Living in Camden Town: area guide to homes, schools and transport

The famous markets pull in 28 million tourists a year. Now hundreds of new homes are coming. 
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Anthea Masey5 September 2018
For the world’s youth, Camden Town in north London is the capital’s top tourist attraction. They flock to the rabbit warren of markets and food stalls next to Regent’s Canal at Camden Lock and stretching down the High Street and up Chalk Farm Road.
The district’s “patron saint” is the late singer Amy Winehouse, who lived in Camden Square. Her image pops up on graffiti and her tragically short life is marked with a statue in Stables Market.

Yet just two streets away there is an entirely different world, a street where some of the country’s leading writers, artists and intellectuals settled in the Fifties and Sixties, when Camden Town was still a cheap area in which to buy run-down period houses.

The street is Gloucester Crescent and the lives of its residents have been documented in so many books and plays that it can lay claim to be the most written-about street in London.

It is where the writer Alan Bennett turned the story of Mary Shepherd, who lived in a dilapidated van on his driveway for 15 years, into a book which became the film The Lady in the Van (2015) starring Dame Maggie Smith. The house Bennett bought for £13,500 in 1968 is now on the market for £2.6 million.

Lovely Georgian and early Victorian houses can be found in Camden Town, some still single family houses, others converted into flats
Daniel Lynch

Current and former Gloucester Crescent residents include Ursula Vaughan Williams, the composer’s widow; the theatre director and writer Jonathan Miller; writers Deborah Moggach and husband and wife Michael Frayn and Claire Tomalin; jazz singer George Melly and philosopher AJ Ayer. Nina Stibbe, the nanny who saw it all when she worked in the street for Mary-Kay Wilmers, the editor of the London Review of Books, turned her experience into her semi-fictionalised memoir Love, Nina: Despatches from Family Life.

Now Jonathan Miller’s son William, who also lives in the street, has written another: Gloucester Crescent: Me, My Dad and Other Grown-Ups in which he says Miller senior and his wife Rachel bought their house for £7,000 soon after they married in 1956.

Over the ensuing 62 years Camden Town has changed beyond recognition. Former industrial buildings have been converted into smart lofts, while run-down period houses have been done up.

The market has expanded and now attracts 28 million visitors a year, and hundreds of new homes are being built or are in the pipeline.

Israeli billionaire Teddy Sagi, the man behind LabTech, the company which owns Camden Market, is putting the finishing touches to Camden Lock Village, a canalside development on the eastern side of Camden Lock.

A mixed-use development, there will be 195 new homes, employment space, revamped Network Railway arches and a canalside market with cafés and restaurants spread over eight new buildings varying in height between three and nine storeys.

Camden Goods Yard, a joint venture between Morrisons supermarket and Barratt Homes, now has planning permission to redevelop the Morrisons supermarket site and petrol station that sits off Chalk Farm Road between Stables Market and the Roundhouse arts venue.

There are plans for 573 new homes here, ranging from studios to four-bedroom family homes, of which 40 per cent will be affordable. There will be a replacement supermarket and petrol station but the unique feature is a roof garden featuring London’s largest urban farm.

For the world’s youth, Camden Town in north London is the capital’s top tourist attraction
Daniel Lynch

Camden Town is two miles almost due north of central London with Kentish Town to the north; Islington to the east; King’s Cross to the south; and Chalk Farm, Primrose Hill and Regent’s Park to the west.

Estate agent Jack Graham-Lindsey from the local branch of Marsh & Parsons describes Camden as the perfect mix of a busy shopping and dining destination with quiet residential streets and squares.

“It is a hidden gem and most of our buyers are from the UK, although, thanks to the French school in nearby Kentish Town there is also a strong French presence.”

The property scene

Lovely Georgian and early Victorian houses can be found in Camden Town, some still single family houses, others converted into flats.

There are also architect-designed mews with remarkable homes, such as Murray Mews, a terrace of three houses designed by Norman Foster. Camden was once an area of warehouses and gin distilleries, many of which are now loft-style apartments.

