Editing Elephant and Castle (section)

=== Peak years: 1900–1939 ===
The area became the location for a thriving shopping area, known as "the Piccadilly (Circus) of South London",<ref name="BBC News"/> with its own department store (William Tarn and Co) and many smaller outlets. Also featured were a shoe factory, a branch of Burton and a renowned hatter.

In 1930, the Trocadero, a monumental neo-Renaissance style picture house seating over 3000 and fitted with the largest [[Wurlitzer]] organ imported to the United Kingdom, was built at the northern corner of the New Kent Road (a plaque commemorating the building was unveiled in 2008 by [[Denis Norden]], who had worked there in his youth).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.trocadero-wurlitzer.org/history/history.html |title=History |publisher=The Trocadero Wurlitzer Trust |access-date=16 September 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140513235523/http://trocadero-wurlitzer.org/history/history.html |archive-date=13 May 2014 }}</ref> This was replaced in 1966 by a smaller cinema (the Odeon, known for a time after closure as an Odeon in 1982 as the Coronet, not to be confused with the Coronet below) which was demolished in 1988.

In 1932, another cinema opened across the street, [[The Coronet]]. From the early to mid 2000s until its eventual closure for impending demolition, The Coronet building was mostly used as a night-club and concert venue.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://coronettheatre.co.uk/ |title=Coronet – The Coronet Theatre London |work=coronettheatre.co.uk}}</ref>

At the time it seated over 2000 people, and was an art-deco conversion of the Elephant and Castle theatre, opened in 1879 on the site of the short-lived Theatre Royal (built in 1872 and burnt down six years later). It was reconstructed in 1882 and again in 1902.

One monument to cinema still remains just off the Elephant, the [[Cinema Museum (London)|Cinema Museum]] is a volunteer-run museum with screenings of classic cinema and a vast collection of cinema memorabilia. It is located in the old workhouse where [[Charlie Chaplin]] spent time as a child.

==== Second World War ====

The Elephant was the centre of the target zone for the German air raids on London on 10 May 1941 and suffered "raging fires".<ref>Mortimer, Gavin. ''The Bombing of London on 10 May 1941''. The Berkeley Publishing Group, 2005. p. 18, 251.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.military-history.org/articles/world-war-2/blitz-ww2.htm |title=Blitz WW2 – The Battle of London |publisher=Military History Monthly |date=22 January 2011|access-date=2 May 2014}}</ref>

==== Post-war rebuilding (1945–2000) ====
[[File:E&Cshoppingcentre.jpg|thumb|322x322px|The Elephant and Castle shopping centre, [[Hannibal House]] and [[The Coronet]] in September 2020]]
The major development of the 1960s consisted of post-war reconstruction to a larger metropolitan plan, much of it replacing properties destroyed by bombing in World War II and creating two infamous roundabouts.

The Metropolitan Tabernacle was reconstructed behind its preserved classical facade to a smaller scale than the original. Alexander Fleming House (1959), originally a group of government office blocks and now [[Metro Central Heights]] residential complex, is a prime example of the work of the Hungarian modernist architect [[Ernő Goldfinger]].

The shopping centre, designed by Boissevain & Osmond for the Willets Group, was opened in March 1965. It was the first covered shopping mall in Europe,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/lifestyle/reinvent-the-high-street/10370532/Reinventing-the-high-street-Elephant-and-Castles-transformation.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/lifestyle/reinvent-the-high-street/10370532/Reinventing-the-high-street-Elephant-and-Castles-transformation.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Reinventing the high street: Elephant and Castle's transformation |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |date=14 October 2013 |location=London |access-date=29 March 2014}}{{cbignore}}</ref> with 120 shops on three levels and a two-storey underground car-park. In the sales brochure (1963), Willets claimed it to be the "largest and most ambitious shopping venture ever to be embarked upon in London. In design planning and vision it represents an entirely new approach to retailing, setting standards for the sixties that will revolutionise shopping concepts throughout Britain." When it opened, budget restrictions meant that the proportions and finishes of the building had had to be scaled down and only 29 out of a possible 120 shops were trading. The demolition of the shopping centre and [[The Coronet]] took place in 2021.

The Elephant is the location of the [[London College of Communication]], formerly the London College of Printing, an internationally renowned dedicated college, part of [[University of the Arts London]]. The present structure was constructed during the redevelopment of the area in the early 1960s. It is slated for demolition in the mid 2020s, when the college is due to move to a new campus being built on the site of the Coronet Theatre.

In 1974 the [[Brutalist]] [[Heygate Estate]], designed by Tim Tinker,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2011/mar/04/death-housing-ideal |location=London |work=The Guardian |first=Stephen |last=Moss |title=The death of a housing ideal |date=4 March 2011}}</ref> was completed.<ref name=guardian>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2001/dec/23/life1.lifemagazine1 |title=The Elephant's grave yard |newspaper=The Guardian |location=London |date=23 December 2001 | access-date=4 May 2010 |first=Michael |last=Collins}}</ref>  It was home to more than 3,000 people.<ref name="youngfoundation.org">{{cite web |url=http://www.planning.ri.gov/documents/comp/Design_for_Social_Sustainability.pdf |title=Design for Social Sustainability : A Framework for Creating Thriving New Communities |publisher=Planning.ri.gov |access-date=28 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140304222014/http://www.planning.ri.gov/documents/comp/Design_for_Social_Sustainability.pdf |archive-date=4 March 2014 |url-status=dead}}</ref>  The estate was once a popular place to live, the flats being thought light and spacious,<ref name="Walker">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2010/sep/03/heygate-estate-south-london-hollywood |title=South London's Heygate estate mourned by locals – and Hollywood |work=The Guardian |first=Peter |last=Walker |date=3 September 2010}}</ref> but the estate later developed a reputation for crime, poverty and dilapidation.<ref name=bbc>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/insideout/content/articles/2009/03/05/london_heygate_s15_w8_video_feature.shtml |title=Heygate estate |publisher=BBC London | access-date=2 October 2013}}</ref> It was demolished in the 2010s and replaced with the Elephant Park development, which, the developer claimed, includes "the largest new green space to be created in London for 70 years."<ref name=Morrisroe>{{cite web |url=https://www.morrisroe.co.uk/project/elephant-park |title=Elephant Park |publisher=Morrisroe | access-date=7 June 2021}}</ref>

[[Perronet House]], an award-winning residential block owned by Southwark Council, was designed by [[Sir Roger Walters]]. It was completed in 1970 and extended in 1987.

At the south of the area stood Castle House (an office building now replaced by [[Strata SE1]]), which was part of the Draper Estaste. When Draper House, which still exists, was built in 1964, with its 25 floors, it was the tallest structure in London. The design was by [[Hubert Bennett]] of the London City Council's (LCC's) Architects Department and inspired by Le Corbusier. Well regarded at the time, the building was featured in Architecture Review which said it, 'sets a standard of clarity and vigour'.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.drapertogether.org/history#history-info |location=London |work=Draper Together |title=Elephant And Castle - Local History |date=2019}}</ref>