Old Street Roundabout
Encyclopedia
Old Street Roundabout is located on the boundary of the London Borough of Hackney
and the London Borough of Islington
, and is an interchange system at the junction of Old Street
and City Road
. The area surrounding the roundabout is often colloquially known as Silicon Roundabout, owing to the prominence of British web-based companies and the nearest church
is St John's Hoxton
.
City Road
heads south from the roundabout towards the City of London
, and to the Moorgate
and Liverpool Street
railway stations. City Road also heads into north London
, towards Angel
, King's Cross, St Pancras
and Euston. This area lies in the London congestion charge
zone.
Old Street
heads west towards central London
and the West End
. Old Street also heads into the East End and the London Borough of Hackney
, towards Shoreditch
and Dalston
.
is below Old Street Roundabout; it is served by the Northern Line
(Bank branch) of the London Underground
, and by First Capital Connect
trains.
at the junction of City Road
and Old Street
is known as the Silicon Roundabout, owing to the high number of web businesses located in the immediate area, and as a reference to Silicon Valley
, California
. The term was coined by Dopplr.com CTO Matt Biddulph on Twitter.
Amongst the first technology companies located in the area were Dopplr
, Last.fm
, Consolidated Independent, Tinker.it, TweetDeck
, Berg
, Trampoline Systems, AMEE
, Skimbit, Fotango, weartical.com, Songkick
, Techlightenment, Poke London, Kizoom, BrightLemon, Redmonk, Moo, LShift and Livemusic
. In 2010 there were 85 startup companies in the area.
In addition to web companies, several games development firms are located in the area, including Sports Interactive
.
On 28 September 2011, it was announced that Google had acquired a 7 story building just off of Silicon Roundabout. There has been no confirmation as to what Google will be using this building for, nor details of any potential job openings in that area at present.
accidents. According to Charlie Lloyd of London Cycling Campaign
, the junction is among the top three in London for accidents involving cyclists. Within a few days in February 2011 alone, two cyclists were severely injured in collisions involving lorries on or very close to the roundabout
. In another crash with a lorry in 2008 a cyclist suffered severe leg injuries which the police described as "potentially life-changing". Cycling activists are calling the roundabout
"the junction of death", although it is not known that fatal accidents have happened here in recent years. Cycling activists recommend that cyclists avoid Old Street Roundabout, by using either Leonard Street (east-west direction), Bath Street (northbound) or Wellesley Terrace/Mora Street/Lever Street (southbound).
London Borough of Hackney
The London Borough of Hackney is a London borough of North/North East London, and forms part of inner London. The local authority is Hackney London Borough Council....
and the London Borough of Islington
London Borough of Islington
The London Borough of Islington is a London borough in Inner London. It was formed in 1965 by merging the former metropolitan boroughs of Islington and Finsbury. The borough contains two Westminster parliamentary constituencies, Islington North and Islington South & Finsbury...
, and is an interchange system at the junction of Old Street
Old Street
Old Street is a street in east London that runs west to east from Goswell Road in Clerkenwell, in the London Borough of Islington, to the crossroads where it intersects with Shoreditch High Street , Kingsland Road and Hackney Road in Shoreditch in the London Borough of Hackney.The nearest...
and City Road
City Road
City Road or The City Road is a road that runs through inner north and central London. The northwestern extremity of the road is at the Angel, Islington where it forms a continuation of Pentonville Road. Pentonville Road itself is the modern name for London's first bypass, the New Road from...
. The area surrounding the roundabout is often colloquially known as Silicon Roundabout, owing to the prominence of British web-based companies and the nearest church
Church
In the Christian religion, a church building is a building or structure whose primary purpose is to facilitate the meeting of a church. Originally, Jewish Christians met in synagogues, such as the Cenacle, and in one another's homes, known as house churches...
is St John's Hoxton
St John the Baptist, Hoxton
The Church of St John the Baptist, Hoxton, usually known as St John's Hoxton, is an urban Anglican church in Hoxton, Hackney, a host borough of London2012....
.
Connections
City Road
City Road or The City Road is a road that runs through inner north and central London. The northwestern extremity of the road is at the Angel, Islington where it forms a continuation of Pentonville Road. Pentonville Road itself is the modern name for London's first bypass, the New Road from...
heads south from the roundabout towards the City of London
City of London
The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...
