The opening of the new London Museum in November will attract a host of visitors, and many may be interested in exploring the history and current attractions of Smithfield and Clerkenwell. David Wilcox suggests that a new visitor centre could encourage them to make a day of it.
Currently the top visitor attractions promoted by the City are the Tower of London (2.96 million), St Paul’s Cathedral (1.7 million), and the Barbican Centre (1.3 million).
In November the centre of gravity will shift to the City-Clerkenwell border with the opening of the new London Museum promising 2 million visitors a year.
That’s an opportunity not just for Smithfield attractions like St Bartholomew the Great and Barts North Wing, but also others in Clerkenwell including The Charterhouse, Museum of the Order of St John, and Marx Memorial Library. It’s not far to the Postal Museum and Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration.
The idea of a visitor centre isn’t new – the 2024 Culture Mile BID public realm strategy suggested a hub for walks and information in or near the Museum.
A first step could be to bring together and build on information already available, online and in print.
The Footways pocket map of Clerkenwell, first published in 2024, has since been enhanced to shows a swathe of attractions along a route from the Angel to St Paul’s, including suggested pubs and restaurants.
That demonstrates the scope for a cross-boundary Cultural Quarter – an idea that I understand will feature in a new edition of Alec Forshaw’s Smithfield: Past, Present and Future, due for publication a few days before the Museum opens.
There are a host of online blog posts and articles about Smithfield and Clerkenwell culture and heritage attractions. Some have appeared in the Echo and on the Museum website … but many more are unlinked.
Last weekend Bartholomew Fayre, founded in 1133, was for the first time staged in Islington, in Charterhouse Square, through a cross-boundary collaboration of organisations. Perhaps some organisations would be interested in exploring how to contribute to a website, and feature the book, map and other publications in their shops. If the map is out of stock, I hope these ideas could support any proposal to update and reprint.
This article is based on David’s longer blog post
