East Street, Walworth is likely to have been the birthplace of Charlie Chaplin, although no birth certificate exists.
It could therefore also have been the inspiration for his similarly named 1917 seminal short film Easy Street, a suggestion made as early as 1928 in the film ’The Life Story of Charlie Chaplin’ by Harry B. Parkinson.
The famous trousers and boots of Chaplin’s trademark tramp costume may have been inspired by the every-day clothes Chaplin saw worn in what he called East Lane market.
East Street Market also features in the title sequence to the television programme Only Fools and Horses.
Credit: Wiki Commons
It could therefore also have been the inspiration for his similarly named 1917 seminal short film Easy Street, a suggestion made as early as 1928 in the film ’The Life Story of Charlie Chaplin’ by Harry B. Parkinson.
The famous trousers and boots of Chaplin’s trademark tramp costume may have been inspired by the every-day clothes Chaplin saw worn in what he called East Lane market.
East Street Market also features in the title sequence to the television programme Only Fools and Horses.
Credit: Wiki Commons
There had been street trading in the Walworth area since the 16th century, when farmers rested their livestock on Walworth Common before continuing to the city.
In the 17th century, the area through which East Street now runs was rural fields and common land where people could graze their animals. The area to the north was known as ‘Lock’s Field’ and, even in 1878, was described as little more than ‘a dreary swamp’.
Most of the land in the area was owned by the Church, but some was eventually sold or leased. By the 1770s, some land near the junction with Old Kent Road (known then simply as The Kent Road) was cultivated as a flower nursery by the Driver family, who were also responsible for commissioning the grand buildings at nearby Surrey Square.
A legal document from 1780 describes the sale of the land which led to the creation of East Street as a public highway, connecting Walworth Road with the Kent Road.
Open fields were built upon and in the 1860s, Walworth Common was developed.
During the industrial revolution, stalls lined the whole of the Walworth Road, but East Street Market has only been officially running since 1880. East Street was recorded as a site for gypsies to stay during the winter months. To the south was Walworth Common; a popular point for the farmers of Kent and Surrey to stop overnight before making their journey into the city. People would buy produce directly from these drovers and eventually a market was established.
Unlike the regulated market today, the original traders did not have allocated plots for their stalls. At 8am, a policeman blew a whistle and traders would rush to claim the best pitches, with shop owners on the Lane claiming the patches outside their front doors. This ended in 1927 when the licensing system was introduced.
As the population of the area has diversified so have the goods on offer and, along with the traditional fruit and vegetables, the market now sells a mix of Caribbean food, ethnic clothing, CDs and household goods.