Eyre and Eton in Camden: Uncovering the Colonial Histories of Three North London Housing Estates

This article analyses the colonial histories of three north London housing estates. A kilometre apart from each other and built under different social policy conditions, Hilgrove, Chalcots, and Alexandra Road Estates all share colonial histories. We trace the role of the slave-holding Eyre Estate in influencing the architecture of Hilgrove Estate; uncover how the Eyre Estate clashed with residents and the London Borough of Camden over Alexandra Road Estate; and consider Eton College’s links to enslavement and its ownership of Chalcots Estate. We tell these histories with the aim of beginning a conversation around how to decolonise the way the city is known, linking the histories of the three estates with the colonialities of property and the welfare state. We do this to reflect on the implications a decolonial approach may have for new approaches to the history of public housing and the struggle for its future.