Loughborough Junction

For the station, see Loughborough Junction railway station.

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Human settlement in England

Loughborough Junction

Loughborough Junction

Location within Greater London

London borough|

* Lambeth

Ceremonial county| Greater London
Region|

* London

Country| England
Sovereign state| United Kingdom
Post town| LONDON
Postcode district| SW9, SE24, SE5
Dialling code| 020
Police| Metropolitan
Fire| London
Ambulance| London
UK Parliament|

* Dulwich and West Norwood

London Assembly|

* Lambeth and Southwark

List of places

England
London

51°27′58″N 0°06′07″W﻿ / ﻿51.4661°N 0.102°W﻿ / 51.4661; -0.102
Loughborough Junction railway station in 2020

Loughborough Junction is an area of South London, in the London Borough of Lambeth, which is located equidistant between Brixton, Camberwell and Herne Hill.

Loughborough Junction is centred on a rail junction consisting of seven railway bridges, six of which can be seen at once from the centre of the junction and date from 19th Century.

The source of this area's name is Loughborough Junction railway station; 'Loughborough' because the area was once the location of Loughborough House, the residence of Henry Hastings, 1st Baron Loughborough, which was previously the Manor House of Lambeth Wick.[1]

## History

[edit]

The source of this area's name is 'Loughborough' because the area was once the location of Loughborough House, the residence of Henry Hastings, 1st Baron Loughborough, which was previously the Manor House of Lambeth Wick.

In 1660 Lord Loughborough acquired the old manor house of Lambeth Wick, which had extensive grounds occupying an area then known as Cold Harbour. The house later became a boys' school and was demolished in 1854, when the Loughborough Park estate was being laid out. The Victorian Loughborough Hotel (now converted to flats) occupies the site of the manor house, on the bend of what is now Loughborough Road. (As of September 2020 Loughborough Hotel has re-opened as an art gallery and an artisan Annapurna Café)

Loughborough Junction station opened in 1863 (one year after Herne Hill Station and three years earlier than Denmark Hill Station). The arrival of the railways transformed the area from a wealthy suburb with large residential estates into a densely populated urban area. John Ruskin left the area in 1872 complaining that railways have spoilt the view.

By the end of the 19th century, many of the area's larger villas were being subdivided into flats. A number of these houses survive to present date but much of the area's housing stock was lost in a post-war demolition programme around Coldharbour Lane to clear the way for an inner London ring road that was never built. The council flats of the Loughborough estate subsequently filled the breach, notably the eleven-storey blocks around Barrington Road.

In this aspect, Loughborough Junction is similar to Pimlico in Westminster with a grid of Victorian houses neighbouring council estate blocks of Lupus Street.

### Transport

[edit]

Loughborough Junction Railway station is on the Thameslink route between Luton and Sutton. This provides Loughborough Junction with a direct link southbound to Herne Hill, Streatham, Tooting, Wimbledon, Mitcham, and Sutton, amongst other destinations in South London. Northbound services run through the City of London (Blackfriars, Farringdon) and St Pancras. Destinations north of St Pancras include Kentish Town, West Hampstead and St Albans.

Also, Southeastern service between Blackfriars and Kent runs through Loughborough Junction. This section of the South London Line that passes through Loughborough Junction is one of the major cross-London rail freight routes, carrying traffic from the Channel Tunnel and the ports of the Thames Estuary to destinations west and north of London.

Several bus routes pass via Loughborough Junction (35, 45, 345, P4) providing convenient connections between Central London and South East.

## Governance

[edit]

From 2002 to 2022, Loughborough Junction was situated in two wards, Coldharbour and Herne Hill. The 2018 council elections saw the Labour Party win five out of the six seats up for election with The Green Party winning one of them. Its MP constituency is Dulwich and West Norwood held since 2015 by Labour MP Helen Hayes.

