Barbican Estate

File:Map Londinium 400 AD-en.svg]]

The main fort of Roman London was built between 90 and 120 AD south-east of where the Museum of London now stands at the corner of London Wall and Aldersgate Street.{{cite journal | url=http://english-heritage.org.uk/inspired/upload/pdf/2002c_Aug_QUARTERLY_REVIEW.pdf?1242191409 | archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20090104005804/http://english-heritage.org.uk/inspired/upload/pdf/2002c_Aug_QUARTERLY_REVIEW.pdf?1242191409 | archive-date=4 January 2009 | page=30 | journal=Quarterly Review | publisher= Greater London Archaeology Advisory Service | date=June–August 2002 |title=Quarterly Review (June to August 2002) Greater London Archaeology Advisory Service }} Around 200 AD, walls were built around the city that incorporated the old fort, which became a grand entrance known as Cripplegate.'Cripplegate, one of the 26 Wards of the City of London' Baddesley, J.J p126: London; Blades, East & Blades; 1921 The word barbican comes from the Low Latin word Barbecana, which referred to a fortified outpost or gateway, such as an outer defence of a city or castle or any tower situated over a gate or bridge that was used for defence purposes.{{cite web|url=http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/services/housing-and-council-tax/barbican-estate/concept-and-design/Pages/History-of-Barbican.aspx|title=Barbican Estate history - City of London|website=cityoflondon.gov.uk|access-date=27 November 2013|archive-date=23 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923224340/http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/services/housing-and-council-tax/barbican-estate/concept-and-design/Pages/History-of-Barbican.aspx|url-status=dead}} In this case there seems to have been a Roman specula or watchtower{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WKMMAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA216 | page=216 | title=The Beauties of England and Wales, or, Delineations, topographical, historical, and descriptive, of each county, Volume 10, Part 3 | first=John | last=Britton | author-link=John Britton (antiquary) | publisher = Vernor and Hood| year=1815 }} in front of the fort from numbers 33–35 onwards on the north side of the street formerly called Barbican{{cite book | chapter-url=http://www.hrionline.ac.uk/strype/TransformServlet?page=book3_089 | title=Survey of London | first=John | last=Strype | year=1720 | volume=3 | chapter=6 | access-date=19 March 2014 | archive-date=9 October 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121009145203/http://www.hrionline.ac.uk/strype/TransformServlet?page=book3_089 | url-status=dead }} (now the west end of Beech St), which was later incorporated into the fortifications north of the wall. The Normans called it the Basse-cour or Base Court,{{cite book|last1=Goff|first1=Cecilie|title=A woman of the Tudor age|date=1930|publisher=John Murray|page=277}} synonymous with the modern word "bailey" and still applied to the outer courtyard of Hampton Court Palace.

File:Medieval London Jewish cemetery.jpg

File:Medieval Jewish Cemetery on modern mapping of the Barbican Estate.jpg

The Base Court continued to serve a military function during the reign of Edward I, but Edward III gave it to Robert d'Ufford, 1st Earl of Suffolk, who made it his London home. By the 16th century it had passed to Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk. Brandon married his ward Catherine Willoughby, daughter of María de Salinas, who had been a confidante and lady-in-waiting of Catherine of Aragon, and after his death the building was retained by the Willoughby family. The original Base Court seems to have been destroyed and the large building that replaced it was called Willoughby House, a name revived for part of the modern development. The house was later owned by Thomas Egerton, Lord Ellesmere, and later named Bridgewater House after the title bestowed on John Egerton in 1617.{{Cite journal |last=Sandes |first=Caroline |date=2019-01-01 |title=The Barbican before Barbican: the house, its history and the 'imaginary' watchtower |url=https://www.academia.edu/40898917 |journal=London and Middlesex Archaeological Society Transactions}}

