22nd September 1969
The battle is over. The fortress has fallen. It’s psychedelic banner has been hauled from its roof. And at the windows of Hippy Castle, 144 Piccadilly, appear policemen, signaling a victory for British law and order. On Sunday (21-9-69) an "invading" army of some 80 police swooped on the fifty-room mansion and routed the occupying force of squatters and down-and-outs. The policemen lived up to their reputation for efficiency; the final scrap lasted less than five minutes. And the hippies, who had held the strongly-barricaded building for six days, were either unceremoniously ejected or detained for questioning. A crowd of 2000 onlookers cheered. A tiny era had ended. Only memories and momentoes remained – missiles, lead piping weapons, drug-takers’ syringes…and the smell of filth. In every room of the stately London home, next door to where King George VI once lived before he took to the throne, were drawings. Some obscene. Some splattered with slogans. There was paper and broken glass everywhere. But London is still not rid of the problem. Later in the day, squatters evicted from Piccadilly took over another empty house in Russell Square. Police visited the premises and questioned the occupants, but made no attempt to forcibly evict them. It looks like the prelude to yet another legal battle.
PICTURED: Police bring a hippy out of 144 Piccadilly after they had re-captured the building.