The Loughborough Junction Action Group (LJAG) was formed by volunteer residents in 2008 with a view to regenerate the area. LJAG worked with the council to form a masterplan for the area, with consultation events held with local residents to ascertain how they would like the area to be improved. These plans were developed during 2013.[2]

## Geography

[edit]

Loughborough Junction can be found within the postal codes of SE5 and SW9, which shows its southern central position. It is between Herne Hill, Brixton and Camberwell. The main road passing through it is Coldharbour Lane, which runs from central Brixton all the way to Camberwell.

The area itself deteriorated over the years, due partly to planning blight related to transport schemes that were never realised and to the neglect of its housing stock by both private and council landlords. Drug- and gang-related problems resulted in the closure of several pubs in the area. More recently two of these pubs have been renovated. The Green Man is now a 'skills hub' run by Lambeth council. The Warrior was for a short time used for occasional pop-up cultural events—particularly the "7 Bridges" project, a locally-based initiative to improve the area—but has now been redeveloped as a Tesco Metro supermarket.

Loughborough Junction is home to Whirled Arts, which runs a cinema in the railway arches on Hardess Street, showing mainly arthouse and foreign-language films, and also hosting literary and musical events. There are also several art galleries and artists' studios in the immediate area.

The property in the area is a mixture of Victorian and Georgian mansion blocks and town houses, and local authority housing estates. The main estates are the Loughborough Estate, by modernist architect Sir Leslie Martin (designer of the Royal Festival Hall), the Angell Town Estate and the Moorlands Estate.

To the south of the area is Ruskin Park, situated on a hill with views over central London, where there are tennis courts, enclosed courts for ball games, a children's playground and a large area used for football matches on the weekends. There is also a large dog-free area and a flower garden.

The neighbouring areas of London are Brixton, Camberwell, Denmark Hill, Herne Hill, North Dulwich and Stockwell.

## In fiction

[edit]

The area features in the novel by Stella Duffy The Room Of Lost Things, set in a dry cleaners on Coldharbour Lane.[3]

## Crime

[edit]

In a 2003 article in the London Evening Standard, journalist David Cohen described Coldharbour Lane, on which Loughborough Junction is situated, as the most dangerous street in the most dangerous borough in London. The headline asked whether the street is 'the most dangerous in Britain'.[4] Loughborough Junction was for a time territory of GAS Gang, considered by the police to be one of the most dangerous gangs in South London in 2012.[5][6][7]

In June 2018, three graffiti artists, aged between 19 and 23, died when they were hit by a train at Loughborough Junction station. British Transport Police later warned of the "massive risk" graffiti artists make by trespassing on train tracks. A former Transport for London (TfL) board member, Brian Cooke, was criticised by social media users after he tweeted that the three men who died were "common scum who cost the railway millions and keep fares high".[8]

## Notable people

[edit]

* Charlie Chaplin[citation needed] and Stan Laurel[citation needed] studied and rehearsed at Fred Karno's 'Fun Factory' on Southwell Road.
* Writer Stella Duffy is a local resident.[citation needed]
* David Greig was the founder of the David Greig supermarket (initially grocery shop) chain rivaling Sainsbury's with its headquarters at Atlantic Road, Loughborough Junction.[citation needed]
* Former British Prime Minister John Major lived at 144 Coldharbour Lane from 1955 to 1959.[9] Major Close is named after him.[10]
* William Minet a British landowner and philanthropist who in 1890 donated the 14 acres that became London's Myatt's Fields Park and paid for construction of Minet Library which now houses Lambeth Archives.[citation needed]
* John Ruskin a renowned 19th Century art critic was a local resident.[citation needed]
* Vincent van Gogh took lodgings nearby in 87 Hackford Road (Stockwell) and probably passed through Loughborough Junction on his brisk walks to Dulwich Picture Gallery.[citation needed]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "From Loughborough to Lambeth - the historic Leicestershire connection with Brixton, Lambeth, London". Urban75.org.
2. ^ "Loughborough Junction Framework Plan8" (PDF). Lambeth.gov.uk. September 2013. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
3. ^ Montgomery, Isobel (21 February 2009). "Review: The Room of Lost Things by Stella Duffy". Theguardian.com.
4. ^ Evening Standard, 30 January 2003, p. 16. "Nearly 15,000 stabbings, robberies, muggings and even murders ... most linked to 300 yards where £1m of crack cocaine is dealt each month. Is this the most dangerous street in Britain?" INVESTIGATION: The Standard spends 24 hours in the London borough where the police fight their biggest battle against crime by: David Cohen
5. ^ "Behind the story". The Times. 27 March 2012. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
6. ^ Simon Harding (April 2012). The role and significance of street capital in the social field of the violent youth gang in Lambeth (PDF) (Doctoral thesis). University of Bedfordshire. S2CID 141195076. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 August 2019.
7. ^ "700 police launch dawn raids targeted at notorious Brixton-based gang". Evening Standard. 30 January 2014. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
8. ^ "Tributes to graffiti artists hit by train". BBC News. 19 June 2018.
9. ^ John Major (1999). John Major: The Autobiography. Harper Collins. pp. 16–7.16-7&rft.pub=Harper+Collins&rft.date=1999&rft.au=John+Major&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Loughborough+Junction" class="Z3988">
10. ^ "There's a John Major road ahead - but even he hasn't noticed". Evening Standard. 24 October 2007. Retrieved 18 April 2020.

