Royal College Street

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).[1]

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[2][3] 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.[3] 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.[4] The campaign to save the house was run over many years by Gerry Harrison,[5] a Camden councillor, during the process of which many celebrities have rallied to the cause, including the actor Simon Callow,[6] the writers Julian Barnes,[5][7] Lisa Appignanesi[5] and Tracy Chevalier and the rock star Patti Smith. In 2007 the house was bought and fully restored by a new owner who has 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.