Holborn
| Holborn | |
|---|---|
 | |
  Holborn Location within Greater London | |
| Population | 13,023 (2011 Census. Holborn and Covent Garden Ward)[1] |
| OS grid reference | TQ310818 |
| London borough | |
| Ceremonial county | Greater London |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | LONDON |
| Postcode district | WC1, WC2 |
| Postcode district | EC1 |
| Dialling code | 020 |
| Police | Metropolitan |
| Fire | London |
| Ambulance | London |
| UK Parliament | |
| London Assembly | |
Holborn (/ˈhoʊbərn/ ⓘ HOH-bərn or /ˈhoʊlbərn/ ⓘ HOHL-bərn[a]) is an area in central London, that covers the southeastern part of the London Borough of Camden and a part (St Andrew Holborn Below the Bars) of the Ward of Farringdon Without in the City of London.
The area has its roots in the ancient parish of Holborn, which lay on the west bank of the now buried River Fleet;[2] 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[3][4] 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
[edit]Holborn emerged from the ancient parish of St Andrew Holborn and its later sub-divisions. The 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.[5]
Toponymy
[edit]The earliest surviving written record of the area occurs in a charter of 959, in which 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, to the River Fleet. The charter mentions "the old wooden church of St Andrew" (St Andrew, Holborn).[6][7] 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.[6][8]
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