, and to the Moorgate
Moorgate
Moorgate was a postern in the London Wall originally built by the Romans. It was turned into a gate in the 15th century. Though the gate was demolished in 1762, the name survives as a major street in the City of London...
and Liverpool Street
Liverpool Street
Liverpool Street can refer to:*Liverpool Street station, a major mainline railway station in Central London, England*Liverpool Street, Hobart, a major street in the Hobart city centre....
railway stations. City Road also heads into north London
North London
North London is the northern part of London, England. It is an imprecise description and the area it covers is defined differently for a range of purposes. Common to these definitions is that it includes districts located north of the River Thames and is used in comparison with South...
, towards Angel
Angel
Angels are mythical beings often depicted as messengers of God in the Hebrew and Christian Bibles along with the Quran. The English word angel is derived from the Greek ἄγγελος, a translation of in the Hebrew Bible ; a similar term, ملائكة , is used in the Qur'an...
, King's Cross, St Pancras
St Pancras, London
St Pancras is an area of London. For many centuries the name has been used for various officially-designated areas, but now is used informally and rarely having been largely superseded by several other names for overlapping districts.-Ancient parish:...
and Euston. This area lies in the London congestion charge
London congestion charge
The London congestion charge is a fee charged for some categories of motor vehicle to travel at certain times within the Congestion Charge Zone , a traffic area in London. The charge aims to reduce congestion, and raise investment funds for London's transport system...
zone.
Old Street
Old Street
Old Street is a street in east London that runs west to east from Goswell Road in Clerkenwell, in the London Borough of Islington, to the crossroads where it intersects with Shoreditch High Street , Kingsland Road and Hackney Road in Shoreditch in the London Borough of Hackney.The nearest...
heads west towards central London
Central London
Central London is the innermost part of London, England. There is no official or commonly accepted definition of its area, but its characteristics are understood to include a high density built environment, high land values, an elevated daytime population and a concentration of regionally,...
and the West End
West End of London
The West End of London is an area of central London, containing many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government buildings, and entertainment . Use of the term began in the early 19th century to describe fashionable areas to the west of Charing Cross...
. Old Street also heads into the East End and the London Borough of Hackney
London Borough of Hackney
The London Borough of Hackney is a London borough of North/North East London, and forms part of inner London. The local authority is Hackney London Borough Council....
, towards Shoreditch
Shoreditch
Shoreditch is an area of London within the London Borough of Hackney in England. It is a built-up part of the inner city immediately to the north of the City of London, located east-northeast of Charing Cross.-Etymology:...
and Dalston
Dalston
Dalston is a district of north-east London, England, located in the London Borough of Hackney. It is situated northeast of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London...
.
St Agnes Well
The shopping complex in the underpass at the centre of the roundabout is named St Agnes Well, after an ancient well thought to have been located about 200 metres to the east, at the junction of Old Street and Great Eastern Street.Old Street station
Old Street StationOld Street station
Old Street station is a central London National Rail and London Underground station located at the junction of Old Street and City Road just north of the City of London. It lies close to the border between the boroughs of Islington and Hackney...
is below Old Street Roundabout; it is served by the Northern Line
Northern Line
The Northern line is a London Underground line. It is coloured black on the Tube map.For most of its length it is a deep-level tube line. The line carries 206,734,000 passengers per year. This is the highest number of any line on the London Underground system, but the Northern line is unique in...
(Bank branch) of the London Underground
London Underground
The London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...
, and by First Capital Connect
First Capital Connect
First Capital Connect is a passenger train operating company in England that began operations on the National Rail network on 1 April 2006...
trains.
Silicon Roundabout
The roundaboutRoundabout
A roundabout is the name for a road junction in which traffic moves in one direction around a central island. The word dates from the early 20th century. Roundabouts are common in many countries around the world...
at the junction of City Road
City Road
City Road or The City Road is a road that runs through inner north and central London. The northwestern extremity of the road is at the Angel, Islington where it forms a continuation of Pentonville Road. Pentonville Road itself is the modern name for London's first bypass, the New Road from...
and Old Street
Old Street
Old Street is a street in east London that runs west to east from Goswell Road in Clerkenwell, in the London Borough of Islington, to the crossroads where it intersects with Shoreditch High Street , Kingsland Road and Hackney Road in Shoreditch in the London Borough of Hackney.The nearest...
is known as the Silicon Roundabout, owing to the high number of web businesses located in the immediate area, and as a reference to Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley is a term which refers to the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California in the United States. The region is home to many of the world's largest technology corporations...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. The term was coined by Dopplr.com CTO Matt Biddulph on Twitter.
