View source for Holborn

{{Other uses}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2023}}
{{Infobox UK place
 | country                  = England
 | static_image_name        = Staple Inn, London, UK - 20050821.jpg
 | static_image_caption     = [[Staple Inn]], near [[Chancery Lane tube station]], the last of the [[Inns of Chancery]]
 | region                   = London
 | official_name            = Holborn
 | coordinates              = {{coord|51.5204|-0.1136|display=inline,title}}
 | london_borough           = Camden
 | london_borough1          = City of London
 | constituency_westminster = [[Holborn and St Pancras (UK Parliament constituency)|Holborn and St Pancras]]
 | constituency_westminster1= [[Cities of London and Westminster (UK Parliament constituency)|Cities of London and Westminster]]
 | population               = 13,023
 | population_ref           = (2011 Census. Holborn and Covent Garden Ward)<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=13688645&c=Holborn+and+Covent+Garden&d=14&e=62&g=6321731&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&o=362&m=0&r=1&s=1476970199284&enc=1|title=Camden Ward population 2011|access-date=20 October 2016 |publisher= Office for National Statistics |work=Neighbourhood Statistics}}</ref>
 | post_town                = LONDON
 | postcode_area            = WC
 | postcode_area1           = EC
 | postcode_district        = WC1, WC2
 | postcode_district1       = EC1
 | dial_code                = 020
 | os_grid_reference        = TQ310818
 | london_borough3          = City of London
}}

'''Holborn''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|h|əʊ|b|ər|n|audio=LL-Q1860 (eng)-Back ache-Holborn.wav}} {{respell|HOH|bərn}}<!--not just a local pronunciation--> or {{IPAc-en|'|h|əʊ|l|b|ər|n}} {{respell|HOHL|bərn}}),{{Ref label|a|a|none}} an [[List of places in London|area]] in [[central London]], covers the south-eastern part of the [[London Borough of Camden]] and a part ([[St Andrew Holborn (parish)|St Andrew Holborn Below the Bars]]) of the [[Wards of the City of London|Ward]] of [[Farringdon Without]] in the [[City of London]].

The area has its roots in the [[civil parish#Ancient parishes|ancient parish]] of Holborn, which lay on the west bank of the now buried [[River Fleet]];<ref name="british-history.ac.uk">{{cite web|title= 'West of Farringdon Road', in Survey of London: Volume 47, Northern Clerkenwell and Pentonville |first= Philip |last= Temple |location= London|year= 2008 |pages= 22–51 |publisher= British History Online |url= http://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/vol47/pp22-51 | access-date= 31 July 2020}}</ref> the district takes its name from an alternative name for the river: the Holbourne (or Oldbourne). The area is sometimes described as part of the [[West End of London]]<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www3.camden.gov.uk/westendproject/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Project-Overview-for-website-1.pdf |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180902012223/https://www3.camden.gov.uk/westendproject/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Project-Overview-for-website-1.pdf |archive-date= 2018-09-02 |url-status= live |publisher= London Borough of Camden|title= West End Project Overview}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.lda-design.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/Holborn_LDADesign_CaseStudy.pdf |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210618054024/https://www.lda-design.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/Holborn_LDADesign_CaseStudy.pdf |archive-date= 2021-06-18 |url-status= live |title= Case Study|publisher= London Borough of Camden}}</ref> or of the wider [[West London]] area.

The River Fleet also gave its name to the streets ''Holborn'' and ''[[High Holborn]]'' which extend west from the site of the former [[Newgate]] in the [[London Wall]], over the Fleet, through Holborn and towards [[Westminster]].

The district benefits from a central location which helps provide a strong mixed economy. The area is particularly noted for its links to the legal profession, for the diamond centre at [[Hatton Garden]] and for [[Great Ormond Street Hospital]].

