Editing Elephant and Castle (section)

{{short description|Area in London, England}}
{{redirect|E&C|the professional wrestling tag team|Edge and Christian}}
{{for|the North American restaurant chain named after the area|Elephant and Castle Pub and Restaurant}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2024}}
{{infobox UK place
| country                  = England
| map_type                 = Greater London
| region                   = London
| population               =
| official_name            = Elephant and Castle
| coordinates              = {{coord|51|29|39|N|00|05|59|W|display=inline,title}}
| london_borough           = Southwark
| constituency_westminster = 
| post_town                = LONDON
| postcode_area            = SE
| postcode_district        = SE1, SE11, SE17
| dial_code                = 020
| os_grid_reference        = TQ319789
| pushpin_map              = United Kingdom London Southwark
| static_image_name        = Castle Square elephant.jpg
| static_image_caption     = The Elephant & Castle statue, salvaged from the Victorian pub of the same name
}}

'''Elephant and Castle''' is an area of [[South London]], England, in the [[London Borough of Southwark]]. The name also informally refers to much of [[Walworth]] and [[Newington, London|Newington]], due to the proximity of the [[Elephant & Castle tube station|London Underground station of the same name]]. The name is derived from a local [[coaching inn]].<ref name="BBC News">{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-19371334 |title=Heygate Estate residents fight compulsory purchase order |work=BBC News |date=29 August 2012 |access-date=29 March 2014}}</ref>

The major traffic junctions here are connected by a short road called Elephant and Castle, which is part of the [[A3 road|A3]]. Traffic runs to and from [[Kent]] along the [[A2 road (Great Britain)|A2]] ([[New Kent Road]] and [[Old Kent Road]]), much of the south of England on the A3, to the [[West End of London|West End]] via [[St George's Road]], and to the [[City of London]] via [[London Road, Southwark|London Road]] and [[Newington Causeway]] at the northern junction. [[Newington Butts]] and Walworth Road adjoin the southern junction. It forms part of the [[London Inner Ring Road]] and the boundary of the [[London congestion charge]] zone.

The subterranean [[River Neckinger]], which originates in [[Geraldine Mary Harmsworth Park]], flows east under the area towards [[St Saviour's Dock]] where it enters the Thames. The area was significantly remodelled in the 1960s as part of post-war reconstruction. A new wave of redevelopment began in the late 2000s with the demolition of the [[brutalist]] [[Heygate Estate]]. The various phases of the project are due to last until the late 2020s. The demolition of the shopping centre and [[The Coronet]] took place in 2021.

The Elephant has two linked [[Elephant & Castle tube station|London Underground]] stations, on the [[Northern line|Northern]] and [[Bakerloo line]]s, and a [[Elephant & Castle railway station|National Rail]] station served by limited [[Southeastern (train operating company)|Southeastern]] services and [[Thameslink and Great Northern|Thameslink]] suburban loop line services to Mitcham, Sutton and Wimbledon, and services to Kentish Town and St. Albans to Orpington or Sevenoaks via Catford.