The Turnmills building was a warehouse originally on the corner of Turnmill Street and

Clerkenwell Road Clerkenwell Road is a street in London. It runs west–east from Gray's Inn Road in the west, to Goswell Road in the east. Its continuation at either end is Theobald's Road and Old Street respectively. Clerkenwell Road and Theobalds Road wer ...

in the

London Borough of Islington The London Borough of Islington ( ) is a London borough, borough in North London, England. Forming part of Inner London, Islington has an estimated population of 215,667. It was formed in 1965, under the London Government Act 1963, by the amalg ...

. It became a bar in the 1980s, then a nightclub. The club closed in 2008 and the building was later demolished, replaced with an office building.

History

The Victorian building opened in 1886 and was originally used as a warehouse and stables by the Great Northern Railway Company. The building later became a warehouse for Booth's Dry Gin distillery before changing hands in 1985 and becoming a bar. The Clerkenwell area was well known for its gin distilleries during the Victorian era.

Gordon's Gin Gordon's is a brand of London dry gin first produced in 1769. The top markets for Gordon's are the United Kingdom, the United States and Greece. It is owned by the British multinational alcoholic beverage company Diageo. It is the world's best- ...

distillery was originally sited in Goswell Road/Moreland Street, EC1, not far from Turnmills. In a bid to try to save the building from demolition, various objections were put forward to Islington Council. William Palin, secretary of Save Britain's Heritage, said that "It may not be as architecturally stunning as the

Sessions House A sessions house in the United Kingdom was historically a courthouse that served as a dedicated court of quarter sessions, where criminal trials were held four times a year on quarter days. Sessions houses were also used for other purposes to do w ...

across the road but it’s a really good-quality commercial and industrial building. It’s a good example of an old building that’s been successfully re-used in a number of ways." Although

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...

argued that the building possessed historic and aesthetic value, the building was finally deemed not to be of considerable significance to be saved from the wrecking ball. The building finally closed on 24 March 2008.

Club

In 1985 John Newman purchased the lease on the building and opened a bar/restaurant on the site. In 1990, the venue evolved into a nightclub. The first successful club night held at Turnmills was ''Xanadu,'' run and co-hosted by London club promoters Robert Pereno and Laurence Malice. The venue was the first to obtain a 24-hour alcohol licence in the UK, spearheading the move to all-night clubbing in the 1990s and became the home of several club nights including ''

Trade Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. Traders generally negotiate through a medium of cr ...

'', the first legal after-hours club in Britain.

Club nights

Monday nights

* The Well (1998): Progressive trance music.

Tuesday nights

* DJ MARY MC & Beautiful Friends. (1993). Mary Mc Caughey with special guest DJs.

Thursday nights

* Essence. (Autumn/winter 1992/3) * Twister. (2000-moved to Saturdays with Roach 2001–2002

Friday nights

* The Gallery (in-house event) playing progressive house, trance and techno.

Saturday nights

* Xanadu – co-hosted and run by Robert Pereno & Laurence Malice * Heavenly Social. *

(1990–2002 weekly, actually opened 4am Sunday Mornings) – hosted and run by Laurence Malice. * Smartie Partie (2003–March 2008), monthly resident. Was suspended indefinitely in 2008 following a legal dispute with Nestlé over use of the trademark "Smarties". * City Loud (3rd Saturday of each month)—House music. * Release Yourself presented by Roger Sanchez (various parties, 2002–2007) * Elements (2001). * Roach (2002–2003), Tom Stephan hosted a monthly deep & tech session.

Sunday nights

* FF (1989–1996) * Warriors (1996–1997) originally run by Buffalo, Spike, Taz and DJ Lord Kaos (Nursie). * Melt (1997–1999) Techno, Nu-Nrg Club. * Habit (2000–2001) Judge Jules 2

Closure

On 24 January 2008, Danny Newman announced the building would close on 23 March 2008 as a clubbing venue, due to the expiry of the lease on the building. The building was later demolished and a new office building (despite objections) was built in its place. Publicis Sapient are now located in the new building.

References

External links

Official website
{{Coord, 51, 31, 19.38, N, 00, 06, 21.24, W, type:landmark_region:GB-MAN, display=title Nightclubs in London Buildings and structures in the London Borough of Islington Music venues in London Defunct nightclubs in the United Kingdom Electronic dance music venues Farringdon, London