There are also modern flats and estates of social housing.

A five-bedroom semi-detached flat-fronted villa is currently for sale with Marsh & Parsons priced £1.95 million at Rochester Square, a location on track for big improvements.

Local couple, Francesca Anfossi and Eric Wragge, bought the former plant nursery in the middle of the square, turning the building into a pottery studio. They’ve plans to revitalise the space and bring it back into use.

What's new?

XY Apartments is the redevelopment of the Maiden Lane Estate in York Way by the Camden Collection, Camden council’s in-house developer.

There are 273 one-, two- and three-bedroom flats in an 18-storey block, with the one-bedroom homes from £555,000 and two-bedroom flats at £700,000. Call Savills (020 7299 3091).

Arlington Lofts in Arlington Road is the conversion by housing association Fabrica of an Art Deco electrical substation into 16 loft flats. Two-bedroom lofts start at £1.15 million and three-bedroom lofts at £1,285,000. Call 080 8301 4008.

Chappell Lofts in Belmont Street is the conversion of the former Chappell grand piano works into nine flats with up to four bedrooms. There is a residents’ lounge and a swimming pool.

The scheme is complete and prices start from £2.95 million for a two/three-bedroom apartment. Call Savills on 020 3428 2900 or Aston Chase on 020 7724 4724.

Moy’s in Pratt Mews is a mixed-use development of two offices and eight one-, two- and three-bedroom flats from developer Hamilton Court. Two-bedroom flats start at £800,000 and three-bedroom flats at £1,175,000. Call Hamptons on 020 3369 4382.

Marine Ices Apartments is a scheme of 19 flats in Chalk Farm Road on the site of the old Marine Ices ice cream parlour which moved down the road in 2014. For more information contact the developer Bellis Homes on 01279 424733.

Affordable homes

One Housing Group will be launching 16 shared-ownership flats soon in Camley Street in the nearby King’s Cross masterplan area.

One-bedroom flats start at £141,250 for a 25 per cent share of a home with a market value of £565,000. Two-bedroom flats start at £202,500 for a 25 per cent share of a home with a market value of £810,000. Call 0344 809 2018.

Renting

Marsh & Parsons rental manager Augusta Melia says Camden Town is popular with the widest range of people of any of the firm’s branches, including students from UCL and Central Saint Martins, professional couples working in the City or for tech companies such as Google and Facebook, as well as families, many of whom will have grown up in the area.

“I used to share the same prejudices many Londoners have about the area being dominated by tourists, but I’ve changed my mind. Away from the markets are quiet streets of beautiful architecture and most of my landlords have lived here.”

Staying power: estate agent Jack Graham-Lindsey from the local branch of Marsh & Parsons says people stay loyal to an area which includes Camden Town, Kentish Town and Tufnell Park. “There is a great deal of movement within this area.”

Postcode

Camden Town is in the NW1 postcode which stretches as far as Euston, Regent’s Park, Baker Street, Somers Town and parts of Primrose Hill and Lisson Grove.

Best roads

The most expensive roads are Gloucester Crescent and Regent’s Park Terrace but Camden Square, North and South Villas and Albert Street are almost as desirable

Up and coming

Jack Graham-Lindsey thinks the improvements afoot in Rochester Square will lift prices in this location.

Travel

Camden Town and Mornington Crescent Tube stations are on the Northern line. Camden Road is on the Overground with trains to Stratford.

Camden is well served by commuter bus routes including six 24-hour buses, the 27, 88, 134, 214, C2 and also the No 24, which runs from Hampstead to Pimlico and is London’s oldest bus route, unaltered since 1912.

Council

Camden council is Labour controlled. Band D council tax for 2018/2019 is £1,448.43.

Lifestyle

Shops and restaurants

Camden Market is home to more than 1,000 shops, stalls, street food vendors, bars and cafés. The market has expanded in the 45 years since its opening as a Sunday market in 1973.

