Experiences of 2,3 and 4 Tottenham Place

Andrew Franks

3 Tottenham Place Senior Resident 2010 to 2014

These three townhouses, the Tots as they were affectionately known, were always a bit different from the rest of the hall. Overlooking the hall from the street above you could always work out what was going on in the hall below. These five-storey buildings built in the 1830’s with their high ceilings always had plenty of space and light, although the windows often creaked in the wind, the balconies were strictly off limits to students and those front doors really did slam shut! They were home to less than 30 male students each year, with some sharing the larger rooms and three Senior Residents. 2 and 3 were almost identical with main kitchens downstairs (below street level) and a small kitchen on the top floor. 4 was on the corner and was slightly larger.

Although having a garden at the back the only significance was the apple tree, which always gave massive, beautiful cooking apples. I will always remember living there: helping students carry their bags up three flights of steep steps to the top, through the shared Christmas dinners, the roof leaking leading to upper floor students camping on lower floors for the night and how the whole of 3TP was engulfed in smoke when some students decided to ‘cook’ a pizza in a normal microwave with the plastic packaging still on. The Tots will be missed…

The last students left Tottenham Place in June 2016, before it was sold by the university.

One of the rooms in 3 Tottenham Place

Some of the massive apples harvested from the tree in the garden!