Borough to Elephant & Castle walk

Walk south along Borough High Street. Turn right into Avon Place, right into Swan Street and left into Trinity Street.

Trinity Church Square is a garden square surrounded by Georgian terraces that were built between 1824 and 1832. The square is home to Trinity Church, which has been converted into the classical music rehearsal and recording venue Henry Wood Hall2. The garden is only open to residents and contains one of the oldest statues in London, speculated to be one of eight medieval statues from the north end towers of Westminster Hall or one of a pair representing Alfred the Great and Edward, the Black Prince made for the garden of Carlton House in the 18th century. The statue is Grade II listed and was analyzed in 2021, revealing that the top part was made of Coade stone while the legs were Roman and made of Bath stone.

Trinity Street itself – formerly known as Great Suffolk Street East – was begun in 1813. There may be photogenic buildings.

Emerge from Trinity Street onto Great Dover Street.

Great Dover Street effectively served as a bypass for the previously used Kent Street/Kent Road route, which was later renamed Tabard Street. Both ends of Tabard Street are closely connected to Great Dover Street. The creation of this new road involved traversing the Trinity Village estate, owned by Trinity House.

Over the years, Great Dover Street has predominantly featured council tenement blocks. However, as the appeal of living south of the river has increased, the area has witnessed the development of private sector flats on previously commercial and industrial sites along the road. This diversification of the housing landscape has led to a more mixed tenancy population. Additionally, the construction of two large university halls of residence, namely Great Dover Street Apartments for King’s College London and Sidney Webb House for the London School of Economics, has further contributed to the neighbourhood’s residential character.

In a notable historical event, in 1963, a sum of £50,000 was discovered by the police inside a phone box on Great Dover Street. This money was part of the proceeds from the infamous Great Train Robbery and had been left behind by an intermediary acting on behalf of Buster Edwards.

You’ll reach the Bricklayers Arms roundabout. To continue to Elephant & Castle go along the New Kent Road.

New Kent Road stretches for 1 kilometre and was established in 1751 when the Turnpike Trust undertook the task of upgrading a local footpath into a proper road. This transformation was part of a broader initiative to enhance the road infrastructure in association with the construction of Westminster Bridge. With the completion of this project, it became possible to travel directly from the West End/Westminster to the southeast without detouring through the Borough of Southwark. Instead, travellers could now cross St George\’s Fields and reach the intersection of Newington Causeway and Newington Butts, marking the starting point of New Kent Road at Elephant & Castle.

In historical records from 1878, it was noted that New Kent Road had formerly been named Greenwich Road. The description highlighted its spaciousness and the planting of trees on either side, suggesting that it had the potential to evolve into a splendid boulevard, reminiscent of Parisian streets, and could serve as a model for other parts of London.