Things you didn't know about... Holloway

Holloway has the largest teaching science laboratory in Europe
It's located at the London Metropolitan University on Holloway Road. Called the Super-Lab, it allows 280 students to do experiments independently at any one time.

Holloway has a destination that doesn't exist
If you see the name Nag's Head, Holloway on a bus or map, be warned that the pub doesn't exist any more (it used to be one of just three pubs in London that are also bus destinations).

Holloway prison held Oscar Wilde for a while
Holloway is usually thought of as a women's prison, but until 1903 it was mixed. Famous inmates have also included Ruth Ellis and Myra Hindley. The front of the prison was copied from Warwick Castle.

Animal Hospital was filmed in Holloway
The popular TV series hosted by Rolf Harris was based at Harmsworth Hospital in Holloway. It treats up to 160 animals per day.

The Holloways are from Holloway

Unsurprisingly, the indie group are all from on, or near, the Holloway Road. They formed in a Holloway Road pub in 2004.

Holloway has a stadium with 2000 doors
Arsenal's Emirates Stadium is technically within the district of Holloway. It has 2,000 doors, 15,000 sq m (160,000 sq ft) of glazing and 100 flights of stairs.

Holloway used to have a spiral escalator
Located in Holloway Road tube station, it was abandoned in the 1950s after one breakdown too many.

Holloway—the Windy City?
When Nick Hornby's book High Fidelity (set in Holloway, like much of his fiction) was transformed into an American movie in 2000, the director compared the Holloway Road to... Chicago.

Names associated with Holloway include...
...Lily Allen, Johnny Rotten, Kate Winslet, Sir John Betjeman (all are former residents).

The Gunpowder plotters stopped for a drink in Holloway...
...on their way up the hill to watch Parliament exploding. But, of course, it never did. They supposedly stopped at the Mother Redcap pub, which is still there.

So what's in a name?
Opinion is divided as to the derivation of Holloway's name. Some say it meant "the hollow way", due to a dip in the road caused by water erosion and the passage of animals as this was the main route to Smithfields meat market in the City. Others maintain it is a corruption of "the hallow way", a reference to the religious association of being the first stage of the journey for those on a pilgrimage to the shrine of Walsingham in Norfolk.