A Georgian suburb: revealing place and person in London's Camden Town

Camden Town, a part of inner north London, was described by architectural historian John Summerson as a Georgian suburb. London expanded both geographically and in population in the nineteenth century. Lord Camden began, from 1789, to build on the farmland of the Cantlowes demesne near St Pancras church and building continued through to the 1870s. The records of the estate demonstrate landlords, stewards and builders working together, managing disruption from canal and railway transport, creating a coherent urban form and increasing the estate’s value. Camden Town’s identity is traced in early records, through perceptions of writers of fiction and in Booth’s survey of London. There were social organisations, of church and education, and commerce from small trades to large businesses. Residents were both artisans, across a range of manufacturing, and middle-classes, in business, arts and sciences. Planning for London in the twenty-first century seeks to retain local character. Revealing Camden Town’s particularity and its place as a Georgian suburb contributes to the history of London and informs choices for its future development.