Bunhill Fields took burials from 1665 to 1854, William Blake, John Bunyan and Daniel Defoe among them, and today it is the green gap between the flats of Bunhill, EC1. London Carpet Cleaning cleans across Bunhill, from the Peabody blocks off Whitecross Street to the new-builds by the Old Street junction, from £36 a room, and a carpet needs up to 6 to 7 hours to dry, so a morning clean is ready for the next tenant that evening.
Flats round the burial ground
Bunhill sits at the northern edge of the City, wrapped round Old Street and City Road, and it is flats almost everywhere you look. The stock splits three ways. There are solid mansion blocks and warehouse conversions; there are the Peabody blocks round Whitecross Street; and there is a wave of glass-and-steel new-builds put up near Old Street over the last fifteen years. Bunhill Row runs from Old Street down to Chiswell Street, and much of what we clean along it is rented, so carpets turn over fast between tenants.
The Peabody story here is a long one. In 1883 the Peabody Trust opened two estates on either side of Whitecross Street, the Roscoe Street side alone with eleven blocks. Six of those were burnt out in an air raid in December 1940, and the replacements, opened from 1957, were 13-storey towers, the first multi-storey blocks allowed to be built without a second staircase; Banner House followed in 1972. Today Peabody’s Whitecross estate has 432 homes in 26 blocks. Whitecross Street market runs lunchtime food stalls from Monday to Thursday, 11am to 2pm, and a longer day on Friday. Bunhill Fields itself has been a public garden run by the City of London since 1867, and the Honourable Artillery Company keeps its ground just off City Road, so there is more open space here than the postcode suggests.
What a Bunhill job usually is
The work has a City rhythm. Fabric sofas pick up coffee and grime along the arms, and bedroom carpets get marked after dinners that run late. End-of-tenancy cleans, where the deposit rides on the result, fill much of the rest of the week. We lift a lot of coffee rings by the sofa and red wine out of bedroom carpet, and takeaway spills are regulars on the rugs we clean in the flat. The new-build flats near Old Street tend to have pale, short-pile carpet that shows every mark, and it comes back well with a proper hot-water extraction.
The stain we warn people about is the one that has been walked into a hallway carpet for months, common in busy shared flats. It sometimes will not come out fully. We tell you that before we start, and we will always say plainly if a mark is set for good.
Bunhill homes in the census
| Homes that are | Share |
|---|---|
| Flats in purpose-built blocks | 90.0% |
| Rented from the council | 32.9% |
| Rented privately | 28.3% |
| Two-bedroom homes | 44.3% |
| Built 1945 to 1972 | 30.3% |
| Built in 2000 or later | 35.1% |
| Heated by electricity only | 21.3% |
The census area that takes in Bunhill Row, Whitecross Street and the Old Street junction is the one the ONS calls Old Street and St Luke’s. Nine homes in ten (90.0%) are flats in purpose-built blocks, and only 1.6% are houses of any kind. The building record has two peaks: 30.3% of homes date from 1945 to 1972, the post-war rebuilding, and 35.1% from 2000 or later, including the towers near the junction. Two-bedroom flats are the norm at 44.3%, and in one of the Peabody towers a two-bed flat plus its living room costs £115.
Tenure explains the diary. A third of households (32.9%) rent from the council and 28.3% rent privately, so we clean a lot of flats between tenants, and a sofa often goes on the same booking. One figure stands out: 21.3% of homes rely on electric heating only. In those flats we boost the extractor fans or crack a window before we go, so the air keeps moving.
Figures: ONS Census 2021 (Islington 023) and VOA council tax stock, March 2024.
Zone C runs round the clock
Parking is the hard part of a Bunhill job. Bunhill Row, Chequer Street and Radnor Street are in Islington’s Zone C, where restrictions apply 24 hours a day on weekdays and all day Saturday, easing only from 6am on Sunday. There is no quiet evening window, so we pay for a short-stay bay or use a visitor voucher from you, and we carry the kit in. A Sunday booking after 6am is the one time the bays are free.
Access inside the blocks matters as much. Tell us the block, the floor and whether there is a lift; the post-war Peabody towers have them, while some of the older walk-ups have long communal stairs. In the new-builds, book the service lift through the concierge and pass on our arrival time; otherwise we can end up stuck at the lobby door. If you are near Whitecross Street on a weekday lunchtime, the market crowds slow the carry, so we like to start early.
How much does carpet cleaning cost in Bunhill?
Our list is fixed and has no call-out fee; it is the same in EC1 as anywhere else in London.
- Carpet cleaned per bedroom from £36
- Living room from £43
- Through-lounge from £61
- Stairs, one flight, from £41
- Two-seater sofa from £57
- Rug up to 3m² from £35
Get a free quote, or call us on 020 8077 8090.
Sofas, rugs and carpets in EC1
Most bookings here are a hot-water carpet clean that leaves the pile dry within 6 to 7 hours, which matters in a flat with one window that opens. Fabric sofas and armchairs go through our upholstery service, and it is worth booking the sofa on the same visit as the carpet. Rugs get specialist rug cleaning in the flat on the same visit, which is how the curry and wine spills usually get sorted. We cover the neighbouring streets round St Luke’s and Finsbury too, and the rest of Islington on the same prices.
Bunhill bookings: what people ask
Do you cover all of Bunhill and the EC1 streets around it?
Yes. We clean across the whole ward, from Bunhill Row, Whitecross Street and Central Street through to City Road, Old Street and Featherstone Street. The EC1Y and EC1V blocks are all on our regular round, and the same fixed prices apply whichever street you are on.
Where do you park for a flat off Bunhill Row or Whitecross Street?
These streets are in Islington’s Zone C, controlled day and night through the week, so we take a short-stay bay or use your visitor voucher and carry the kit in. The market stalls fill Whitecross Street at lunchtime, so for those addresses we arrive in the morning and load from the end of the street. Flag any building access notes when you book.
Do you clean carpets before a check-out near Old Street?
We do them constantly round Old Street and City Road, and we time the clean so the carpet is dry and presentable for the agent’s inspection. We work to what letting agents here expect for a deposit return. If a carpet is past saving, we tell you before you book, so you are not paying for a clean that cannot win the deposit back.
How quickly will the carpet dry in a Bunhill flat?
dry within 6 to 7 hours in most cases. Our hot-water extraction pulls the bulk of the moisture back out, so you are not left with a soaked floor. Upper-floor flats with the windows open dry fastest. If a flat is sealed and airless, we leave you a realistic time before it is fully back to normal.
Do you clean flats in the Peabody towers?
Yes, often. The Whitecross estate has 432 homes, from the post-war towers to the low blocks, and the towers have lifts, so the machine goes up with us. Peabody tenants pay the same fixed prices as anyone else, and if you need a receipt for a move-out, tell us the name and address to put on it.
Is a Sunday booking cheaper because of the parking?
The price is the same any day of the week. Sunday is easier for us, though, because Zone C bays are only controlled until 6am, so we can usually park close to the door and the clean starts on time. If your week is busy, a Sunday morning slot is worth asking for when you book.
If a mark we treated in your Bunhill flat reappears, our re-clean guarantee brings us back to deal with it free. Fully insured, DBS-checked staff, and carpet, sofa and rug work across Islington since 2009.