The Barbican terrace blocks and residences, including the green garden in the centre, are laid on an area just outside the city fortifications, to the north west of the surviving London Wall and bastions. Most of the residences and the green square, as well as some of the area to the south, currently occupied by the Museum of London, are on an area that was previously the cemetery serving the London Jewish community before their expulsion. Records of transactions of the time show that the cemetery had been expanded several times through the acquisition of property by the Jews between 1268 and 1290. The Jews were expelled from England in 1290, and on 12 July 1291 Edward I granted the site of the cemetery to Master William de Montford, who was Dean of St Paul's but seems to have held this land privately. Archaeological excavations were undertaken on part of the cemetery site prior to construction of the Barbican and the results of these investigations were published in Transactions of the Jewish Historical Society of England (JHSE) in 1961.{{Cite book |last=Honeybourne |first=Marjorie B. |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/i29777962 |title=The Pre-Expulsion Cemetery of the Jews in London, Transactions, Vol 20 |publisher=Jewish History Society of England |year=1959–1961 |pages=145–159}}

File:Central ponds, Barbican Estate.jpg

File:Barbican monument Bryers and Sons.JPG recovered from Bryers and Sons building at 53 and 54 Barbican. The building survived wartime bombing but was demolished to make way for the redevelopment. The Frieze was preserved as a monument.]]

During World War II the City suffered serious damage and loss of life. The Cripplegate ward was virtually demolished{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/sep/02/blitz-london-bomb-sites-redevelopment|title=Blitzed, rebuilt and built again: what became of London's bomb sites?|first=Peter|last=Watts|date=2 September 2015|website=The Guardian}} and by 1951 the resident population of the City stood at 5,324, of whom 48 lived in Cripplegate.{{cite web|url=https://londonist.com/london/secret/5-secrets-of-barbican|title=5 Secrets Of Barbican|date=17 February 2017|website=Londonist}} Discussions began in 1952 about the future of the site, and the decision to build new residential properties was taken by the Court of Common Council on 19 September 1957.{{cite web|url=http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/Corporation/our_services/barbican_estate/history.htm |title=History of the Barbican Estate |publisher=City of London |access-date=11 January 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061207192334/http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/Corporation/our_services/barbican_estate/history.htm |archive-date=7 December 2006 |url-status=dead |df=dmy}}

To accommodate the estate, {{convert|500|m|yd|abbr=off}} of the Metropolitan line was realigned between Barbican and Moorgate stations between 1963 and 1965.London Transport Track Realignment on City Site Railway Gazette 30 June 1963 page 229Barbican Rerouting The Railway Magazine issue 750 October 1963 pages 685, 732Final track changeover at Barbican The Railway Magazine issue 777 January 1966 pages 49/50

The estate was built between 1965 and 1976, on a {{convert|35|acre|adj=on}} site. The complex was designed by architects Chamberlin, Powell and Bon, whose first work was the ground-breaking Golden Lane Estate immediately north of the Barbican. Unlike its northern neighbour, however, the Barbican Estate was not social housing. Rather, it was designed and built for affluent City professionals and their families, with all flats let out at commercial rents by the Corporation of London.{{cite web|url=http://www.nicolalee.co.uk/never-social-housing|title=Never social housing|access-date=18 September 2019|website=nicolalee.co.uk|archive-date=2 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200202230140/http://www.nicolalee.co.uk/never-social-housing|url-status=dead}} To help let out the flats, brochures were produced advertising the Barbican Estate as containing the perfect residences for well-heeled professionals and international businesspeople.{{cite web|url=http://www.barbicanliving.co.uk/barbican-story/gentrification/|title=Never social housing|access-date=22 April 2020|website=barbicanliving.co.uk|date=9 December 2015}} File:SeniorExecBarbicanEstate.png Indeed, in its early years, a substantial number of high-profile politicians, lawyers, judges and bankers made their home here (see famous residents).

