This neighbourhood area is centred along Chiswell Street, which is part of the B100 road. The road intersects Whitecross Street and Silk Street to its west, and ends at Finsbury Square to the east. The road starts out with some Victorian buildings in the west and then enters a tunnel under the Barbican, before emerging between contemporary office blocks and large-glass high-rises. The western portion of the area is home to a lot of law firms, while to the east, gyms and chain stores (food and otherwise) dominate. The Brewery is a landmark of the area, being located in the middle of Chiswell Street.

The Brewery is on the site of the former Whitbread Brewery, which started operations in 1750. The sheer size of the brewery brought several royal visitors over the years, including: King George III and Queen Charlotte in 1787 (who two rooms are named after), Queen Elizabeth II and the Queen Mother. At the time of the founder’s death, the production at the brewery exceeded 200,000 barrels a year. The brewery operated until 1976, lasting 225 years. Whitbread still exists today, notably as the owner of Costa and Premier Inn, although they sold off their brewery business in 2000.

Samuel Whitbread II, the son of the founder of Whitbread Brewery took his own life in 1815 as he was worried about the decline of the brewery (which wouldn’t close down for another 161 years. Meanwhile John Martineau, a man who had saved the brewery by combining it with his own, was found dead in a yeast trough on Chiswell Street in 1834 – the verdict claimed that the cause of death was ‘visitation of God’. The coach of the Speaker of the House of Commons was based at the brewery for more than a century, pulled by Whitbread shire horses. The coach was passed on to Speaker Charles Shaw Lefevre from William III. Today it emerges only on rare occasions.

The brewery was hit by a heavy air-raid during the Blitz, and hundreds of incendiary bombs dropped on the area. However, Whitbread’s own fire brigade and the Auxiliary Fire Service managed to extinguish the flames and the building itself was mostly undamaged, even as the rest of the landscape was devastated.

The area can feel like the centre of the world when offices are full, and a ghost town when the bankers and lawyers return home. However, the presence of the Brewery and other gastronomy outlets in the area give a sustainable life to the area’s inhabitants.

Like many surrounding neighbourhoods, developers have been drawn in by the high land value. New developments such as the office building at 25 Chiswell street speak to this interest, and will likely be joined by further development now the Elizabeth Line has opened at nearby Farringdon and Liverpool street stations to the west and east.