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A River Dug By Hand, Still Flowing Today
Locksmith EC1R: The Channel A King Helped Pay For
A forty-mile artificial river once ended its journey here, built after its founder gave King James I a half-share just to keep the project alive. Part of it still supplies London today. Phone 020 8534 4949 for a locksmith genuinely familiar with this corner of Finsbury.
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- EC1R Coverage
Covering EC1R across Finsbury west, near New River Head. Open in Google Maps
Why EC1R Is Different
A funding crisis solved by giving away half a water company
EC1R covers Finsbury west, the ground around Rosebery Avenue where a genuinely remarkable piece of engineering once reached its end point. In the early 1600s, a man named Edmund Colthurst proposed digging an artificial channel to carry fresh spring water some forty miles from Hertfordshire into London. He ran out of money before getting far. The project only survived because Sir Hugh Myddelton, a wealthy goldsmith and MP, took it over in 1609, keeping Colthurst on to help oversee the work.
Myddelton's own funding soon ran into trouble too, compounded by landowners along the route who refused to cooperate. His solution was striking. He offered King James I a half-share in the entire company in exchange for the Crown covering half the remaining cost. Once the king accepted, construction pushed on with royal money behind it. Without pumps to force water uphill, the channel had to follow the natural contours of the land rather than run in a straight line, winding across the landscape at a bare few feet deep and about ten feet wide.
Still Carrying Water, Four Centuries On
The New River, as it became known, was completed on Michaelmas Day 1613, marked with a formal ceremony and a specially written play at New River Head, where the water finally arrived. The site sat just south of where Sadler's Wells would later stand. Within decades, the supply had transformed daily life across the City. By 1670, up to two-thirds of households in many parts of London had running water because of it, a scale of change that's easy to understate from here.
What's genuinely remarkable is how much of the system is still working. Part of its original route still carries water today, and recent estimates put its contribution at around eight per cent of London's daily supply, well over four hundred years after Myddelton first struck his deal with the king. A statue of him still stands nearby on Islington Green. We can't promise our own work will last four centuries, but we do take the same view of getting a job done properly the first time.
Pressed for time? sort a lockout right away, book a repair for a quieter moment, or ring our night line whenever it suits.
What EC1R Residents & Businesses Call About
What this corner of Finsbury brings us
Mansion Block Flats
Several buildings here date from a period of grand residential development, each with its own entry arrangements. Residential work gets treated flat by flat, not as one uniform system.
Book aheadConverted Terraces
Older terraced buildings nearby have often been split into smaller flats over the years. A considered repair respects the layered history behind each door.
Book aheadOffices Near Rosebery Avenue
A handful of commercial buildings sit among the residential stock on this stretch. Commercial security here gets assessed on its own terms.
Book aheadShops & Cafés Serving Residents
Local trade here relies heavily on the residents living around these units. Swapping a jammed lock fast stops that trade being lost.
Same-day priorityBroken Or Snapped Keys
Mansion-block and terrace locks alike can hold onto a snapped key stubbornly. This page sets out the careful way we handle that.
Call nowEvening Lockouts
This largely residential postcode quietens fast once the working day winds down. That has no bearing on our response, whatever the hour.
Call nowA quick clarification: duplicate keys and access-card or intercom configuration both sit outside our work. Both go to the managing agent's own suppliers instead.
Locked Out In EC1R
A residential rhythm, not an office one
This postcode keeps a different schedule from the City's commercial core, with evenings and weekends busier than a standard nine-to-five stretch.
A lockout here can genuinely strike at any hour, not confined to conventional working time the way it might elsewhere.
Regardless of when it happens, our method stays fixed: soft techniques get a full run before a drill is ever considered.
A snapped key and a genuinely lost one lead to different fixes. Broken keys and lost keys are each covered on their own page, whichever applies to you.
Around EC1R
What this corner of Finsbury connects to
The avenue itself, in full detail.
The wider EC1 overview, all six postcodes.
Hatton Garden, the jewellery quarter, south.
Clerkenwell and Farringdon, west of here.
Finsbury east and the Old Street fringe.
North, past New River Head's old route.
What We Do
Services across EC1R
What Lasts, And Why
A channel built to outlive its own century
Myddelton didn't build the New River to impress anyone. He built it to actually work, and it kept working long after anyone involved in its construction had died, right through to today in some form.
The full story of his funding crisis and royal deal is covered by History Hit's account of the New River. The London Gardens Trust's entry on New River Head itself traces the site through to its modern role.
A lock, for us, needs far less ambition than that. Reliability matters more than remarkability, for as long as the job asks of it.
Uncertain what's wrong with your own lock? Tell us the symptoms and we'll give you our honest take.
The Process
Booking a locksmith EC1R callout
- Get in contactShare your address, the unit, and a sense of the problem.
- Sorting entryAny sign-off a building requires gets handled before we travel.
- Inspecting on arrivalOnly once the door's been examined does a price follow.
- Confirming the resultBoth lock and door get checked working, not just assumed.
Access & Traffic
Getting to you around Finsbury west
Rosebery Avenue itself carries steady traffic along its length, while the surrounding residential streets stay comparatively quiet. Loading restrictions apply throughout.
With Angel and Farringdon stations both within reasonable reach, travelling in on foot often beats sitting in surface traffic.
Evenings and weekends bring this postcode's busiest stretch, almost the mirror image of a typical office district. We route with that in mind.
Why People Call Us
What EC1R tenants and residents rely on us for
- We aim for the long haul. Get a lock right once, and it shouldn't need our attention again for years.
- Force is where we end up, not where we start. Gentler methods always get a fair run first.
- Comfortable with period buildings. Mansion blocks and converted terraces are routine for us.
- Homes matter here too. A residential job gets exactly what a commercial one does.
- No vague promises about scope. Spare keys and access-system programming go to other trades.
- On call whatever the hour. A quiet Tuesday morning or a loud Saturday night makes no difference.
Nearby
Areas around EC1R
Common Questions
A River Built By Hand
Did a genuine artificial river really end near here?
Yes, the New River, a 40-mile channel completed in 1613 to bring fresh water into London.
How did the project's funding actually get resolved?
Sir Hugh Myddelton gave King James I a half-share in the company in return for funding half the cost.
Did the channel run in a straight line?
No, it followed the natural contours of the land, since it had no pumps to force water uphill.
Still Running Four Centuries Later
Is any part of this water system still in use today?
Yes, remarkably. The New River still carries a meaningful share of London's daily water supply.
How much of London's water does it still provide?
Around 8 per cent of daily consumption, according to recent figures.
Is there a memorial to the man behind it nearby?
Yes, a statue of Myddelton stands on Islington Green, unveiled in 1872.
Booking In EC1R
Which streets does EC1R actually cover?
Finsbury west, around Rosebery Avenue and the mansion blocks and converted terraces nearby.
Do you work on both period conversions and newer buildings here?
We take on both, judging each building for itself instead of lumping them together.
Can you reach a lockout during a busy evening here?
We manage it, and the final stretch on foot can genuinely beat traffic once evening sets in.
Is weekend cover realistic in a mostly residential postcode?
Absolutely, right through the week, regardless of what's happening on the streets outside.
Do you handle commercial premises as well as mansion flats here?
Residential and commercial both, though homes make up most of what we see in EC1R.
What if my building has its own entry system?
Fill us in beforehand and we'll plan the visit around it.
A channel built four centuries ago still does its job. We'd like your lock to manage the same.
Flat, office or shop around Finsbury west — reach out and we'll have someone on the way.