## External links

[edit]

* 360 panoramic view of loughborough junction at Urban75
* LJ4D project \- a virtual 3d model which documents the evolution of the Loughborough Junction area through history

* v
* t
* e

London Borough of Lambeth

Districts|

* Brixton
* Clapham
* Clapham Park
* Crystal Palace
* Gipsy Hill
* Grange Mills
* Herne Hill
* Kennington
* Knight's Hill
* Lambeth
* Loughborough Junction
* Norbury
* Oval
* South Bank
* South Lambeth
* Stockwell
* Streatham
* Streatham Vale
* Tulse Hill
* Upper Norwood
* Vauxhall
* Waterloo
* West Dulwich
* West Norwood

Attractions|

* Ashby's Mill
* BFI IMAX
* Black Cultural Archives
* Brixton murals
* Cinema Museum
* County Hall
* Garden Museum
* Florence Nightingale Museum
* Lambeth Archives
* Lambeth Palace
* London Eye
* Lower Marsh Market
* O2 Brixton Academy
* The Old Vic
* The Oval
* Ovalhouse
* Sea Life London Aquarium
* South Bank
* South London Theatre
* Southbank Centre
* BFI Southbank
* Hayward Gallery
* National Poetry Library
* Purcell Room
* Queen Elizabeth Hall
* Royal Festival Hall
* Royal National Theatre
* Type Archive
* White Bear Theatre
* Young Vic

Bridges|

* Hungerford Bridge and Golden Jubilee Bridges
* Lambeth Bridge
* Vauxhall Bridge
* Waterloo Bridge
* Westminster Bridge

Parks and
open spaces|

* Archbishop's Park
* Brockwell Park
* Clapham Common
* Jubilee Gardens
* Kennington Park
* Larkhall Park
* Max Roach Park
* Mostyn Gardens
* Myatt's Fields Park
* Norwood Park
* Ruskin Park
* Stockwell Skatepark
* Streatham Common
* Streatham Vale Park
* Vauxhall City Farm
* Vauxhall Park

Constituencies|

* Clapham and Brixton Hill
* Dulwich and West Norwood
* Streatham and Croydon North
* Vauxhall and Camberwell Green

Tube, rail, and
riverboat stations|

* Brixton
* rail tube
* Clapham Common
* Clapham North
* Clapham High Street
* Gipsy Hill
* Herne Hill
* Lambeth North
* Loughborough Junction
* Norbury railway station
* Oval
* Stockwell
* Streatham
* Streatham Common
* Streatham Hill
* Tulse Hill
* Vauxhall
* Wandsworth Road
* Waterloo
* Waterloo East
* West Norwood

Other topics|

* Council
* Grade I and II* listed buildings
* "The Lambeth Walk"
* People
* Public art
* Schools

* Category
* Commons

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