A 4.5 Grade II-listed Victorian pub on Camden Passage, a preserved gin palace hosting one of London’s best free comedy clubs
The Camden Head holds a 4.5 from two thousand four hundred and ninety-nine people, sits on Camden Passage in the heart of Islington, and is a genuine treasure – a Grade II-listed Victorian gin palace, dated 1899, that has kept its ornate original interior and now hosts one of the best free comedy clubs in London.
The gin palace
The Camden Head is a beautifully preserved example of the Victorian gin palace – the ornate, glittering drinking establishments that flourished in the nineteenth century, all etched glass, polished mahogany, decorative mirrors, and gaslight, designed to draw the working people of the city in from the grim streets into a dazzling interior. They were the cinemas of their day, a blaze of light and glamour for people whose lives were otherwise hard and dark.
This one, dated 1899 in carved panels on its exterior, retains a wonderful array of its original features: a splendid island bar, beautiful etched and faceted glass, bowed windows, original mirrors, a fine old clock from a Clerkenwell maker, and even a blown-glass gin bottle. It is a genuine survivor, a working museum of Victorian pub craftsmanship, and one of the more beautiful spots in Islington in which to sink a pint. The Prat’s heritage desk salutes it: a Grade II-listed gin palace still doing exactly what it was built to do, welcoming drinkers into its glittering interior.
Not the other one
A point of clarification, because it matters: this is the Islington Camden Head, on Camden Passage, and it is not to be confused with the other, similarly-named Camden Head on Camden High Street in Camden Town. The two are frequently muddled. This one – the Islington one – is the Grade II-listed 1899 gin palace on the antiques passage. The Prat’s records desk notes the confusion and files this firmly under Islington, Camden Passage, where it belongs.
The Angel Comedy Club
The Camden Head’s modern fame rests on its upstairs room, home to the Angel Comedy Club – one of London’s best-loved and busiest comedy nights, running free every night of the week. This is a genuine treasure of the London comedy scene: a free, nightly, high-quality comedy club, where established stars try out new material and newcomers cut their teeth, all at no charge to the audience.
The roll-call of comedians who have played the room is serious – Alan Carr, Stephen Merchant, Bob Mortimer, and many more have performed here. It is exactly the kind of grassroots comedy venue, like the small music venues we celebrated in King’s Cross, that forms the essential seedbed of the whole art form – the place where careers begin and new material is tested. That it is free, and nightly, makes it a genuine gift to the city. The Prat’s comedy desk holds it in high regard: a free nightly comedy club of real quality, in a beautiful Victorian pub, is about as good as London gets.
Camden Passage
The pub sits on Camden Passage, a charming pedestrian alley off Upper Street – built as far back as 1767 and named after a celebrated Chief Justice, Lord Camden – famous for its antique shops, markets, and independent traders. It is one of Islington’s most characterful corners, and the Camden Head, with its terrace looking out over the antique stalls, is its perfect anchor. The name of the passage, and thus indirectly of the pub, honours Lord Camden, the eighteenth-century judge so esteemed that streets and passages were named in his compliment.
The pub
A 4.5 across two thousand four hundred and ninety-nine people is a strong, volume-proof score – a fine opening to the Islington survey. The reviews describe a beautiful, characterful Victorian pub with a superb free comedy club, good food and drink, and a lovely terrace on the antiques passage.
Verdict
A beautifully preserved Victorian gin palace on Camden Passage, dated 1899, hosting one of London’s best free nightly comedy clubs – a genuine Islington treasure of glass, gaslight, and laughter.
Go for the etched glass and the gin-palace grandeur, stay for the free comedy upstairs where Alan Carr and Bob Mortimer have played, and enjoy one of the loveliest and funniest pubs in Islington – all under a Grade II-listed Victorian roof.
Alan Nafzger was born in Lubbock, Texas, the son Swiss immigrants. He grew up on a dairy in Windthorst, north central Texas. He earned degrees from Midwestern State University (B.A. 1985) and Texas State University (M.A. 1987). University College Dublin (Ph.D. 1991). Dr. Nafzger has entertained and educated young people in Texas colleges for 37 years. Nafzger is best known for his dark novels and experimental screenwriting. His best know scripts to date are Lenin’s Body, produced in Russia by A-Media and Sea and Sky produced in The Philippines in the Tagalog language. In 1986, Nafzger wrote the iconic feminist western novel, Gina of Quitaque. He currently lives in Holloway, North London. Contact: [email protected]
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