Road · Spitalfields · E1 · Contributed by The Underground Map

JANUARY

1

2000

Spitalfields

Spitalfields is near to Liverpool Street station and Brick Lane.

The area straddles Commercial Street and is home to several markets, including the historic Old Spitalfields Market, and various Brick Lane Markets on Brick Lane and Cheshire Street. Petticoat Lane Market lies on the area's south-western boundaries.

The name Spitalfields appears in the form Spittellond in 1399; as The spitel Fyeld on the 16th-century Civitas Londinium map associated with Ralph Agas. The land belonged to St Mary Spital, a priory or hospital erected on the east side of the Bishopsgate thoroughfare in 1197, and the name is thought to derive from this. An alternative, and possibly earlier, name for the area was Lolsworth.

After the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, Spitalfields was inhabited by prosperous French Huguenot silk weavers. In the early 19th century their descendants were reduced to a deplorable condition due to the competition of the Manchester textile factories and the area began to deteriorate into crime-infested slums. The spacious and handsome Huguenot houses were divided up into tiny dwellings which were rented by poor families of labourers, who sought employment in the nearby docks.

The area has recently attracted a IT-literate younger population.

LOCATIONS ON THE UNDERGROUND MAP

18 Folgate Street:   Dennis Severs' House in Folgate Street is a 'still-life drama' created by the previous owner as an 'historical imagination' of what life would have been like inside for a family of Huguenot silk weavers.
Aldgate:   Aldgate was a gateway through London Wall from the City of London to Whitechapel and the East End.
Aldgate East:   In a land east of Aldgate, lies the land of Aldgate East...
Aldgate Pump:   Aldgate Pump is a historic water pump, located at the junction where Aldgate meets Fenchurch Street and Leadenhall Street.
Bevis Marks Synagogue:   Bevis Marks Synagogue is the oldest synagogue in the United Kingdom.
Boar’s Head Theatre:   The Boar’s Head Theatre was an inn-yard theatre in the Whitechapel area.
Goodman’s Fields Theatre:   Two 18th century theatres bearing the name Goodman’s Fields Theatre were located on Alie Street, Whitechapel.
Great Synagogue of London:   The Great Synagogue of London was, for centuries, the centre of Ashkenazi synagogue and Jewish life in London. It was destroyed during World War II, in the Blitz.
London Metal Exchange:   The London Metal Exchange (LME) is the futures exchange with the world’s largest market in options and futures contracts on base and other metals.
Petticoat Lane Market:   Petticoat Lane Market is a fashion and clothing market in the East End.
Portsoken:   Portsoken is one of 25 wards in the City of London, each electing an alderman to the Court of Aldermen and commoners (the City equivalent of a councillor) elected to the Court of Common Council of the City of London Corporation.
Spitalfields:   Spitalfields is near to Liverpool Street station and Brick Lane.
St Augustine Papey:   St Augustine Papey was a mediaeval church in the City of London situated just south of London Wall.
St Botolph’s:   St. Botolph’s without Aldgate, located on Aldgate High Street, has existed for over a thousand years.
St Katharine Cree:   St Katharine Cree is a Church of England church on the north side of Leadenhall Street near Leadenhall Market.
Toynbee Hall:   Toynbee Hall is a building which is the home of a charity of the same name.

PHOTOS OF THE AREA

London in 1457:   Goulston Street is a thoroughfare running north-south from Wentworth Street to Whitechapel High Street.
Wentworth Street (1901):   Turn-of-the-century fashion in east London.

NEARBY STREETS AND BUILDINGS ON THE UNDERGROUND MAP

Aldgate Bus Garage, EC3N · Aldgate High Street, EC3N · Aldgate, EC3N · Alie Street, E1 · Angel Alley, E1 · Arcadia Court, E1 · Artillery Lane, E1 · Artillery Passage, E1 · Arts Quarter, E1 · Bell Lane, E1 · Bevis Marks, EC3A · Bishops Square, E1 · Bishopsgate Arcade, EC2M · Bishopsgate, EC2M · Blossom Street, E1 · Bowl Court, E1 · Braham Street, E1 · Brick Lane, E1 · Brune House, E1 · Brune Street, E1 · Brushfield Street, E1 · Brushfield Street, EC2M · Buckle Street, E1 · Bury Street, EC3A · Calvin Street, E1 · Camperdown Street, E1 · Celia Blairman House, E1 · Cobb Street, E1 · Code Street, E1 · College East, E1 · Commercial St, E1 · Commercial Street, E1 · Coney Way, SW8 · Coppergate House, E1 · Corbet Place, E1 · Creechurch Lane, EC3A · Crispin Place, E1 · Crispin Street, E1 · Cutler Street, E1 · Cutler Street, EC3A · Devonshire Row, EC2M · Devonshire Square, E1 · Devonshire Square, EC2M · Dorset Street, E1 · Dray Walk, E1 · Dukes Place, EC3A · Dukes Place, EC3A · Dukes Place, EC3N · Elder Street, E1 · Exchange Arcade, EC2M · Fashion Street, E1 · Fleur De Lis Street, E1 · Flower and Dean Street, E1 · Folgate Street, E1 · Fournier Street, E1 · Frying Pan Alley, E1 · George Street, E1 · Goring Street, EC3A · Goulston Street, E1 · Gravel Lane, E1 · Gun Street, E1 · Gunthorpe Street, E1 · Harrow Place, E1 · Heneage Lane, EC3A · Heneage Street, E1 · Hopetown Street, E1 · Houndsditch, EC3A · Irongate House, EC3A · Lamb Street, E1 · Leyden Street, E1 · Little Paternoster Row, E1 · Little Somerset Street, E1 · Lolesworth Close, E1 · London Fruit Exchange, E1 · Middlesex Street, E1 · Middlesex Street, EC3A · Minories, EC3N · Minsters Pavement, EC3A · Mitre Avenue, E17 · Mitre Square, EC3A · Mitre Street, EC3A · Monmouth House, E1 · New Goulston Street, E1 · New Street, EC2M · North Tenter Street, E1 · Norton Folgate, E1 · Norton Folgate, EC2M · Old Castle Street, E1 · Osborn Street, E1 · Osborne Street, E1 · Osbourne Street, E1 · Parliament Court, E1 · Plough Yard, EC2A · Pomell Way, E1 · Primrose Street, EC2A · Princelet Street, E1 · Puma Court, E1 · Quaker Street, E1 · Rose Court, E1 · Sandy’s Row, E1 · Sandys Row, E1 · Saracen?s Head Yard, EC3N · Silwex House, E1 · Spital Square, E1 · St Botolph Street, EC3A · St James’s Passage, EC3A · St James’s Place, EC3A · St. Botolph Street, EC3A · Staple Hall, EC3A · Stone House Court, EC3A · Stoney Lane, E1 · Stothard Place, EC2M · Strype Street, E1 · Tenter Ground, E1 · The Arcade, EC2M · Thrawl Street, E1 · Toynbee Street, E1 · Victoria Avenue, EC2M · Victoria Yard, E1 · Wentworth Street, E1 · Wheler Street, E1 · White Church Lane, E1 · White Kennet Street, E1 · White Kennett Street, E1 · White Kennett Street, EC3A · Whitechapel High Street, E1 · Whites Row, E1 · Whittington Avenue, EC3A · Widegate Street, E1 · Wilkes Street, E1 · Wrestlers Court, EC3A ·