In 1824 Charles Dickens lived in what is now the upper part of College Place, Camden at No. 112 (the street was then known as Little College Street).[2]
Rimbaud and Verlaine
8 Royal College Street in 2007, before restoration
No 8. Royal College Street (then known as Great College Street) was occupied by the French poets Arthur Rimbaud and Paul Verlaine[3][4] during their celebrated and stormy sojourn in London in 1873.
The Rimbaud and Verlaine Foundation intends to create a "poetry house" at 8 Royal College Street.[4] The Foundation was initiated by Poet in the City, which inherited a campaign to create an Anglo-French cultural centre at Rimbaud and Verlaine's former home.[5] The campaign to save the house was run over many years by Gerry Harrison,[6] a Camden councillor, during the process of which many celebrities have rallied to the cause, including the actor Simon Callow,[7] the writers Julian Barnes,[6][8]Lisa Appignanesi[6] and Tracy Chevalier and the rock star Patti Smith. In 2007 the house was bought and fully restored by a new owner who agreed to give the house for use as an Anglo-French cultural centre. Poet in the City, and now the Rimbaud and Verlaine Foundation, with the support of the Fondation L-A Finances pour la Poésie in Paris and the law firm Herbert Smith, are seeking to raise money for a maintenance fund, allowing for the creation of a "poetry house" at 8 Royal College Street. However, the house was put up for sale by its owner in November 2020.[9]
