Alley 61

Been here? Share your experience and help other music fans find this spot.

Marc Bolan's Childhood Home — 25 Stoke Newington Common — London, United Kingdom

Marc Bolan's Childhood Home — 25 Stoke Newington Common

Where Marc Bolan grew up in east London

25 Stoke Newington Common, Hackney
London, United Kingdom

51.5621° N · -0.0674° W

Get Directions

What happened here?

Marc Bolan — born Mark Feld on 30 September 1947 at Hackney Hospital — grew up here at 25 Stoke Newington Common with his elder brother Harry. His father Sid was a cosmetics salesman and former lorry driver; his mother Phyllis ran a stall at Berwick Street Market in Soho.

He went to Northwold Primary School in Upper Clapton, where he got his first guitar at nine and started a skiffle band. While still at school he played guitar in "Susie and the Hula Hoops", a trio whose vocalist was a 12-year-old Helen Shapiro. At 15 he was expelled from William Wordsworth Secondary School — reportedly for headbutting the deputy headmaster who tried to cane him.

Before music took over he had a brief modelling career, appearing in catalogues as a "John Temple Boy" and in a 1962 Town magazine photo spread — under the name Mark Feld — as an early example of the mod movement.

Visiting Today

Private residence on the edge of Stoke Newington Common.

Plan your visit

Private property
Artist lived here
Fan pilgrimage site

Reviews

No reviews yet

Been here? Tell us about it

Tap to add photos