Hatton Garden is full of surprises; London's jewellery quarter, a bishop's palace, and some of the finest Victorian buildings in the city.
London is full of hidden villages that most tourists don't see. Just a quick stroll from Holborn tube and the British Museum is the surprising neighbourhood of Hatton Garden - undiscovered territory for most visitors.
If you start your walk down High Holborn, by Chancery Lane station you’ll see one of the very few half timbered buildings that survive in London – Staple Inn. It’s a marvellous long frontage with seven gables facing the street; note the way the upper storeys are jettied out. Huge mullioned windows light the interior – in the 1580s when this was built, expansive glass surfaces were a way of showing off one’s wealth, and very fashionable. Dive through the doorway in the middle to get to the courtyard, a peaceful little enclave off the busy thoroughfare.
Monuments to God - and Mammon
On the other side of High Holborn, take Brooke Street up to the little church of St Alban the Martyr. This very High Anglican (or Anglo-Catholic) church was originally designed in 1863 by William Butterfield. During the Second World War, much of the fabric was destroyed in a firebomb raid, but parts of the original fabric were built into the new church. The contrast of dark brick and white stone and the forceful saddleback tower give it a definite and unforgettable character.
Inside is a surprise; a glowing, colourful mural on the sanctuary wall by the German artist Hans Feibusch. In Victorian days this was a slum area, and the church had an important mission to the poor. It’s still a well attended church but the area around it is much changed.
Next to the church is a Victorian temple of Mammon, built for the Prudential insurance company in the 1870s by John Waterhouse. The façade is covered in fine terracotta reliefs – including the figure of ‘Prudence’ herself over the entrance.
Centre of the diamond trade
Further up High Holborn, on the left, is Hatton Garden. This is London’s jewellery quarter; you can buy jewellery, or silversmith’s tools, or raw diamonds (the London Diamond Centre is at number 15). This has always been a partly Jewish area – most businesses will be closed on Saturdays, and you can find a kosher sandwich bar, Chap a Nash, in Greville Street.
A bishop's palace
Take the little passage between numbers 8 and 9, with a sign for the Mitre pub, and you come to Ely Place. This was the town palace of the Bishops of Ely, hence its name; and the Mitre (named after the bishop’s hat of course) was a hostel for his servants. It now serves a rather decent pint of Adnams, though not at weekends. This was a private enclave, and the road is still private – one of only a few in London. Even the police are only allowed in if they’re invited.
You can see the bishop’s private chapel, too, now the Catholic church of Saint Etheldreda (she was the founder of the monastery at Ely, so it’s a highly appropriate dedication). This is a historic place – Shakespeare, in Richard III, mentions the fine strawberries that grew in the bishop’s garden here, and there’s an ancient cherry tree where Queen Elizabeth I is said to have danced around the maypole.
At the end of Ely Place, past the railings, you come out again on to High Holborn. Look back up the road and you realise you could have walked straight down the road in a couple of minutes. But the little alleys and streets off the main road are so much more interesting – a world of their own which many visitors miss.
