The Black Cat trail crosses EC1 from Old Street in the east to the Angel in the west. It reveals some of the major changes in the area, passing by characterful churches, former cigarette factories, 19th century housing estates and Finsbury Council’s pioneering efforts to improve social housing in the 20th century.
Until the 18th century this ancient street was the boundary between the city to the south and open fields to the north. By the mid-19th century it was the main route around around the northern edge of the city lin,ed with factories, warehouses and shops. The Bovril company had its headquarters at number 148. Look out for the three hanging balls, the historic sign for a pawnbrokers, on the south side.
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One of several new churches built to replace those lost in the Great Fire of 1666, St Luke’s Church (1733) was designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor and John James. Built on marshy ground, it suffered settlement problems straight away and over the following two centuries the damage became so bad that is was declared unsafe in 1959. In 2000 the London Symphony Orchestra began a multi-million pound restoration to transform the church into a rehearsal and education space.
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Black Cat Cigarettes, introduced in 1904, was one of the first machine
made cigarettes in Britain.The popular brand was made by the Carerras Company, which had a factory nearby on City Road.
This ornate doorway was the entrance to one of the factories owned by Salmon and Gluckstein, a large London tobacco company. In the 1930s one in three of all London tobacco firms were located in EC1.
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With space for 1,600 people, St Clement’s Church was built in the 1820s to supplement St Luke’s. Local ratepayers objected to its construction, complaining that it was unnecessary expense to the parish. It resembles a Greek temple with Ionic columns.
Laid out in the 1820s, King Square was named in celebration of the new
monarch, George IV. The large tower on the King Square Estate, Turnpike
House, was designed by the eminent architect Joseph Emberton, who was also responsible for the Brunswick and Stafford Cripps estates nearby.
Laid out in the early 1800s, the square is named after the Marquis of Northampton who owned the land. The gardens were opened to the public in 1885. By that time many of the houses had become run down and several included small manufacturing workshops. The large windows in the top storey were added to allow light into the workshops.
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In the 18th century this area was a skin market, linked to the livestock trade at Smithfield. By the 19th century the market had been replaced with small houses. When these were destroyed during World War II the land was purchased for council housing. The Brunswick Estate was designed by Joseph Emberton and completed in 1962. At the time, the three large tower blocks were amongst the tallest in London.
The Northampton Institute was founded in1894 to provide courses in science, technology and arts and crafts for local people, as depicted in friezes carved into the façade of the building. The land was donated by the Northampton estate and the building is now part of City University.
Spa Green Estate was designed by Berthold Lubetkin as part of Finsbury Council’s housing plan after World War II. The name refers to a spa that existed close by in the 18th century. The flats were innovative because they were built to include central heating, hot water and a refuse disposal system. A plaque on the ground floor commemorates the opening ceremony by the Minister of Health, Aneurin Bevan, in 1946.
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