 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Andover Estate" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(January 2011) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
TheAndover Estate, inHolloway, NorthLondon, is a largeIslington London Borough Councilhousing estate which is flanked byHornsey Road (west),Seven Sisters Road (south), Durham Road (east) and Birnam Road (north). It falls into theN7 postcode district of London.
The older part of the estate along Andover Road was built in 1938. The newer buildings, which make up the majority of the estate, were built from 1973 to 1979.
This area of Holloway was rebuilt after streets of old housing were knocked down in the 1960s. When the estate was built it was seen as a model housing estate, and provided over 1000 homes in an area of high deprivation.
Three large uniquely designed triangular buildings rise into the sky on the estate, named Didbin, Noll and Docura Houses respectively, after local architects. Some of the blocks of dwellings were named after railway junctions: Andover, Barmouth, Chard, Methley, Rainford and Yeovil.[1]
Many similar estates being built at the same time. NearbyElthorne Estate was designed quite similarly in the mid-1970s but unlike Andover's three big blocks didn't have any high rise development.
Other nearby housing estates,Six Acres Estate,Harvist Estate, and Elthorne Estate were built when it was considered more viable to modernise rather than rebuild after the area suffered bomb damage some twenty five years earlier inWorld War II.
The estate was subject to a 2007ITV documentary in which anMP,Ann Widdecombe, spent a night in one of the flats to highlight the supposed problem of youths causing trouble. The youth of Andover Estate then got together with a London film maker,Michelle Golding[1], to produce a film rebutting the Ann Widdecombe programme. Young residents put across their side of the story to demonstrate that they are more likely to be victims of crime than perpetrators.
The film highlights the actual reduction in crime on the estate over the last couple of years and the problem of much of the crime being committed by non-residents. It also discusses the negative impact created by what is described as the sloppy journalism of the Ann Widdecombe film.
The estate has various well known residents in formerEastEnders TV actorMarc Bannerman, renowned close-up magician and artisteFay Presto also lived there for over 25 years.
UKrapperSkinnyman grew up on the nearbySix Acres Estate and also spent time on the Andover Estate. His highly acclaimed albumCouncil Estate of Mind is about his upbringing in this area. One half of popularhouse /garage music duoTruesteppers, Andy Lysandrou grew up on Andover Estate as well.
John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten) also grew up on the nearby Six Acres Estate.
On the edge of the estate on Sonderburg Road by Seven Sisters Road isHarmsworth hospital, (named and built afterSir Harold Harmsworth) an animal hospital run by theRSPCA, which was the focal point of the television reality TV seriesAnimal Hospital, and was presented by the now disgraced TV personalityRolf Harris. The informative and educational series ran for nine years on theBBC.
A segment onThe Catherine Tate Show was filmed on Selden Walk, and the 2015 comedyChewing Gum was also partly filmed on the estate
51°33′47″N0°06′52″W / 51.56293°N 0.11432°W /51.56293; -0.11432