The Blasted Heath

One of the many alleys, courts and lanes that are under attack in London, in the sense that though apparently public passageways, borough councils have allowed them to be colonised, and then blocked off or gated,  is Dunn's Passage.  The UCL Bloomsbury Project says that it is "also known as Dums Alley/Drum Alley/Dumb's Alley" and that it lies in south east Bloomsbury, running originally from High Holborn north to Hyde Street, and now running from High Holborn to New Oxford Street. It was there in 1720 and regularly appears, unnamed,, on maps.

As to the controversy over its name, Dunn was presumed to have been a local landowner, though it should be remarked that it is immediately opposite Smart's Buildings and Smart's Place  on the other side of High Holborn.

At first it is recorded on maps as having no residential buildings on either side. by the middle of the 19th century there was a Catholic Ragged School with 1000 children as its pupils. This was opened by Frederick William Faber in 1851. There was also a leather goods factory in the alley.

It managed to survive the development of New Oxford Street in the 1840s. The Ordnance Survey Map of 1867-1870 depicts it as a very tiny alleyway -information from UCL Bloomsbury Project Page 



www.ucl.ac.uk/bloomsbury-project/streets/dunns_passage.htm


"Dumb's Alley in Holborn"  the headquarters of The Silent Club, supposedly 

founded in 1694, is mentioned in a skit by Joseph Addison in the Guardian 

journal , no 121. This gives credence to the alley originally having this name. 

The cartridge maker George Bussey was active here as can be seen in this entry for him:


He first appeared in the London directories in 1855 when he was classified as 

a gun case maker at 173 High Holborn. The following year he moved to Arthur  

Street, St Giles, where he took out his first patent for an improved method of 

holding and carrying cartridges. He stayed there until 1859 when he moved to 

154A High Holborn and 485 New Oxford Street. Adjacent to, perhaps 

connecting, these two premises, was a narrow alley called Dunn's Passage 

where he installed his first factory. It was from "Dunn's Passage Factory" that 

he applied for his second patent for cartridge carriers.

www.peckhamvision.org/wiki/images/8/84/George_Bussey.pdf

The London Catholic Ragged School, run by the Servite Sisters, and payrolled

by the rich benefactor Anthony Hutchison appears to have moved into the 

factory, now disused, in 1852. It had 1,000 poor  children, mainly of Irish 

origin,  as pupils.It moved from Dunn's Passage in 1858.

At the top of the alley once stood the Bull's Head Inn. Dunn's Passage is now 

stopped up at both ends. It no longer features on London A-Zs.

Outside of the City of London, another neighbourhood that has many alleys

and passageways is Clerkenwell. St John's Path comes to mind as does

Jerusalem Passage and  Passing Alley. This  alley, like Dunn's Passage, 

originally went under other names.It runs between St. John's Lane and St. 

John Street. It appears on an old map as Pissing Alley, and like many such 

alleys, was used as a public urinal in previous centuries. The name was 

bowdlerised in Victorian times. Despite still retaining mephitic odours as in 

days of yore, Passing or Passing Alley is a very fine passageway indeed and 

all the better for not being gated.

Labels: Clerkenwell, Dumb's Alley, Dunn's Passage, George Bussey, holborn, London catholic Ragged School, New oxford street, Passing alley, Pissing Alley

I've already talked on this blog about the disappearing cockles and whelks sign (now completely vanished) in the Farringdon area. Over the last year or so another glory of the area, in line with the relentless march of blandification, has been removed. I refer to the interior of the Golden Fish Bar described on the Classic Caffs site as "Cosy familial Italian cafe that's also half of a fish & chip shop opposite Mount Pleasant post office. Truly amazing 40s designed seats and full-on rosewood interior. This place has an almost Edwardian air to it. A modern masterpiece."  
 Once you could sit in this wonderful place on a winter night with a plate of fish and chips and peas and a cup of tea with a slice and watch the traffic pass by through the steamed up windows. There was a feeling of melancholy and loss, a feeling that if it could be tasted would lie on the palate like a mixture of vinegar and honey. Now the magnificent interior has been gutted. The rosewood tables have gone and whilst the cafe remains with its new fittings it has lost its soul. It sits like a lobotomised patient, staring out blankly onto the Farringdon Road.

Labels: Chip shop, Clerkenwell, Farringdon, Golden Fish Bar

When I worked in the Clerkenwell area in the 1970s I often passed by the sign on a window in the Farringdon Road proclaiming "Winkles and shrimps every Sunday". It was emblazoned on the top glass panel of a green door. In the 1990s when I was again working in the area the sign was still there but was fading and peeling. This process has continued and the last time I was there six months ago it had all but vanished.
The sign is commemorated in the book Discover Unexpected London by Andrew Lawson. He notes:" This abrupt sign appears to be offering the sacraments of a new religion. In fact it marks the front door of...a popular shellfish stall holder. During the week he sells winkles and shrimps from the stall. On a Sunday, knowing that the London addict cannot go for twenty-four hours without a dish of winkles, he dispenses them from home".

Labels: Clerkenwell, Farringdon, London, Shrimps, Winkles