== Origins and administration ==
Holborn emerged from the [[civil parish#Ancient parishes|ancient parish]] of St Andrew Holborn and its later sub-divisions. The [[St Andrew, Holborn|parish church]] is first mentioned, and described as ''old'', in a charter of 959, but this is before the parish or the landholdings on which it was based took on anything like their settled form.<ref>detail of the perambulation of the landholding described in 'Citadel of the Saxons' by Rory Naismith, p130</ref>

=== Toponymy ===

{{See also|Street names of Holborn}}

The earliest surviving written record of the area occurs in a charter of 959, in which [[Edgar the Peaceful|King Edgar the Peaceful]] granted [[Westminster Abbey]] an area of land (much larger than the later parish of Holborn) stretching from the Abbey, on [[Thorney Island (Westminster)|Thorney Island]], to the [[River Fleet]]. The charter mentions "the old wooden church of St Andrew" ([[St Andrew, Holborn]]).<ref name=lethaby>{{cite book|last= Lethaby|first= William|author-link= William Lethaby|title= London before the conquest|url= https://archive.org/details/londonbeforeconq00lethrich|publisher= Macmillan|location= London|year= 1902|page= [https://archive.org/details/londonbeforeconq00lethrich/page/60 60]}}</ref><ref>Citadel of the Saxons, Rory Naismith, p130</ref> The name Holborn is used in the charter, but it refers to the River Fleet rather than the district.

The name "Holborn" may derive from the [[Middle English]] ''hol'' for "hollow", and ''bourne'', a "brook", referring to the [[River Fleet]] as it ran through a steep valley (hollow) in places.<ref name=lethaby /><ref name=besant>{{cite book|last= Besant|first= Walter|author-link= Walter Besant|author2= Mitton, Geraldine|title= Holborn and Bloomsbury|publisher= [[A & C Black|Adam and Charles Black]]|location= London|year= 1903|edition= Project Gutenberg, 2007|series= The Fascination of London|url= http://www.gutenberg.org/files/21411/21411-8.txt|access-date= 13 August 2008}}</ref>

However, the 16th-century historian [[John Stow]] attributes the name to a different watercourse: the ''Old Bourne'' ("old brook"), a small stream which he believed ran into the Fleet at Holborn Bridge. This structure was lost when the river was [[culvert]]ed in 1732. The exact course of the stream is uncertain, but according to Stow it started in one of the many small springs near Holborn Bar, the old [[City of London|City]] toll gate on the summit of Holborn Hill.<ref name=besant /><ref>{{cite book|last= Strype|first= John|author-link= John Strype|title= Survey of London|publisher= Online edition: University of Sheffield 2007|year= 1720|series= The Stuart London Project|chapter= Rivers and other Waters serving this City|url= http://www.hrionline.ac.uk/strype/TransformServlet?page=book1_024&display=print|access-date= 2 November 2008|archive-date= 12 August 2014|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140812203926/http://www.hrionline.ac.uk/strype/TransformServlet?page=book1_024&display=print|url-status= dead}}</ref> Other historians, however, find the theory implausible, in view of the slope of the land.<ref>Lethaby (1902:48)</ref>

===Administration: Parish and Ward===
The [[St Andrew Holborn (parish)|Parish of St Andrew, Holborn]], was divided by a civil boundary, with part within the Farringdon Without ward of the City of London (later known as ''St Andrew Holborn Below the Bars'') – which includes the parish church and the part within the [[Ossulstone Hundred]] of Middlesex (later known as ''St Andrew Above the Bars'').
It is not known when the parish of Holborn took on its settled form, but it is likely to have been by the time of the introduction of Canon Law around 1180,<ref>History of the Countryside by Oliver Rackham, 1986 p19 After the development of Canon Law, changes after this time became legally onerous and rare</ref> with records from the time the [[St Giles in the Fields|hospital of St Giles]] was established in 1120 indicating that the parish extended further west at that time, presumably to encompass what would become the combined parish of [[St Giles, London|St Giles]] and [[Bloomsbury]].