File:Barbican "Circle".jpgFile:Barbican Logo and concrete detail.jpg

The Barbican was never 'council housing' in the conventional sense, since flats were targeted at professionals and let at 'market' rents, i.e. for similar prices to equivalent private homes in Central London. It was, however, owned and managed by the Corporation of the City of London, considered a local authority under the Housing Act 1980. This meant that Right to Buy applied to it, and, as a result, almost all flats are now privately owned, although a few continue to be let out by the City of London at market (non-subsidised) rents.{{cite web|url=http://www.barbicanliving.co.uk/barbican-story/gentrification/|title=Who are we?|access-date=18 September 2019|website=barbicanliving.co.uk|date=9 December 2015}}

The first building on the {{convert|40|acre|adj=on}} estate, Speed House, was officially opened in 1969, though extensive industrial disputes in the 1970s led to the last building, Shakespeare Tower, being completed only in 1976. It is now home to around 4,000 people living in 2,014 flats. The flats reflect the widespread use in Britain in the 1960s and 1970s of concrete as the visible face of the building. The complex is also characterised by its total separation of vehicles from pedestrians throughout the area ("slab urbanism"{{Cite journal |last1=Monclús |first1=Javier |last2=Díez Medina |first2=Carmen |date=2016-10-01 |title=Modernist housing estates in European cities of the Western and Eastern Blocs |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/02665433.2015.1102642 |journal=Planning Perspectives |volume=31 |issue=4 |pages=533–562 |doi=10.1080/02665433.2015.1102642 |bibcode=2016PlPer..31..533M |s2cid=146629684 |issn=0266-5433}}). This is achieved through the use of 'highwalks'—walkways of varying width and shape, usually 1 to 3 storeys above the surrounding ground level. Most pedestrian circulation takes place on these highwalks whilst roads and car-parking spaces are relegated to the lower level.

Image:barbican.flats.london.arp.jpg

The Minister for the Arts, Tessa Blackstone, announced in September 2001 that the Barbican complex was to be Grade II listed. It has been designated a site of special architectural interest for its scale, its cohesion and the ambition of the project.{{cite web|url=http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/Corporation/our_services/barbican_estate/listing.htm |title=Listing of the Barbican complex |publisher=City of London |access-date=11 January 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061008192733/http://cityoflondon.gov.uk/Corporation/our_services/barbican_estate/listing.htm |archive-date=8 October 2006 |url-status=dead |df=dmy}} The complex is architecturally important as it is one of London's principal examples of concrete brutalist architecture and considered a landmark.

Various garden features punctuate the brutalist architecture, including a community-run wildlife garden.{{cite news |last1=Weston |first1=Phoebe |title='Nature survives in the tiniest corners': the City of London's wild heart |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/apr/28/nature-survives-in-the-tiniest-corners-the-barbican-brutalist-london-wild-heart-aoe |work=The Guardian |date=28 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200428105903/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/apr/28/nature-survives-in-the-tiniest-corners-the-barbican-brutalist-london-wild-heart-aoe |archive-date=28 April 2020}}

The residential estate consists of four tower blocks, 14 terrace blocks, two mews and The Postern, Wallside and Milton Court.{{Citation

|publisher = Corporation of London Records Office

|isbn = 9780852030301

|ol = 8280417M

|title = The Barbican Sitting on History

|author = Jennifer Clarke

|date = 1990

|oclc = 24713108

|id = 0852030304

}}

File:barbicanestatefromabove.jpg

These are grouped around a lake and green squares. The main buildings rise up to seven floors above a podium level, which links all the facilities in the Barbican, providing a pedestrian route above street level. Some maisonettes are built into the podium structure. There is no vehicular access within the estate, but there are some car parks at its periphery. Public car parks are located within the Barbican Centre.

