Hoxton Street is a long north-south street in Shoreditch, running north from Old Street.
The street was a very old thoroughfare. In the reign of Elizabeth I, Hoxton was already described as being included in three estates, belonging to Sir Thomas Leigh, Sir Valentine Browne and the Haryong family "west of Hoxton Street".
By 1598 Hoxton Street was already ’a large street, with houses on both sides’. Its famous alehouse ’The Pimlico’ saw the playwright killing an actor in a duel at the rear of the pub.
Long established as a street of entertainments, Hoxton Street was home to the Britannia Theatre, built in 1841 and which could seat 3000 people. Frequented by Charles Dickens, it was a victim of the Second World War.
