Camden Head

The Camden Head is one of the oldest pubs in Camden, London, England having been established in 1787. It is also a former music venue and hosts comedy events.

This article is about the pub in Camden. For the pub in Islington, see Camden Passage.

The Camden Head, London

Camden Head from the front
Address	Camden High Street London, N1 United Kingdom
Coordinates	51.53730°N 0.14112°W / 51.53730; -0.14112
Public transit	Camden Town
Owner	Camden Bars
Capacity	300 standing, 60 seated
Construction
Built	1787 (1787)
Renovated	2004/05
Website
camdenhead.com

History

The Camden Head on Camden High Street is a public house and live venue which first opened towards the end of the 19th century, and has undergone several name changes: it was briefly known as "Liberties" for a period of a few years, before changing back to its former name, Camden Head, which is listed as a registered public house as far back as 1869 - run by then-publican George Soole.[1]

Photos of The Camden Head on the High Street, taken nearly 110 years apart

Camden Head in 1903

Camden Head in 2012

Nowadays, it is known for its local pub atmosphere and comedy venue, which has seen comedians such as Alan Carr, Stephen Merchant, Lee Kern and Bob Mortimer perform. It is not to be confused with The Camden Head in Islington, which is situated on Camden Passage.

Architecture

The Camden Head's architecture has changed little since its establishment in the 19th century, and testament to that exists in the form of a photo, dated 1903, which shows the building's appearance and similarity to that of the modern-day building. A copy of this photo can be found hanging in The Camden Head pub itself, and is archived at the Camden Local Studies and Archives Centre Catalogue[2]

Notable events

The Camden Head was an official venue of the yearly festival Camden Crawl.[3] It is a regular venue in the annual Camden Fringe where, in 2011, Richard Tyrone Jones performed.[4][5]

Synthpop band Ou Est Le Swimming Pool, originally from Camden, shot their video for Dance The Way I Feel upstairs in the Camden Head.

Camden Comedy Club

In September 2014, the pub relaunched its upstairs venue as Camden Comedy Club.

References

1. "UK Pubs and Public Houses Redirect". deadpubs.co.uk.
2. http://adlib.camden.gov.uk Archived 7 June 2012 at Wikiwix Camden Local Studies & Archives centre catalogue
3. "The Camden Crawl 2012 - 4 - 6 May 2012". thecamdencrawl.com. Archived from the original on 7 June 2012. Retrieved 6 June 2012.
4. Josh Loeb (29 July 2010), "Camden Fringe is upon us", West End Extra, archived from the original on 10 March 2014, retrieved 10 June 2012
5. Bella Todd (26 July 2011), Live Art: Camden Fringe

Further reading

• "Ornate and reliable Camden Head". London Evening Standard. 14 August 2007. Retrieved 9 June 2012.

External links

• Official website
• Camden Head on Google Maps
• A poorly scanned copy of "The Builder, Volume 71"; a weekly report of building enhancements from 1896
• London Pubs 1884 at Deadpubs.co.uk
• Camden Comedy Club website