- Tube stations: Farringdon, Barbican, Chancery Lane, Holborn
- Rail stations: Farringdon, Barbican
- Location: south of Finsbury, northwest of the City, northeast of Holborn and east of Bloomsbury
- Borough: Islington (www.islington.gov.uk)
- Postcode: EC1
Landmarks: You may recognize St. Bartholomew the Great church (www.greatstbarts.com) from such films as Four Weddings and a Funeral and Shakespeare in Love.
Known for: Being trendy and hip without being embarrassingly so, and having some of the best restaurants in London.
Who’s there? Loads of media types live and work in Clerkenwell’s loft spaces and fashionable Londoners take advantage of the shopping and nightlife. The area also has small enclaves of Italians and Jews, remnants of Clerkenwell’s ethnic past.
Making history: In the 12th century Clerkenwell was home to a nunnery and priory and a whole lot of farmland. After the Reformation, townhouses were developed and the area also became known for its breweries and gin distilleries. The rising population and copious amounts of alcohol turned the area unsavoury, but most of the slums were destroyed by bombings during World War II.
Pub quiz facts: The Eagle on Farringdon Road, which opened in 1991, is credited with being London’s first gastropub, which started an irreversible trend that the restaurant world has yet to recover from.
Famous faces: Clerkenwell is home to two of London’s biggest clubs at the moment, Turnmills (www.turnmills.co.uk) and Fabric (www.fabriclondon.com), and after a couple visits to these places you’ll be sure to run into someone newsworthy.
When it’s hot: Wander up and down Leather Lane market for scarves, handbags, jewellery, food and High Street brands at low prices. You might also stumble across some pirated DVDs – which you would never buy, of course.
When it’s not: The more academically-minded will be able to spend hours browsing at the Marx Memorial Library (www.marxlibrary.net) on Clerkenwell Green and the London Metropolitan Archives on Northampton Road.