It now occupies the whole of the historic Camden Lock and Stables site. There is a lot of tat but most visitors can find something to interest them, be it handmade jewellery and leather bags, or vintage clothing or second-hand watches, or a gin distillery.

The street food with the biggest queues currently is Cheese Wheel, serving pasta swirled around in a giant wheel of grana padano cheese.

There is a large Sainsbury’s in Camden Road and a large Morrisons off Chalk Farm Road. Whole Foods has a branch in Parkway.

The best restaurants are Gordon Ramsay’s York & Albany in Parkway and Michael Nadra in Gloucester Avenue.

Open space

Regent’s Park and Primrose Hill are the local parks.

Leisure and the arts

Camden is renowned for its music scene. The Roundhouse is in Chalk Farm Road Koko is at the bottom of Camden High Street close to Mornington Crescent Tube station.

Dingwalls has been hosting music events in the market since 1973. The Jazz Café in Parkway specialises in jazz, soul and reggae. Green Note in Parkway is a small, intimate music venue. The Electric Ballroom and The Underworld, both in Camden High Street, are two rock venues.

Etcetera Theatre above the Oxford Arms pub in Camden High Street is the local fringe theatre. Camden People’s Theatre in Hampstead Road “supports early-career artists making unconventional theatre.” The Odeon in Parkway is the local multiplex cinema.

Schools

There is strong demand for homes to buy and rent in the catchment area of Camden School for Girls (ages 11 to 18, with boys in the sixth form) in Sandell Road on the Camden Town/Kentish Town border, which gets an “outstanding” Ofsted rating.

Primary schools

“Outstanding” state primary schools are: Richard Cobden in Camden Street; Holy Trinity and Saint Silas CofE in Hartland Road; Primrose Hill in Princess Road; and St Mary and St Pancras CofE in Werrington Road.

Comprehensive

The other nearby “outstanding” comprehensive schools are: St Marylebone CofE (girls, ages ages 11 to 18) in Marylebone High Street and Elizabeth Garrett Anderson (girls, ages 11 to 16) in Donegal Street in Islington.

The following are judged to be “good”: Regent High (co-ed, ages 11 to 18) in Chalton Street; Maria Fidelis RC (co-ed, ages 11 to 18) in Phoenix Road; the UCL Academy (co-ed, ages 11 to 18) in Adelaide Road; Acland Burghley (co-ed, ages 11 to 18) in Burghley Road; Parliament Hill (girls, ages 11 to 18), William Ellis (boys, ages 11 to18) and La Sainte Union RC (girls, ages 11 to 18), all in Highgate Road; the last four schools run a consortium sixth form called LaSWAP.

Higher education

The Working Men’s College (co-ed, ages 16-plus) in Crowndale Road is a Specialist Designated College, judged to be “outstanding.”

Private

The private primary and preparatory schools in or near Camden are: The Cavendish School RC (girls, ages two to 11) in Inverness Street; North Bridge House (co-ed, ages seven to 13) in Gloucester Avenue; The Village School (girls, ages three to 11) in Parkhill Road in Belsize Park; St Christina’s RC (girls, ages three to 11 with boys ages three to five) in St Edmund’s Terrace in St John’s Wood; St John’s Wood Pre-Preparatory (co-ed, ages three to seven) on the Lord’s Roundabout, also in St John’s Wood; Trevor-Roberts (co-ed, ages four to 13) in Eton Avenue; The Hall School (boys, ages five to 13) in Crossfield Road in South Hampstead; and The Gower School (co-ed, ages 0 to 11) in Cynthia Street in Islington.

The all-through private schools are: Portland Place (co-ed, ages eight to 18) in Portland Place; and Queen’s College (girls, ages four to 18) in Harley Street.

Francis Holland (girls, ages 11 to 18) in Clarence Gate in Regent’s Park is a private secondary school.

There are two French/English private bilingual schools: La Petite École Bilingue (co-ed, ages three to 11) in Vicar’s Road in Gospel Oak and L’Ecole Internationale Franco-Anglaise (co-ed, ages two to 18) in Portland Place.