A charter of around 1000 shows the boundaries of the city being pushed west to their settled historic extent in around 1000, though this extramural area would have been very sparsely settled. The city's wards take shape in the 11th century, before the Norman Conquest.<ref name="auto">Process, terms and sources described in detail in "London, 800-1216". Brooke and Keir, Chapter 7</ref> The civil division of the parish is very ancient and predates the establishment of the parish in its settled form. In 1394 the [[Ward (country subdivision)|Ward]] of Farringdon was subdivided into [[Farringdon Within]] and [[Farringdon Without]], with south-east Holborn part of the latter.

The [[City of London#Boundary of the City|City Bars]] mark the boundary of the City of London within Holborn. In 1994 the City boundary shifted slightly to the junction of Chancery Lane and the Bars were moved accordingly.

===Many Civil Parishes===
[[File:Passage North side of Holborn, 1897 by Philip Norman.jpg|thumb|Passage North side of Holborn, 1897 by [[Philip Norman (artist)|Philip Norman]]]]
It has been described how the two parts of the parish came under separate civil governance (though without any civil governance at parish level) according to whether the part was in the city or outside. From the Tudor period onwards new local government were introduced in England, and parish areas were obliged to take on civil as well as ecclesiastical responsibilities for the first time, this started with [[Act for the Relief of the Poor 1597|relief of the poor]].

The two parts became, for civil but not ecclesiastical purposes, two separate parishes known as ''St Andrew Holborn Below the Bars'' and ''St Andrew Holborn Above the Bars'', the ''Bars'' being the City boundary markers. The area "above Bars" (outside the city's jurisdiction) was organised by the [[vestry]] board of the parish of [[St Andrew Holborn|St Andrew]].<ref>''The Parish of St Andrew Holborn'' pp. 11–12 Caroline Barron London 1979</ref>

[[File:City of London civil parishes Map 1870.png|thumb|St Andrew Holborn, Below the Bars, in the west of the City of London]]
As well as Holborn's two main civil parishes, there were a number of extra-parochial areas, parts of the ecclesiastical parish of Holborn but formed their own (usually tiny) civil parish areas:
* [[Liberty of Saffron Hill, Hatton Garden, Ely Rents and Ely Place]]
* [[Lincoln's Inn]] (excluding Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the combined parish of ''St Giles and Bloomsbury'')
* [[Thavie's Inn]]
* [[Barnard's Inn]]
* [[Furnival's Inn]]
* [[Gray's Inn]]
* [[Staple Inn]]

===Response to urbanisation===
The St George the Martyr Queen Square area became a separate parish, for both civil and ecclesiastical matters, in 1723; but for civil matters was reunited with the part of St Andrew outside the city (''Above the Bars'') of London in 1767, to form [[St Andrew Holborn Above the Bars with St George the Martyr]].

The [[Holborn District (Metropolis)|Holborn District]] was created in 1855, consisting of the civil parishes and extra-parochial places of Holborn outside the city; St Andrew Holborn Above the Bars with St George the Martyr, [[Saffron Hill, Hatton Garden, Ely Rents and Ely Place]], as well as two tiny units that were added from the [[Finsbury division|Finsbury Division]]: [[Glasshouse Yard]] and [[St Sepulchre (parish)|St Sepulchre, Middlesex]].
[[File:St Giles & Holborn Civil Parish Map 1870.png|thumb|The Holborn District (in green, but excluding St Sepulchre Middlesex and Glasshouse Yard which had been attached to it) merged with the combined parishes of St Giles and Bloomsbury (in red), in 1900, to form the Metropolitan Borough of Holborn.]]
[[File:Holborn Met. B Ward Map 1952.svg|thumb|left|The parts of Holborn outside the City formed the eastern part of the [[Metropolitan Borough of Holborn]]. The former combined parish of [[Bloomsbury]] and [[St Giles, London|St Giles]] (including most of the Lincoln's Inn Ward).]]
The [[Metropolitan Borough of Holborn]] was created in 1900, consisting of the former area of the Holborn District and the [[St Giles District (Metropolis)|St Giles District]], but the small units previously part of the [[Finsbury division|Finsbury Division]] were instead included in the [[Metropolitan Borough of Finsbury]]. The Metropolitan Borough of Holborn was abolished in 1965 and its area now forms part of the [[London Borough of Camden]].

