The neighbourhood around Farringdon Road and Farringdon Lane is a site of bustling business activity. Sporting a range of companies from marketing to furniture manufacturers, this area is one of the city’s many economic powerhouses. The mostly Georgian and Edwardian buildings, lends a quaint aesthetic which is particularly pleasing. A few pubs and bars interspersed this business-oriented area, each offering something unique; from The Piano Works where pianists perform live audience-requested playlists, to The City Pride which specialises in Sicilian and Sardinian food and wine. The northern part of this neighbourhood is occupied by a number of different disciplines, such as the Association of Anatomical Pathology Technologists, the Institute of Biomedical Science, and the prop-makers at Topham Street.

The Quality Chop House in this neighbourhood was refurbished and reopened in 2012 as a modern restaurant, however, it has been a restaurant of some form since its construction in 1869. Originally a working man’s ‘eating house’, you could once get a plate of meat, bread, and half a pint of ale for sixpence. The owners of this modernised establishment now hope to echo these historical roots by always having a chop or steak on the menu, although not quite at the same price. London’s Victorian history can also be glimpsed a little further down the road at the Betsey Trotwood pub. Featuring a venue space in the cellar where live comedy and music frequently occurs to this day, the entertainment that filled this cellar a century ago was likely to be much more unsavoury. Farringdon was once one of the worst areas to live in London, both for social and sanitary reasons, and many of the public houses in the area disguised illegal activities such as animal fighting and the sale of illegal items.

George Gissing, author of The Nether World (1889) gained inspiration for his novel from the time he spent in this neighbourhood area. One of the most significant sources was the Farringdon Road Buildings, a five-story tower block that housed the working classes of the Victorian area. It was known for its poor sanitary conditions, and one was notable as one of the last slum dwellings to exist in central London, standing up until the 1970s. Gissing described the building as follows: “What terrible barracks, those Farringdon Road Buildings! Vast, sheer walls, unbroken by even an attempt at ornament; row above row of windows in the mud-coloured surface, upwards, upwards, lifeless eyes, murky openings that tell of bareness, disorder, comfortlessness within… Barracks, in truth; housing for the army of industrialism”.

Farringdon station was originally designed to transport livestock to the Smithfield market and there are still cattle ramps from the station to the street for this purpose. Most of London’s paving was originally made from wood. It wasn’t until the 1950s that asphalt came into frequent use, and in the odd spot of London you can still find pieces of the original wooden paving. One such curiosity is a manhole cover along Farringdon Road.

Alongside high prices, the main downside of this neighbourhood area is that it is situated for the most part along one of the busiest main roads in London, leading to a large amount of noise and air pollution. Farringdon Street has even been noted as one of the worst areas in London for air pollution as of 2016.

The future of this area is set to be radically transformed with the refurbishment of the nearby Smithfield Market to house the expanding Museum of London. With the Elizabeth Line now open at Farringdon Station, linking the area to 3 of London’s 5 major airports and most of the Thames Valley commuter belt, this postcode is set for a boom in the years to come. The local council aims to redevelop many of the streets in this neighbourhood area in order to make them more pedestrian-friendly and keep pace with the increase in foot traffic. Additionally, new award winning developments such as The Ray will provide 100,000 square feet of office space for luxury companies like McLaren.