Now a large housing complex on the Brixton/Stockwell border, Angell Town takes its name from the eccentric landowner John Angell, who died in 1784. His grandfather Justinian
had acquired the property by marriage. Angell Town was built up in the early nineteenth century as a desirable estate for
the new middle classes. Most of the old town was replaced in the 1970s by a council estate that combined 1960s-style blocks
with the newer concept of overhead walkways and linking bridges, some of which were later removed in an attempt to prevent
robbers and vandals making easy getaways. A bridge was supposed to cross Brixton Road to the social facilities on the Stockwell
Park estate, but it was never built. Angell Town soon gained a reputation for neglect and decline and became stigmatised as
a sink estate. In a scheme notable for the high degree of residents’ participation in the consultative process, the
estate was radically redeveloped from the mid-1990s. The deck-access system was converted to a street format based on terraced
homes with individual entrances and unused garages were replaced with shops and community facilities.
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