==Latter history==
===Urban growth===
The westward growth of London beyond the [[London Wall|City Wall]], and towards the seat of government in [[Westminster]], took place along the banks of the [[River Thames]] and along the roads leading from [[Ludgate]] ([[Fleet Street]] and [[Strand, London|The Strand]]) and [[Newgate]] (''Holborn'' and ''[[High Holborn]]''). This growth, initially limited to [[Farringdon Without]] (which includes a part of Holborn) was well underway in the 12th century, leading to the Ward being retrospectively described as the capital's original [[West End of London|West End]].<ref name="auto"/>

In the 12th century St Andrew's was noted in local title deeds as lying on "Holburnestrate"—Holborn Street,<ref>{{cite book|last=Harben|first=Henry|title=A Dictionary of London|publisher=Herbert Jenkins|location=London|year=1918}}</ref> but as the street leads from Roman [[Newgate]], and the church was sited on it by the 10th century, it is probably considerably older. In 1394 the population had grown so large that the Ward of Farringdon had grown too large for effective governance and was formally divided into the separate Wards, (rather than separate named areas within the same Ward) in 1394.

The westward growth towards Westminster accelerated in the Tudor period. The westerly ribbon development through the parish was complete before the [[Great Fire of London|Great Fire]] of 1666, with the displacement of people accelerating the development of the rest of the area. The northern fringe the last area to be developed, with this process finalised in the 18th century.<ref>{{cite web|title= Strype map of 1720|url=http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/crace/a/007zzz000000015u000260a0.html}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Horwood map of 1799 |url=http://www.romanticlondon.org/horwoods-plan/#15/51.5216/-0.1203}}</ref>

===Medieval===
[[St Etheldreda's Church, London|St Etheldreda's Church]], in gated [[Ely Place]], was originally the chapel of the [[Bishop of Ely]]'s London palace. This ecclesiastical connection allowed the street to remain part of the county of [[Cambridgeshire]] until the mid-1930s. This meant that [[Ye Olde Mitre]], a pub located in a court hidden behind the buildings of the Place and the Garden, was licensed by the Cambridgeshire Magistrates.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/726471/Things-that-go-bump-on-the-map.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/726471/Things-that-go-bump-on-the-map.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Things that go bump on the map|last=Vitaliev|first=Vitali |author-link=Vitali Vitaliev|date=3 January 2003|work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|location=London|access-date=12 August 2008}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.timeout.com/london/bars/features/1614.html|title=Secret London: Ye Olde Mitre Tavern|last=Hammond|first=Derek|date=28 June 2006|work=[[Time Out (company)|Time Out]]|access-date=12 August 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080726084958/http://www.timeout.com/london/bars/features/1614.html|archive-date=26 July 2008}}</ref>

St Etheldreda's is the oldest Roman Catholic church in Britain, and one of two extant buildings in London dating back to the era of [[Edward I|Edward{{nbsp}}I]].<ref name="St Etheldreda’s">{{cite web|title=History of the Church|url=http://www.stetheldreda.com/index.php/history-of-st-etheldredas/|website=stetheldreda.com|quote=It is the oldest Catholic church in England and one of only two remaining buildings in London from the reign of Edward I.|access-date=29 September 2017|archive-date=15 July 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130715075343/http://www.stetheldreda.com/index.php/history-of-st-etheldredas/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="KettlerTrimble2001">{{cite book|author1=Sarah Kettler|author2=Carole Trimble|title=The Amateur Historian's Guide to Medieval and Tudor London, 1066–1600|url=https://archive.org/details/amateurhistorian00kett_1|url-access=registration|year=2001|publisher=Capital Books|isbn=978-1-892123-32-9|page=[https://archive.org/details/amateurhistorian00kett_1/page/103 103]|quote=This is Britain's oldest Roman Catholic church, dating from the 13th century.}}</ref><ref name="Davies1988">{{cite book|author=Andrew Davies|title=Literary London|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-5ckAAAAMAAJ|year=1988|publisher=Pan Macmillan|isbn=978-0-333-45708-5|page=112|quote=In 1874 when the church was bought back by the Roman Catholics it was found to be full of 'inconceivable filth, living and dead'. St Etheldreda's is the oldest Catholic church building in Britain.}}</ref>

