Goodwin’s Court – London’s “real” Diagon Alley

Published on 27th September 2008 by ianVisits in London's Alleys and Passages

In the world of Harry Potter is a place – a magical place full of Dickensian shops for the convenience of magicians and students – a place called Diagon Alley. Would it amaze you to learn that such a place actually exists in London?

There is an alley in London which I have known about for some years and wanted to take photos of to write about – but alas, whenever I am near and remember I invariably don’t have my camera, and logically when I have my camera I tend to forget. Today, man and machine were as one – and I finally remembered to take some photos of this delightful, and historic little alleyway.

Dear readers – welcome to the real Diagon Alley.

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To get here though does not need a magic wand, but just a set of sturdy shoes. Wander along to St Martins Lane, and on the Eastern side you may spy a small dirty alley entrance with a sign to Goodwin’s Court. Do not fret about the squalor, but venture inside with a brave heart and upon turning a slight corner – you shall come upon the delight which is straight out of a Dickens novel (or a Harry Potter book).

One side is frankly, not that impressive – but the other side is, to my amateur eyes a row of Georgian houses with wonderful wooden bay windows, and even more delightfully is still lit by gas lamps.

Gas Lamp close upSome of the doors have still the lion-head knockers you should expect of such heritage and despite being in the very heart of Theatreland is surprisingly devoid of pedestrians. This could be partly due to it frankly not being much use as a short cut so not something people are going to use.

According to the Survey of London, Goodwin’s Court first appears in the ratebooks in 1690, replacing Fishers Alley which had occupied a similar position in preceding years, and it seems probable that the houses in the court and those on either side of it, i.e. the present Nos. 55 and 56, St. Martin’s Lane, were erected in that year.

It is therefore a true relic of London history – but I have been unable to find out much more about it alas. However, this is an alley that is worth visiting, not for quaint historic reasons, but for a small dose of nostalgia.

A few photos on my usual Flickr account.

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Tagged with georgian, harry potter

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16 Comments on “Goodwin’s Court – London’s “real” Diagon Alley”

  2. The geocities site does turn up occasionally in my google searches when researching old alleyways.

    I also tend to trawl through old maps, the old baily archive and the national archives for information.

  5. My Dad’s great great grandparents lived on Fisher’s Alley in 1841, would this be the same one as the one near Fleet Street? I know they were very poor, and ended up moving over to Greenwich

  6. Hello! How could I really get there?
    How do you know this is the real Diagon alley?

  7. If you read the blog post – it explains exactly where the alley is.

  8. can you please help me get a magic wand there in diagon alley,london …ohhh…please i really really really need your help……..please reply as soon as possible…..cause i want to become a wizard since i was 4 years…..ohh…please

  10. Is that Diagon Alley Is Real ? I want go to London . I Really really want to get the magic wand .

  11. I’ve got a friend who works in one of the offices along this alleyway. He’s become quite used to finding crowds of young girls in wizard hats peering through his window as he works!

  12. (not the Karl above)
    Just trawling through your archives.
    Re Goodwin Court if you read the series of novels by John Lawton (the 1st being Black Out set in 1944), about a police detective who actually lives in Goodwin Court. Very good books they are too!