Photography: Nicki Szlovak
Camberwell is a lively and unique area of London. It has a strong reputation for arts which the College and its neighbour, South London Gallery, are at the heart of. In fact more artists live and work in the area than anywhere else in London. The art scene is young and vibrant and engrained in the local community. You’ll find artist-run spaces everywhere, pubs lending their unused spaces out to art students and even a sculpture park on top of a multi-storey car park!
Within Camberwell itself and neighbouring Peckham, there are some great places to go out. Student favourites are The Hermits Cave, The Phoenix and The Tiger in Camberwell Green and Bar Story and The Bussey Building in Peckham.
Once you get a taste for the area, it can be a hard place to leave which is why you’ll find Camberwell graduates running many of the local art and design studios such as The Sunday Painter, Day Job and Garudio Studiage.
You can also get some of the best food in London at really affordable prices with the restaurants, cafes and grocery stores reflecting the rich mix of people living in the area. The South London Gallery next door to the College has an amazing cafe attached and their breakfast is renowned for being one of the best in London. The Spanish restaurant, Angels and Gypsies, attracts people from afar for its delicious tapas and there are some wonderful little cafes for lunch. Our students are particularly fond of Sophacles Bakery for door-wedge sandwiches and Falafel Lebanese Cuisine for tasty wraps.
It is very easy to centre your social life in the area without having to worry about heading into Central London but for when you do want to get to other parts of London, the new Overground Line at Peckham Rye and Denmark Hill is really convenient. You can get to Shoreditch, Islington and Clapham – all popular areas with students – very quickly, and buses run every few minutes to all parts of the city.
Camberwell may look a little gritty on the outside but it is an easy place to fall in love with. It is a creative community that inspires us and is one that we are proud to be a part of and work alongside.