===Tudor and Stuart periods===
[[Henry V of England|Henry VII]] paid for the road to be paved in 1494 because the thoroughfare "was so deep and miry that many perils and hazards were thereby occasioned, as well to the king's carriages passing that way, as to those of his subjects". Criminals from the [[Tower of London|Tower]] and [[Newgate Prison|Newgate]] passed up Holborn on their way to be hanged at [[Tyburn]] or [[St Giles Circus|St Giles]].<ref>{{cite book|first=John|last=Timbs|author-link=John Timbs|title=Curiosities of London: Exhibiting the Most Rare and Remarkable Objects of Interest in the Metropolis|url=https://archive.org/stream/curiositiesoflon00timbrich#page/428/mode/1up|year=1855|publisher=D. Bogue|page=428}}</ref>

[[Hatton Garden]], the centre of the diamond trade, was leased to a favourite of Queen [[Elizabeth I]], Sir Christopher Hatton, at the insistence of the Queen to provide him with an income.

[[File:Great Fire of London Map.png|thumb|The Great Fire died as it reached Holborn's boundary.]]
[[File:Roque 1746 London c1.jpg|thumb|Rocque map of 1746. Holborn is developed, but the built-up area stopped at [[River Fleet#Lamb's Conduit|the brook which formed the parish boundary with St Pancras]] (modern King's Cross) to the north.]]

The area was not damaged by the [[Great Fire of London]] in 1666, though the area of destruction reached its south-eastern boundary.

===Legal profession===
[[Charles Dickens]] took up residence in [[Furnival's Inn]] (later the site of "[[Holborn Bars]]", the former [[Prudential plc|Prudential]] building designed by [[Alfred Waterhouse]]). Dickens put his character "Pip", in ''[[Great Expectations]]'', in residence at [[Barnard's Inn]] opposite, now occupied by [[Gresham College]].<ref>Chap. 20</ref> [[Staple Inn]], notable as the promotional image for [[Old Holborn]] tobacco,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Hibbert|first1=Christopher|author-link1=Christopher Hibbert|title=The London Encyclopedia|edition=2010|year=1983|publisher=MacMillan |location=London|isbn=1-4050-4925-1|page=397|display-authors=etal}}</ref> is nearby. The three of these were [[Inns of Chancery]]. The most northerly of the [[Inns of Court]], [[Gray's Inn]], is off Holborn, as is [[Lincoln's Inn]]: the area has been associated with the legal professions since mediaeval times, and the name of the local militia (now [[Territorial Army (United Kingdom)|Territorial Army]] unit, the [[Inns of Court & City Yeomanry]]) still reflects that. The unit is nicknamed the ''Devil's Own'', a name given by [[George III]], not due to ferocity in battle, but rather to his dislike of lawyers.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Inns of Court and City Yeomanry |url=http://www.iccy.org.uk/iccy.html}}</ref>

===Historic points of interest===
In the 18th century, Holborn was the location of the infamous [[Mother Clap]]'s [[molly house]] (meeting place for homosexual men). There were 22 inns or taverns recorded in the 1860s. The [[Holborn Empire]], originally [[Weston's Music Hall]], stood between 1857 and 1960, when it was pulled down after structural damage sustained in [[the Blitz]]. The theatre premièred one of the first full-length feature films in 1914, ''[[The World, the Flesh and the Devil (1914 film)|The World, the Flesh and the Devil]]'', a 50-minute [[melodrama]] filmed in [[Kinemacolor]].<ref>{{IMDb title|qid=Q7775909|title=The World, the Flesh and the Devil}}</ref><ref>The full-length documentary ''[[With Our King and Queen Through India]]'', also in Kinemacolor, premièred in February 1912, and the stencil-coloured ''[[The Miracle (1912 film)|The Miracle]]'' opened at the [[Royal Opera House, Covent Garden]] in December 1912.</ref>

Subsequently, the area diversified and become recognisable as the modern street. A plaque stands at number 120 commemorating [[Thomas Earnshaw]]'s invention of the [[Marine chronometer]], which facilitated long-distance travel. At the corner of Hatton Garden was the old family department store of [[Gamages]]. Until 1992, the London Weather Centre was located in the street. The Prudential insurance company relocated in 2002. The [[Daily Mirror]] offices used to be directly opposite it, but the site is now occupied by [[Sainsbury's]] head office.