The terrace blocks are named:

• Andrewes House – named after Lancelot Andrewes the 16th-century English bishop and scholar
• Breton House – named after Nicholas Breton, the 16th-century English poet and novelist
• Bryer Court – named after W. Bryer & Sons gold refiners and assayers premises were Numbers 53 and 54 and demolished to make way for the building{{cite web|url=http://www.londonremembers.com/memorials/barbican-frieze|title=Barbican frieze|website=London Remembers}}
• Bunyan Court – named after John Bunyan, the 17th-century English writer and Baptist preacher
• Defoe House – named after Daniel Defoe, the English novelist and spy
• Frobisher Crescent – named after Martin Frobisher, English seaman and privateer
• Gilbert House – named after Sir Humphrey Gilbert, English adventurer and privateer
• Ben Jonson House – named after Ben Jonson, the English playwright, poet and actor
• Thomas More House – named after Sir Thomas More, English lawyer, statesman and social philosopher and saint in the Catholic Church
• Mountjoy House – named after Christopher Mountjoy, the French wig-maker who let a room to William Shakespeare{{cite web|url=http://www.barbicanliving.co.uk/blocks/mountjoy-house/the-mountjoys/|title=The Mountjoys|date=23 October 2015|website=barbicanliving.co.uk}}
• Seddon House – named after George Seddon, English cabinetmaker
• Speed House – named after John Speed, English cartographer and explorer
• John Trundle Court – named after John Trundle, a London publisher and bookseller
• Willoughby House – named after Catherine Willoughby English noblewoman and courtier

File:Lauderdale Tower, Barbican Estate, London.jpg

The estate also contains three of London's tallest residential towers, at 42 storeys and {{convert|123|m|0}} high. The top two or three floors of each block comprise three penthouse flats. The towers are:

• Cromwell Tower, completed in 1973 – named after Oliver Cromwell{{cite web|url=http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=110659 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040629192411/http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=110659 |url-status=usurped |archive-date=29 June 2004 |title=Cromwell Tower |publisher=Emporis Buildings |access-date=11 January 2007}}
• {{visible anchor|Lauderdale Tower}}, completed in 1974 – named after the Earls of Lauderdale{{cite web|url=http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=110660 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040820014106/http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=110660 |url-status=usurped |archive-date=20 August 2004 |title=Lauderdale Tower |publisher=Emporis Buildings |access-date=11 January 2007}}
• Shakespeare Tower, completed in 1976 – named after William Shakespeare{{cite web|url=http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=110661 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040629191445/http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=110661 |url-status=usurped |archive-date=29 June 2004 |title=Shakespeare Tower |publisher=Emporis Buildings |access-date=11 January 2007}}
• Blake Tower, completed in 1971 – named after William Blake. Originally a YMCA but was converted to flats in 2015{{cite web|url=https://www.barbicanliving.co.uk/blocks/blake-tower/ |title=Blake Tower |publisher=Barbican Living |access-date=28 February 2025}}

Once the tallest residential towers in London, they were surpassed by the Pan Peninsula development on the Isle of Dogs.

The Barbican Estate also contains the Barbican Centre (an arts, drama and business venue), the Barbican public library, the City of London School for Girls, the Museum of London, and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. A YMCA building was constructed between 1965 and 1968 to link the Barbican and Golden Lane Estate; it is also listed. In 2015–16, the YMCA building was converted by Redrow Homes into a new residential block called Blake Tower with 74 flats run as part of the Barbican Estate.

File:St Giles Cripplegate and London Wall.jpg

The Barbican complex also is centered around St Giles Cripplegate, which survived the bombings of World War 2. Remnants of the London Wall, built in Roman era can be seen from the balconies of apartments and in the park area

The Barbican has had a number of well-known residents throughout its history, especially in the years immediately after it was completed, when it was considered one of the most prestigious residential developments in London. Notable residents have included:

