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The Rookery
London, United Kingdom · Independent · Near Luxury
A rookery was the old London word for a slum, and this one still hides at 12 Peter's Lane, off Cowcross Street, in the last early houses by Smithfield. Peter McKay and Douglas Blain, the pair behind Hazlitt's, opened it in 1998 inside Georgian shops and Victorian cottages. Thirty-three rooms take their names from people who once lived in the alley, villains included. There is no restaurant. Breakfast comes on a tray, and the meat market is outside.
- 33 rooms
- Opened 1998
- Neighborhood: Clerkenwell
- Rooms from 237 sq ft (22 m²)
- Architect: Gus Alexander Architects
About The Rookery
- Number 6 Cowcross Street was built in 1780 for Thomas Hurford, a baker. Numbers 7 and 8 followed in 1798 for John Rodbard, a miller from Chigwell. Two large bread ovens are still inside number 7.
- Gus Alexander Architects kept the roofs and the outer walls, then fitted salvaged joinery, including mahogany panelling said to come from a bombed West End theatre. A 1996 tower in salvaged brick holds the Rook's Nest suite under a slate spire.
- McKay and Blain, antique dealers and founders of the Spitalfields Trust, also run The Gore in Kensington. The Rookery Hotel Limited was incorporated in 1995. The hotel opened three years later.
- Entry-level rooms start at 237 sq ft (22 m²).
History
The Rookery occupies the last early houses on Peter's Lane and Cowcross Street, Georgian shops from the 1780s and 1790s plus smaller Victorian houses, on ground that had been one of London's rookeries, the old word for a crowded slum outside the City wall. Gus Alexander Architects converted them for Peter McKay and Douglas Blain, who opened the hotel in 1998. The rooms are named for former neighbours. A brick tower of salvaged brick, finished in 1996, contains the Rook's Nest.
The setting
12 Peter's Lane, Cowcross Street, Clerkenwell, EC1M 6DS, a traffic-free alley beside Smithfield Market, with Farringdon station close by. St John's Gate and the hidden church of St Bartholomew the Great are the old neighbours. This is Clerkenwell, not the Square Mile, though St Paul's is a walk.
Amenities
- Free WiFi in the Boardroom
- Air-conditioned Drawing Room with abundant natural daylight
- Additional equipment available on request
- Working lunch available on request
Open The Rookery in the atlas for live weekend rates, photos, and the full folio.
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