[[File:Peter Pan statue by Diarmuid Byron O'Connor.JPG|thumb|Peter Pan statue at [[Great Ormond Street Hospital]]]]

Behind the Prudential Building lies the Anglo-Catholic church of St Alban the Martyr.<ref name="stalban">[http://www.stalbansholborn.org/ St Alban the Martyr] accessed 14 December 2013</ref> Originally built in 1863 by architect [[William Butterfield]], it was gutted during the Blitz but later reconstructed, retaining Butterfield's west front.

On [[Holborn Circus]] lies the Church of [[St Andrew, Holborn|St Andrew]], an ancient [[Guild]] Church that survived the [[Great Fire of London]]. However, the parochial authority decided to commission [[Sir Christopher Wren]] to rebuild it. Although the nave was destroyed in the Blitz, the reconstruction was faithful to Wren's original. Just to the west of the circus, but originally sited in the middle, is a large equestrian statue of [[Albert, Prince Consort|Prince Albert]] by Charles Bacon, erected in 1874 as the city's official monument to him. It was presented by Charles Oppenheim, of the diamond trading company [[De Beers]], whose headquarters is in nearby Charterhouse Street.
[[File:Renaissance Chancery Court Hotel1.jpg|thumb|right|Former [[Phoenix Group|Pearl Assurance Company]] building, now the [[Rosewood London]]]]

== Geography ==
The district can best be described in reference to the ancient parish and the sub-divisions that succeeded it, however the area is not an administrative unit so contemporary perceptions of its extent can be vague and highly variable. In particular there are overlapping perceptions of the extent of the districts of Holborn, [[Bloomsbury]] and [[St Giles, London|St Giles]]. One of the many factors in this, is a tendency to conflate the ''Holborn'' and ''High Holborn'' roads with the district.

The now buried [[River Fleet]] formed the historic eastern boundary of the ancient parish of Holborn, a course now marked by [[Farringdon Street]], [[Farringdon Road]] and other streets.<ref name="british-history.ac.uk"/> The northern boundary with [[St Pancras, London|St Pancras]] was formed by a tributary of the Fleet later known as [[River Fleet#Lamb’s Conduit|Lamb's Conduit]]. The curving alignment of Roger Street follows part of the course of that lost brook, and marked the northern boundary of the parish and later borough.<ref>The History of the River Fleet, UCL Fleet Restoration Team, 2009</ref>

The area extends west from Farringdon Street, for three-quarters of a mile, roughly as far as Southampton Row and [[Holborn tube station]]. The station was originally named ''Holborn (Kingsway)''<ref>{{cite web|title=Article on the history and future of Holborn tube station |date=30 November 2017 |url=https://www.londonreconnections.com/2017/horrible-holborn-postponement-not-option/}}</ref> as it was on the junction of those two roads. Most of the area lies north of the eponymous road, rather than to the south.

=== Transport ===
The nearest [[London Underground]] stations are [[Chancery Lane tube station|Chancery Lane]] and [[Holborn tube station|Holborn]]. The closest mainline railway station is [[City Thameslink railway station|City Thameslink]].

Holborn is served by bus routes 1, 8, 19, 25, 38, 55, 59, 68, 76, 91, 98, 133, 168, 171, 188, 243, 341, X68 and night routes N1, N8, N19, N38, N41, N55, N68 and N171.

