Elephant & Castle is changing, but its unique cultural history will be protected too, says Rick de Blaby

Elephant & Castle is named after a coaching inn at a major crossroads, with the first recorded reference in 1765. By the early 20th century it was known as “The Piccadilly Circus of South London”, centred on department store William Tarn and Co.

Having been a target for German bombing raids during the Second World War, Elephant & Castle was rebuilt, with the first covered shopping centre in Europe opening there in 1965. The centre had been painted a garish pink by the time of its demolition in 2021.

Notable Elephant residents have included Charlie Chaplin and Michael Caine and it has been referenced by Virginia Woolf in A Room of One’s Own, and in the video for Dexys Midnight Runners’ Come on Eileen. Even Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night refers to this historic part of London, “In the south suburbs, at the Elephant, is best to lodge”.

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