For well over a century, Clerkenwell, this brooding centre of revolutionary discontent sat at the edge of the old city walls, remaining a constant source of fear for Britain’s ruling elite.
For well over a century, Clerkenwell, this brooding centre of revolutionary discontent sat at the edge of the old city walls, remaining a constant source of fear for Britain’s ruling elite.
This autumn, qualified Clerkenwell & Islington guide Andy Taylor, will be leading two new walking tours delving into the history behind the rebels & radicals, activists & agitators, reformers & revolutionaries whose stories echo through these streets.
We asked Andy what had inspired him to put together his new walks: “As I’m sure most of your readers will already know, Clerkenwell has a fascinating history with its medieval well, priory and nunnery, it’s links to Charles Dickens, its spas and pleasure gardens, its gin distilling and watchmaking.”
“What I’ve always been drawn to though is its links to the people and political movements who sought change in their lives and those of their fellow citizens, sometimes successfully, often not but nearly always at great personal cost.”
Both the Chartists and the National Union of the Working Classes were prominent around Clerkenwell in the aftermath of the 1832 Reform Act which granted the franchise to less than one-in-ten of the adult population, provoking large demonstrations in the area.
Despite this, there were still enough artisan workers with the vote locally to return a number of radical, reforming MPs, including Britain’s first Asian member of parliament.
Present at various times throughout Clerkenwell’s history, there were revolutionaries from Russia plotting to overthrow the Tsar, exiles from Italy, undercover activists from South Africa and leaders from pro-independence Ireland.
As fascism rose across Europe in the 1930s the walking tour discovers how Clerkenwell reacted to the threat posed by the dictators Mussolini and Franco and later visits locations where street and youth movements responded to the rise of the far-right in 1970s Britain.
Also featured, are connections to the English Civil War, the old borough of Finsbury’s radical socialist past, the site of a violent 19C insurrection and looks at the story of the most famous Englishman ‘nobody has ever heard of’ who played a part in not one but two revolutions on two separate continents of the world.
Revolutionary Clerkenwell: Chartists, Felons & Fenians – Sun 25 Oct & Fri 18 Dec.
Radical Finsbury: Apartheid, Russians & Roundheads – Sun 29 Nov & Sat 2 Jan.
Tickets available from London Pathways Walking Tours: London Pathways Walking Tours