=== Nearby areas ===
* [[Bloomsbury]]
* [[Clerkenwell]]
* [[Smithfield, London|Smithfield]]
* [[Charing Cross]]
* [[Soho]]
* [[Covent Garden]]
* [[St Giles, London|St. Giles]]
*[[Piccadilly]]

== Economy ==
In the early 21st century, Holborn has become the site of new offices and hotels. For example, the old neoclassical Pearl Assurance building near the junction with [[Kingsway, London|Kingsway]] was converted into a hotel in 1999.
[[File:142 Holborn Bars, London.jpg|thumb|[[Holborn Bars]], built 1879–1901, headquarters of the [[Prudential plc|Prudential Assurance Company]], at 138–142 Holborn]]

There has been attempts by some commercial organisations to rebrand the southern parts of the [[London Borough of Camden]] (Holborn, [[Bloomsbury]] and [[St Giles, London|St Giles]]; the former [[Metropolitan Borough of Holborn]]) as "Midtown".<ref name="ftdistricts">{{cite web |last1=Barrett |first1=Helen |title=The London districts nobody knows: where are NoHo, Midtown and Brain Yard? |url=https://www.ft.com/content/58c00669-f944-4234-8849-87d448049c45 |website=www.ft.com |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230424193029/https://www.ft.com/content/58c00669-f944-4234-8849-87d448049c45 |archive-date=24 April 2023 |date=22 April 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref> This area, is notionally in the very middle of London, being situated between the [[Westminster]] and [[City of London|the City]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/9359556/A-Midtown-inLondon-Theres-NoHo-chance.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120628222220/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/9359556/A-Midtown-inLondon-Theres-NoHo-chance.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=28 June 2012|title=A Midtown in London? There's NoHo chance|first=Robert|last=Colvile|date=27 June 2012|work=The Telegraph}}</ref> but this Americanisation has been widely criticised{{by whom|date=April 2022}} and not accepted or used by Londoners.{{citation needed|date=April 2022}}

==Representation==
[[File:Holborn Town Hall - geograph.org.uk - 668999.jpg|thumb|The former [[Holborn Town Hall]], completed 1894]]
The MPs for the area are:
* [[Keir Starmer]] MP, the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] Member of Parliament for [[Holborn and St Pancras]];
* [[Rachel Blake]], the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] MP for the [[Cities of London and Westminster (UK Parliament constituency)|Cities of London and Westminster]], which includes the City of London portion of Holborn.

The three ward [[councillors]] for [[Holborn and Covent Garden]], representing the [[London Borough of Camden]] part of the district are:
* Cllr Julian Fulbrook, Cllr Sue Vincent and Cllr Awale Olad of the Labour Party.

Holborn is represented in the [[London Assembly]] as part of [[Barnet and Camden]] by:
* [[Anne Clarke (politician)|Anne Clarke]], of the Labour Party.

== Notable people ==
The following is a list of notable people who were born in or are significantly connected with Holborn.
<!---♦♦♦ Please keep the list in alphabetical order by LAST NAME ♦♦♦--->
* [[Matthew Ball (dancer)|Matthew Ball]], principal dancer of the Royal Ballet lives there.
* [[John Barbirolli]] (1899–1970), conductor, born in Southampton Row ([[blue plaque]] on hotel his father managed)
* [[John William Bean]] (1824–1882), criminal, born in Holborn. He attempted to assassinate Queen Victoria.
* [[Thomas Chatterton]] (1752–1770), poet, born in Bristol and died in a garret in Holborn at the age of 17
* [[Samuel Coleridge-Taylor]] (1875–1912), composer, born at 15 Theobalds Road; acclaimed especially for [[The Song of Hiawatha (Coleridge-Taylor)|''The Song of Hiawatha'']] trilogy
* Sir [[John Elley]] (1764–1839), a hero of the [[Napoleonic Wars]], born to the owner of an eating-house in [[Furnival's Inn]]
* [[James Day (cricketer, born 1850)|James Day]] (1850–1895), cricketer, born in Holborn
* [[Charles Dickens]] (1812–1870). He lived in [[Doughty Street]], where his house is now a museum.
* [[Rupert Farley]], actor and voice actor, born in Holborn
* [[Naomi Lewis]] (1911–2009), advocate of animal rights, poet, children's author and teacher. She lived in [[Red Lion Square]] from 1935 to 2009.
* [[Eric Morley]] (1918–2000), founder of the [[Miss World]] pageant, born in Holborn
* [[William Morris]] (1845–1896), artist and socialist. He lived at 8 [[Red Lion Square]].
* [[Frederico Perera]] (1836–1909), first-class cricketer
* [[Pedro Perera]] (1832–1915), first-class cricketer
* [[Ann Radcliffe]] (1764–1823), novelist and pioneer of the [[Gothic novel]], born in Holborn
* [[John Shaw Jr.]] (1803–1870), architect, born in Holborn; praised as a designer in the "Manner of [[Christopher Wren|Wren]]"
* [[Barry Sheene]] (1950–2003), World Champion motorcycle racer. He spent his early years in Holborn.