• Robert Elms - Journalist and Broadcaster currently lives there and speaks about the estate on his BBC London show, as well as his wife having a Instagram account dedicated to the views from the flat
• Conservative Cabinet Minister Norman Tebbit, who lived in a house on Wallside with his wife until the 1984 Brighton hotel bombing{{cite news|url=https://www.ft.com/content/b6efbd68-82d4-11e9-a7f0-77d3101896ec |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/https://www.ft.com/content/b6efbd68-82d4-11e9-a7f0-77d3101896ec |archive-date=10 December 2022 |url-access=subscription |title=Meet the Barbican's original residents |newspaper=Financial Times |date=14 June 2019 |access-date=24 April 2020|last1=Morris |first1=Tom }}
• Leader of the Labour Party John Smith, who lived in Cromwell Tower with his family until his death in 1994
• Former leader of the National Union of Mineworkers Arthur Scargill
• Former Prime Minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto
• Andrew Bruce, 11th Earl of Elgin{{citation needed|date=January 2021}}
• Film and theatre director Sir Peter Hall
• Footballer George BestRobert Humphreys, The Rough Guide to London (London: Rough Guides, 2003) {{ISBN|9781843530930}}
• Investment adviser, commentator and author Bob Beckman"The sound of money", Pearson Phillips, The Times, 29 April 1987, p. 14.
• Author, journalist, and broadcaster Brian Redhead"Barbican comes of age", Jon Stock, The Times, 23 February 1991, p. 17.
• Senior British judge and Master of the Rolls John Donaldson and his wife, the first female Lord Mayor of London Mary Donaldson
• Artist Sir Michael Craig-Martin{{cite news|url=https://inews.co.uk/culture/sir-michael-craig-martin-creativity-coronavirus-lockdown-nhs-interview-423916 |title=Sir Michael Craig-Martin on creativity under coronavirus lockdown: 'Art doesn't have parameters' |work=inews.co.uk|access-date=30 June 2020}}{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/art-features/10690175/What-is-Michael-Craig-Martin-the-godfather-of-Brit-Art-doing-at-Chatsworth-House.html |title=What is Michael Craig-Martin, the godfather of Brit Art, doing at Chatsworth House?|work=The Daily Telegraph|access-date=30 June 2020}}
• Newspaper cartoonist Frank Dickens{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2016/07/11/frank-dickens-creator-of-bristow-comic-strip--obituary/ |title=Frank Dickens, creator of Bristow comic strip – obituary|work=The Daily Telegraph|access-date=6 September 2020}}
• Journalist and political activist S. W. Alexander{{cite web|url=http://archive.spectator.co.uk/article/8th-july-1972/27/sir-i-am-sure-you-will-receive-many-letters-of |title=S.W. Alexander in the Spectator|access-date=13 October 2020}}
• Writer and conservationist Robert Aickman lived in Willoughby House until 1977{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/robert-aickman-s-cult-horror-books-are-being-resurrected-centenary-his-birth-9655487.html|title=Robert Aickman's cult horror books are being resurrected for the centenary of his birth|website=The Independent|date=7 April 2014}}"Jean Richardson. "Memories of a Friend", Afterword to Robert Aickman, Cold Hand in Mine, London: Faber, 2014, pp. 346–47.
• Nickie Aiken, Conservative MP{{Cite web|url=https://www.nickieaiken.org.uk/node/6|title=Nickie Aiken MP|website=Nickie Aiken}}

{{in popular culture|section|date=January 2021}}

The Barbican features in Michael Paraskos's novel In Search of Sixpence as the home of the lead character, Geroud, and also a bar called "The Gin Bar" loosely based on the Gin Joint bar at the Barbican Centre.Michael Paraskos, In Search of Sixpence (London: Friction Fiction, 2015) {{ISBN|9780992924782}} Clive James's 1987 novel The Remake also used the Barbican as a major setting.

In the 2024 series of Call the Midwife, Nurse Trixie Aylward mentions she and her husband Matthew will be moving to the Barbican Estate once their property is finished.

The final scene of the 1983 vampire film, The Hunger, directed by Tony Scott and starring David Bowie, Catherine Deneuve and Susan Sarandon, was filmed in Cromwell Tower.{{Citation|title=The Hunger (1983) - IMDb|url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085701/locations|access-date=2022-02-16}}

The estate's Shakespeare Tower is featured in the 2000 film Gangster No. 1 as the home of the two main characters. This is an anachronism, as the film begins in 1968 and the tower was not constructed until 1976.{{Citation|title=Gangster No.1 Film Locations|url=https://movie-locations.com/movies/g/Gangster-No-1.php|access-date=2024-03-14}}

The Barbican towers can be seen in a sequence from the 1975 Disney film One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing, an unintentional anachronism for a film set in the 1920s.

