Farringdon Station occupies the centre of this neighbourhood. This area’s location makes it an immensely popular after-work drinks location. A variety of excellent restaurants also line Farringdon Road, attracting commuters at all hours of the day. A charming and vibrant hub of activity, this area offers a great alternative to the well-trodden Soho or Covent Garden areas.

Farringdon Road, running through the centre of the neighbourhood, connects Blackfriars Bridge and King’s Cross. It is one of the earliest roads built through the city in the Victorian period in an attempt to create wider, more spacious highways – in contrast with the tightly-packed alleys that constituted the majority of the city at the time. The road had an enormous impact on the area, as the new route brought in large quantities of wholesale goods and sparked the redevelopment of many buildings. The road also helped to alleviate the typically poor sanitary conditions of the Victorian era, thereby facilitating the establishment of large-scale commercial premises and contributing to the economic and architectural character that makes Farringdon unique to this day.

One of the famous inhabitants of this area was Lord Berners, a composer, novelist, painter, and general eccentric who began the custom of dyeing pigeons in the local area. Berners’ legacy can still be seen in a number of stone plaques around Farringdon, with comments such as “Please do not throw stones at this notice”, reflecting Berners’ unique influence in the neighbourhood. Farringdon Arts Festival, which was started in 2004, runs the first weekend of August every year and often pays tribute to Berner.

The first section of the London Underground ran from Farringdon Street to Paddington. This section is now a part of the Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines.

Farringdon Road was originally named for Sir William de Farringdon, who was a local sheriff or alderman in the 13th century.

One of the drawbacks of this neighbourhood area is it’s particularly dense traffic congestion, resulting in high levels of air pollution; the area consistently fails to meet its air quality objectives, but Mayor of London Sadiq Khan claims to be taking steps to combat the issue.

The biggest development that Farringdon has seen was the opening of the Elizabeth Line earlier in 2022. Adding to the Underground and Thames Link connections already in place is set to make Farringdon one of the busiest stations in the UK. With Canary Wharf accessible in less than ten minutes and new links direct to the Thames Valley commuter belt and Heathrow, Farringdon is now just one journey away from all five of London’s major airports. This has attracted interest from developers, with the new Goldman Sachs offices opening recently at 70 Farringdon Road. Looking forward, a development by Postmark on the site of the old Royal Mail sorting office is in the works. The scheme is largely residential, providing luxury accommodation, with prices starting at £980,000 for a one bedroom flat. Another example is the JJ Mack Building at 33 Charterhouse Street, which is set for completion in late 2022. Sitting just 100m from the exit of Farringdon station, this development will provide an additional 205,369 sq ft of office space.