== Gallery ==
<gallery mode="packed">
File:J Sainsbury HQ 1.jpg|The headquarters of [[Sainsbury's]] at [[Holborn Circus]]
File:Grange Holborn Hotel.jpg|Grange Holborn Hotel
File:High Holborn 1.jpg|[[High Holborn]]
File:Gray's Inn entrance.jpg|Entrance to [[Gray's Inn]]
File:Royal Fusiliers memorial.JPG|[[Royal London Fusiliers Monument]] on Holborn, dedicated to those who died in [[World War I]]
File:HEC_UK_House.jpg|[[HEC Paris|HEC UK House]], Parker Street
</gallery>

== See also ==
* [[Holborn Circus]]
* {{Portal-inline|London}}

== Notes ==
*'''a.''' {{Note label|a|a|none}}Pronunciation: The [[BBC Pronunciation Unit]] recommends {{"-}}{{IPA|[[Sound correspondences between English accents|ˈhəʊbə(r)n]]}}" but allows "sometimes also '''hohl'''-buhrn". The organisation's less formal ''Pronouncing British Placenames'' notes, "You'll occasionally find towns where nobody can agree.... Holborn in central London has for many years been pronounced 'hoe-bun', but having so few local residents to preserve this, it's rapidly changing to a more natural 'hol-burn{{'"}}.<ref>{{cite book|last=Olausson|first=Lena |title=Oxford BBC Guide to Pronunciation, The Essential Handbook of the Spoken Word|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford, England|year=2006|edition=3rd|page=173|chapter=Holborn|isbn=0-19-280710-2}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A19773499|title=Pronouncing British Placenames|date=7 March 2007|publisher=BBC|access-date=21 November 2009}}</ref> However, ''Modern British and American English pronunciation'' (2008) cites "Holborn" as one of its examples of a common word where the "l" is silent.<ref>{{cite book|last=Dretzke|first=Burkhard|title=Modern British and American English pronunciation|publisher=Ferdinand Schöningh|location=Paderborn, Germany|year=2008|page=[https://archive.org/details/modernbritishame00burk/page/63 63]|isbn=978-3-8252-2053-2|url=https://archive.org/details/modernbritishame00burk/page/63}}</ref> The popular tourist guide ''The Rough Guide to Britain'' sticks to the traditional form, without "l".<ref name="Pronunc">{{cite book|last=Roberts|first=Andrew|author2=Matthew Teller|title=The Rough Guide to Britain|publisher=Rough Guides Ltd|location=London|year=2004|page=109|isbn=1-84353-301-4 }}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Sister project links |wikt=no |commons=Category:Holborn|voy=London/Holborn-Clerkenwell|n=no |q=no |s=no |b=no |v=no}}
*[https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/21411 Holborn and Bloomsbury], by Sir [[Walter Besant]] and Geraldine Edith Mitton, 1903, from [[Project Gutenberg]]

{{LB Camden}}
{{LB City of Westminster}}
{{London Districts}}
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[[Category:Holborn| ]]
[[Category:Districts of the London Borough of Camden]]
[[Category:Districts of the City of London]]