The Barbican was also used to represent the MI6 headquarters in the James Bond film Quantum of Solace.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/feb/29/exhibition-marks-50-years-james-bond-films|title=Barbican to stage an exhibition to mark 50 years of James Bond films|first=Alex|last=Needham|date=29 February 2012|website=The Guardian}}

Various shots of the Barbican towers are shown on the inner record cover of the 1979 album Real to Real Cacophony by the Scottish rock band Simple Minds.{{citation needed|date=January 2021}}

The Barbican Estate is mentioned by name in the intro to English band Saint Etienne's song "Language Lab", from their 2002 Finisterre album.{{Citation|title=Saint Etienne – Language Lab|url=https://genius.com/Saint-etienne-language-lab-lyrics|access-date=2022-02-16}}

The titular skyscraper in J. G. Ballard's novel High Rise (and subsequent film) is largely inspired by the Barbican Estate's towers.{{cite news|url=https://www.1843magazine.com/design/the-daily/highrise-the-brutal-truth|title=High-Rise: the brutal truth|first=Joe|last=Lloyd|date=16 March 2016|newspaper=The Economist}}

The estate's Lauderdale Tower is home to fictional character Alice Morgan, a psychopathic murderer, in the BBC series Luther. Morgan lives in a sparsely furnished minimalist apartment on one of the tower's upper floors.

The estate is prominently featured in Skepta's "Shutdown" music video.

The estate is featured in several scenes of the Apple TV show Slow Horses. The show is focused on a group of MI5 agents working in Slough House based at 126 Aldersgate Street, which is opposite the Barbican Estate.

In the 2024 American TV series The Agency, Michael Fassbender's character, a CIA operative known only by his codename, Martian, lives in Lauderdale Tower.

The estate is featured in several scenes of the Star Wars TV show Andor.{{cite web |title=Andor filming locations |url=https://moviemaps.org/movies/4tv |website=MovieMaps |access-date=16 May 2024}} The brutalist complex was used as the backdrop for the fictional city world of Coruscant.

File:Barbican_Estate_-_August_2014_01.JPG|The Barbican Estate features underground parking, making space available for public squares.

File:Barbican_Estate,_London_3.jpg|A pond features pathways under the water level.

File:Barbican_steps_and_fountains.jpg|Pond scum has accumulated in a pond.

File:Barbican_gardens_(2631147905).jpg|A waterfall in the Barbican Gardens.

File:Barbican_Estate,_London_1.jpg|Concrete columns in the pond next to Lakeside Terrace

• Bastion House
• Museum of London
• St Giles-without-Cripplegate
• Garchey

{{Reflist}}

{{commons category|Barbican Estate}}

• {{official website|https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/services/barbican-estate}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20090301200144/http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/Corporation/LGNL_Services/Housing/Private_housing/Barbican_history/history.htm The history of the Barbican Estate]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20091116024940/http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/corporation/LGNL_Services/Housing/Private_housing/management.htm Corporation of London:Barbican Estate]
• [http://www.barbicanlife.com/ Barbican Life magazine]
• [http://londonist.com/2009/02/in_photos_secret_bit_of_the_barbica.php "Secret bits of the Barbican", Londonist]

{{City of London}}

{{London landmarks}}

{{coord|51|31|09|N|0|05|38|W|region:GB_type:landmark|display=title}}

Category:Brutalist architecture in London

Category:Grade II listed buildings in the City of London

Category:Housing estates in London

Category:Residential skyscrapers in London

Category:Skyscrapers in the City of London

Category:1960s establishments in England

Category:Residential buildings completed in 1973