The roundabouts direct traffic arriving from and heading to the south-east of
England along the
A2 — called here the
New Kent Road and then the
Old Kent Road — and towards the south of England on the A3 as well as splitting traffic into the
West End and the
City Of London via
St George's Road ,
London Road and
Newington Causeway from the northern roundabout.
Newington Butts and
Walworth Road adjoin the southern roundabout. The two roundabouts form part of the
London Inner Ring Road and as such form part of the boundary of the
London Congestion Charge zone.
In the middle of the northern roundabout is a large silver box. Although there is no sign explaining it, it is intended as a memorial to
Michael Faraday who was born nearby. Also, actors
Charlie Chaplin and
Michael Caine were born and grew up in the area.
Richard D. James also lives in the area.
The Elephant is also home to
Elephant & Castle Station ,
Skipton House (housing the
Department Of Health ),
London South Bank University ,
London College Of Communication , the
Ministry Of Sound nightclub and the
Metropolitan Tabernacle .
The name of the area derives from a
Pub of the same name in the area. The earliest surviving record of the pub's name is in the
Court Leet Book of the Manor of
Walworth . The court had met at "Elephant and Castle, Newington" on
21 March 1765 .
The name itself predates this account. Apocryphally, it is a corruption of the
Spanish ''
Infanta De Castile '', meaning the eldest daughter of a monarch, who had supposedly landed by Royal Barge in Newington (renamed Elephant and Castle in honour of Catherine) sometime during 1501, as the betrothed to Arthur, Henry VIII's elder brother who died leaving Catherine a widow. Another explanation is that the land belonged to the
Cutlers' Company , who had an elephant and a castle on their coat of arms. The elephant referred to the ivory used to make handles for expensive cutlery.
The elephant and castle symbol was also used in a trade that made a far more important contribution to the
London Economy . It was the symbol of the
Royal African Company , a group of
Slave-traders headed by the
Stuart Royal family when it retook the throne in
1660 . Between the
1660s and the
1720s the company's symbol was used on British
Guinea Coins to indicate that the source of the
Gold was the company's activity in
Africa .
In recent times, the area has had a reputation for succesfull ethnic diversity and centrality. The area's close proximity to the major areas of employment, including Westminster, the
West End and the
City , a certain amount of
Gentrification has taken place.
The large mirrored silver box on the elephant island is rumoured to be owned by musician and ambient artist richard james aka. aphex twin.
The area is now subject to a masterplanned redevelopment budgeted at £1.5 billion. A Development Framework was approved by
Southwark Council in
2004 . It covers an area of 170 acres (688,000 m²) and envisages restoring the Elephant and Castle to the role of major urban hub for inner
South London which it occupied before
World War II . Planned features include:
- 800,000 square feet (75,000 m²) of retail space (this is far larger than the existing shopping centre)
- 5,300 new and replacement homes
- five new open spaces
- an integrated public transport hub and two tram routes
- a new City Academy
There will be major changes to the road intersection designed to make the area more pedestrian friendly.
Walworth Road will be expanded to the north through the site of the former shopping centre, creating a pedestrianised boulevard to what is now the northern roundabout. This roundabout will be turned into a public square. Two skyscrapers will flank the boulevard. A substantial amount of post
World War II social housing which is deemed to have "failed" will be demolished, including the Heygate Estate. This will replaced with new housing developments comprised of a mix of social and private sector housing.
The current timetable, which like any large development project may be subject to delays, is as follows:
- 2005 Selection of commercial development partner.
- 2006 First residential projects commence/ Removal of round-abouts and subways.
- 2005–2010 Development of the southernmost section of the regeneration area including the Walworth Road extension, the Heygate Boulevard and St Mary's Churchyard.
- 2006–2011 Phased demolition of the Heygate Estate and relocation of tenants to new social housing in and around Elephant & Castle.
- 2010 Demolition of the Elephant and Castle shopping centre.
- 2010–2014 Construction of the Civic Square and start of development on the Heygate footprint.
- 2014 Completion.
