850), a famous Romantic poet, lived on Chalton Street.
What's in a Name? Somers Town Streets
Many streets in Somers Town are named after important people or places connected to the area's history:
- Aldenham Road – Named after Richard Platt, a brewer and landowner who helped fund Aldenham School.
- Bridgeway Street – Connected to the Barons Ossulston.
- Charrington Street – Named after the Charrington Brewery, as brewers used to own this land.
- Chenies Place – After the Dukes of Bedford, who were local landowners and also Barons Russell of Chenies.
- Churchway – This was an old path leading to St Pancras Old Church.
- Clarendon Grove – Also connected to the Barons Ossulston.
- Cranleigh Street – Another street linked to the Barons Ossulston; it used to be called Johnson Street.
- Crowndale Road – Named after the Dukes of Bedford, who owned land here and in Crowndale, Devon.
- Doric Way – Named after the doric Euston Arch, a grand arch built in 1837 and taken down in 1961.
- Drummond Crescent – Part of the Duke of Grafton's estate, named after Lady Caroline Drummond.
- Euston Road – Developed in 1756, named after Euston Hall, the Duke of Grafton's family home.
- Eversholt Street – Named after Eversholt, Bedfordshire, near the Dukes of Bedford's home.
- Goldington Crescent and Goldington Street – Named after Goldington, Bedfordshire, where the Dukes of Bedford also owned land.
- Grafton Place – Originally part of the Duke of Grafton's estate.
- Medburn Street – Named after Medburn Farm in Hertfordshire, land donated by Richard Platt for Aldenham School.
- Midland Road – Named after the Midland Railway Company's railway line nearby.
- Oakley Square – Named after Oakley, Bedfordshire, where the Dukes of Bedford also owned land.
- Ossulston Street – Named in 1807 after the old Saxon area of Ossulston.
- Pancras Road – Named after the nearby St Pancras Old Church, which is named after the Roman martyr Pancras of Rome.
- Phoenix Road – Thought to be named after an old tavern called "Phoenix."
- Platt Street – Named after Richard Platt, a brewer who donated this land.
- Polygon Road – Named after The Polygon, an early housing development here.
- Purchese Street – Named after Frederick Purchese, a local resident and Mayor of St Pancras.
- Werrington Street – Named after Werrington, Cornwall, where the Dukes of Bedford owned land.
See also
In Spanish: Somers Town para niños
