This area contains the Old Street roundabout to the north, and then extends south along City Road up to Worship Street. City Road is home to coffee shops and eateries, as well as a few small businesses. To the south is the Museum of Methodism and a Travelodge. The architecture in the area is far more modern than to the south, with the Old Street roundabout being surrounded by modern medium-to-high rise apartments. The Silicon Roundabout, as it is sometimes known due to the many technology companies based around the area, is also home to Old Street Underground station. Chapel is a Methodist church to the south of the Old Street Roundabout, today containing both the Museum of Methodism in the crypt as well as John Wesley’s House next to the chapel. John Wesley was a co-founder of the Methodist Church, and was always on the move – it was said that he travelled more than 4000 miles a year in the 1700s, and gave around 40000 sermons over his lifetime. His orderly manner in a Christian club at Oxford lent him and his brother Charles the moniker of ‘Methodists’, which they embraced.

John Wesley moved into the house on 9th October 1779, using it as his London base during the winter; the other months he travelled throughout the country on horseback, preaching to the public. His wife having left him a few years earlier, he occupied the first floor alone, while the rest was used by visitors, preachers and servants, whom he often referred to as ‘family’. Despite the early backlash against his preaching, by the end of his life he was described as ‘the best loved man in England’, and in 2002 was placed at number 50 of the 100 Greatest Britons.

The St. Agnes Well shopping centre in the Old Street roundabout was named after a holy well which was alleged to exist around the area, going by the name St. Agnes Le Clare on a 1746 map. It was reputed to have delivered some 10000 gallons of water a day; it is to be developed and excavated shortly to uncover the exact positioning of the well.

The Old Street roundabout is notorious for its chaotic traffic, and its many underpasses detract from street level life at times. However, TfL is currently working on a project to improve the roundabout. Happily, the areas surrounding the roundabout do not have this problem, and being home to numerous technology companies and cafes, gives an upbeat vibe to the postcode.

Transport for London is currently transforming the Old Street roundabout, proposing a new public space in a peninsula around the station, which will include a new station entrance. Three of four existing subways will also be closed, replaced with surface- level pedestrian crossings. Private development is also common in this area, as recently completed office buildings like the White Collar Factory demonstrate. Similar planned developments like the Bower, at 207 Old Street, and a new mixed use development at 30 old street only speak further to the lure this area has to investors.