Holloway Road is a road inLondon, 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) in length. It is one of the main shopping streets in North London, and carries theA1 road as it passes throughHolloway, in theLondon Borough of Islington. The road starts inArchway, nearArchway Underground station, then heads south-east, pastUpper Holloway railway station,Whittington Park, past the North London campus ofLondon Metropolitan University nearNag's Head, pastHolloway Road Underground station, and the main campus of the university, and then becomesHighbury Corner, nearHighbury & Islington station.
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The origins of the name are disputed; some believe that it derives from "hollow" due to the dip in the road from the cattle that made their way along the route to the cattle markets in London, whilst some believe it derives from "hallow" and refers to the road's historic significance as part of thepilgrimage route toWalsingham. No documentary evidence can be found to support either derivation.
The earliest record giving the name of the road as The Holloway dates from 1307. The main stretch of Holloway Road runs through the site of the villages of Tollington and Stroud. The exact time of their founding is not known, but the earliest record of them dates from 1000. The names ceased to be used by the late 17th century, but are still preserved in the local place names "Tollington Park" and "Stroud Green";[1] since that time, the area has been known as Holloway.
Holloway Road is one of north London's shopping streets, containing major stores as well as numerous smaller shops. Holloway Road is the site of the main campus of the much-renamed London Metropolitan University (formerly Northern Polytechnic Institute, the Polytechnic of North London and University of North London),[2] and includes the Orion Building, designed byDaniel Libeskind, which can be seen along the central stretch of Holloway Road,[3] and of the headquarters of theNational Union of Students[4] and theCampaign for Nuclear Disarmament.[5] Most of the shops are clustered in the Nag's Head area, near the junction withSeven Sisters Road. North of the Seven Sisters Road is theNambucca pub and music venue, which burned down in 2008 and reopened two years later.[6]
The northern point of Holloway Road is the complex interchange atArchway, where the A1 leaves the historic route of the Great North Road. The traditional Great North Road heads northwest upHighgate Hill (now the B519) before turning north at North Road,Highgate to cross the current A1 route. The A1 heads north along the relatively recently built Archway Road. The construction of the interchange left a few buildings isolated in the centre of theroundabout, including theArchway Tavern, which appears on the cover ofThe Kinks' 1971 albumMuswell Hillbillies.[7]
Holloway Road contains two significant London churches.St Mary Magdalene is situated inSt Mary Magdalene Gardens near the southern end of the road. Built byWilliam Wickings in 1814, it is one of the best preserved early 19th century churches in London.[8]Charles Barry Jr.'s St John's Church is a leading example ofGothic Revival architecture and dominates the northern end of the road.
As one of London's primary transport routes during the 19th century railway boom, Holloway Road contains a number of railway stations.Highbury Corner is the site of Highbury & Islington station, one of London's most important transport interchanges. TheVictoria line,Northern City Line, and theLondon OvergroundNorth London line converge at this location. It is also the northern terminus of the London OvergroundEast London line.[9]
The station building was badly damaged by aV-1 flying bomb in 1944 and never rebuilt. The remainder of the building was demolished in 1966 in preparation for the construction of the Victoria line;[10] the only surface building is a small entrance hall, set back from the main road.
Holloway Road station opened with thePiccadilly line in 1906,[11] next door to an existingGreat Northern Railway main line station[12] built in 1852. The main line station closed in 1915.[13] Although Holloway Road is the nearest station to theEmirates Stadium, trains do not stop here on match days due to concerns about overcrowding.[14]
Upper Holloway station was built in 1868 as part of theTottenham & Hampstead Junction Railway.[15] It is served by trains on theGospel Oak to Barking line, which now forms part of the London Overground network.
Archway station is not actually situated on Holloway Road, but approximately 10 m off the main road on Junction Road, underneath the architecturally strikingArchway Tower. Originally known as "Highgate", it was the original northern terminus of theCharing Cross, Euston & Hampstead Railway and until 1940 was the northern terminus of theNorthern line.
Record producerJoe Meek, responsible amongst other things forTelstar byThe Tornados, a massive UK and US no. 1 record in 1962, and the highly influential 1959 albumI Hear a New World, lived and worked at 304 Holloway Road, where, on 3 February 1967, he killed his landlady and then himself with a shotgun.[16] His life is now commemorated by a plaque on the building.
Sex Pistols singerJohn Lydon (Johnny Rotten) claims to have been born and raised in side-street Benwell Road,[17] although no documentary evidence survives of this.
The road features heavily as the home of a fictionalised Meek inJake Arnott'sThe Long Firm trilogy.
The albumSeason End byMarillion includes "Holloway Girl", which refers to the imprisonment of Judith Ward in Holloway Prison.
A row ofVictorian houses, numbers 726–732, opposite Upper Holloway station, stands at the described location of the fictional Brickfield Terrace inGeorge andWeedon Grossmith'sDiary of a Nobody. The architecture is typical for buildings on this stretch of the road.
Formerpirate radio stationKiss FM based their studios and offices at 80 Holloway Road when they first launched as a legal radio station.
51°33′13.87″N0°6′49.95″W / 51.5538528°N 0.1138750°W /51.5538528; -0.1138750
