London’s Alleys: Bell Hill, CR0

This very short cobbled passage next to Croydon’s ancient market is also one of the few survivors of the original medieval layout of Old Croydon town centre.

The area was changed in the 1890s when the road layout was changed, leaving just Bell Hill and Middle Street on their original alignments. Bell Hill still retains much of its medieval character though, and the rear elevations of the 17th-century building at 11-13 Crown Hill overhang the narrow alley.

The faux Tudor effect above the KFC (at time of writing) is however entirely modern as The Vctory pub was demolished in 1977. Sadly, demolition also means that the area lost what seems to have been some lovely-looking Victorian tiling on the pub’s ground floor.

The alley used to be open to road traffic but is now a pedestrian-only route with stone paving flush with a narrow carriageway of granite setts laid in a fantail pattern. A tip when walking around, if the cobbles (setts) look old and are laid out in a regular grid then they might be old, but if the layout is patterned, then they are modern. The difference is that the stone setts have edges for horses to grip on, which works best when laid out in regular lines and not fancy patterns.

Apart from its age as one of the oldest paths in Croydon, the alley has another modern history, as part of the town’s sometimes surprisingly rich musical history.

If you wander around Croydon, you might spot metal plaques in the ground marking local musical heritage, and Bell Hill is no different, with a sign celebrating two music stores that used to be here, Europe’s largest second-hand record store, Beanos and also dubstep pioneer Big Apple Records.

The building that Beanos once occupied is interesting, as it’s laid out as if it was a community hall, with glazed roof, and seems to have been an extension of the Britannia pub that used to be on the corner — today the Mr Fox venue. It’s very speculative, but looking at an old map from 1868, it seems that the hall was added into an empty courtyard space, possibly by the pub covering its outdoor space with a venue to rent out. There is a date shield at the top of the building, suggesting it was built in 1900. The pub closed in 1939, and reopened as the the Britannia Club in 1943, as , a residential club for servicewomen in the military during WWII.

The hall is now separate and rented out as The Venue on Middle Street – the entrance being via a former printing works on Middle Street, and the old entrance used by untold numbers of music fans buying cassettes and singles — is now just the side entrance for wedding parties.