Amongst the first technology companies located in the area were Dopplr
Dopplr
Dopplr is a free social networking service, launched in 2007, that allows users to create itineraries of their travel plans and spot correlations with their contacts’ travel plans in order to arrange meetings at any point on their journey. Additional features include allowing the user to calculate...
, Last.fm
Last.fm
Last.fm is a music website, founded in the United Kingdom in 2002. It has claimed 30 million active users in March 2009. On 30 May 2007, CBS Interactive acquired Last.fm for UK£140m ....
, Consolidated Independent, Tinker.it, TweetDeck
TweetDeck
TweetDeck is an Adobe AIR desktop application for Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google Buzz, Foursquare, and MySpace. Like other Twitter applications it interfaces with the Twitter API to allow users to send and receive tweets and view profiles...
, Berg
Berg
Berg is the word for mountain in various Germanic languages, and may also refer to:-People:* Alban Berg , Austrian composer of the Second Viennese School.* Paul Berg Berg is the word for mountain in various Germanic languages, and may also refer to:-People:* Alban Berg (1885-1935), Austrian...
, Trampoline Systems, AMEE
Avoiding Mass Extinctions Engine
Avoiding Mass Extinctions Engine is a software project that is designed to create a standard for carbon dioxide data, algorithms and profiling.- Overview :...
, Skimbit, Fotango, weartical.com, Songkick
Songkick
Songkick is a website and service that provides personalized news about live music events. It allows users to track their favorite bands and receive email alerts when a tracked band plays a gig nearby. Songkick is one of the original high tech startups in London's Silicon Roundabout area.- Service...
, Techlightenment, Poke London, Kizoom, BrightLemon, Redmonk, Moo, LShift and Livemusic
Livemusic
Livemusic is a UK music concert listings website and ticket aggregator. It enables users to compare ticket prices between ticket agents , follow artists to receive email alerts with information on gigs, connect with fellow gig-attendees, and post their own reviews...
. In 2010 there were 85 startup companies in the area.
In addition to web companies, several games development firms are located in the area, including Sports Interactive
Sports Interactive
Sports Interactive Limited is a computer games development company currently based in Old Street, Central London and owned by the Japanese software and video game company Sega. It is the developer of the popular games Football Manager, NHL Eastside Hockey Manager and Championship Manager Quiz, and...
.
On 28 September 2011, it was announced that Google had acquired a 7 story building just off of Silicon Roundabout. There has been no confirmation as to what Google will be using this building for, nor details of any potential job openings in that area at present.
Cycling accidents
The Old Street roundabout is a notorious hot spot for severe cyclingCycling
Cycling, also called bicycling or biking, is the use of bicycles for transport, recreation, or for sport. Persons engaged in cycling are cyclists or bicyclists...
accidents. According to Charlie Lloyd of London Cycling Campaign
London Cycling Campaign
The London Cycling Campaign is an independent membership charity lobbying for better conditions for cyclists in London. Its vision is to make London "a world-class cycling city"...
, the junction is among the top three in London for accidents involving cyclists. Within a few days in February 2011 alone, two cyclists were severely injured in collisions involving lorries on or very close to the roundabout
Roundabout
A roundabout is the name for a road junction in which traffic moves in one direction around a central island. The word dates from the early 20th century. Roundabouts are common in many countries around the world...
. In another crash with a lorry in 2008 a cyclist suffered severe leg injuries which the police described as "potentially life-changing". Cycling activists are calling the roundabout
Roundabout
A roundabout is the name for a road junction in which traffic moves in one direction around a central island. The word dates from the early 20th century. Roundabouts are common in many countries around the world...
"the junction of death", although it is not known that fatal accidents have happened here in recent years. Cycling activists recommend that cyclists avoid Old Street Roundabout, by using either Leonard Street (east-west direction), Bath Street (northbound) or Wellesley Terrace/Mora Street/Lever Street (southbound).