Spitalfields

Coordinates: 51°31′00″N 0°04′30″W / 51.5166°N 0.0750°W / 51.5166; -0.0750
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Spitalfields
Brushfield Street, looking towards Christ Church, Spitalfields
Brick Lane with the Black Eagle Brewery in the distance, looking north
Spitalfields is located in Greater London
Spitalfields
Spitalfields
Location within Greater London
Population10,286 (2011 Census. Spitalfields and Banglatown Ward)[1]
OS grid referenceTQ335815
London borough
Ceremonial countyGreater London
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townLONDON
Postcode districtE1
Dialling code020
PoliceMetropolitan
FireLondon
AmbulanceLondon
UK Parliament
London Assembly
List of places
UK
England
London
51°31′00″N 0°04′30″W / 51.5166°N 0.0750°W / 51.5166; -0.0750

Spitalfields /ˈspɪtəlfldz/ is an area in London, England and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in East London and situated in the East End. Spitalfields is formed around Commercial Street and Brick Lane. It has several markets, including Spitalfields Market, the historic Old Spitalfields Market, Brick Lane Market and Petticoat Lane Market. The area has a long attracted migrants from overseas, including many Jews, whose presence gained the area the 19th century nickname of Little Jerusalem.[2]

It was a Hamlet (autonomous area) of the large ancient parish of Stepney in Middlesex, and became an independent parish in 1729. Just outside the City of London, it formed part of the County of London from 1889 and was part of the Metropolitan Borough of Stepney from 1900. It was abolished as a civil parish in 1921.

Origin and administration

Toponymy

The name Spitalfields appears in the form Spittellond in 1399; as The spitel Fyeld on the "Woodcut" map of London of c.1561; and as Spyttlefeildes, also in 1561.[3] The land belonged to St Mary Spital, a priory or hospital (a lodging for travellers run by a religious order) erected on the east side of the Bishopsgate thoroughfare in 1197, from which its name is thought to derive ("spital" being a corruption of the word "hospital".)[4][5] An alternative, and possibly earlier, name for the area was Lolsworth.[3]

Administrative history

The area was a part of the Manor and Ancient Parish of Stepney before the Domesday Book of 1086.

Parish areas originally had only ecclesiastical (church) functions; but the monasteries which had provided extensive charitable work on a voluntary basis, were dissolved by Henry VIII, creating increased hardship. The government responded by making parish areas take on civil functions, primarily a new Poor Law intended to fill the gap left by monasteries.

The 18th-century house at 15 Fournier Street, a Grade II listed structure in Spitalfields

Stepney was a very large and populous parish, and by the late 17th century it had devolved its civil parish functions to autonomous areas called Hamlets (in this context meaning territorial sub-divisions, rather than small villages), of which Spitalfields was one.

In 1729, the Hamlet of Spitalfields became an independent daughter parish. The area's parish church was Christ Church, Spitalfields, with St Stephen Spitalfields (demolished in 1930) added later.

In 1855, the parish became part of the Whitechapel District within the Metropolitan Board of Works area. Spitalfields Vestry nominated twelve members to the Whitechapel District Board of Works. The Board of Works was an unelected body, responsible for certain infrastructure functions.

Spitalfields became part of the Metropolitan Borough of Stepney in 1900 and was abolished as a civil parish in 1921. It became part of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in 1965.[6]

The area was part of the

Lord-Lieutenant of the Tower Hamlets (the post was always filled by the Constable of the Tower of London)
.

The role of the Tower Division ended when Spitalfields became part of the new County of London in 1889. The County of London was replaced by Greater London in 1965.

Representation

Nearly all (except a tiny area north of the railway, in Weaver's Ward) of the district is part of the Spitalfields & Banglatown ward, which elects two councillors to

UK Parliament since 2010 by Rushanara Ali of the Labour Party.[8]

The Spitalfields Neighbourhood Planning Forum, which is constitituted of Spitalfields residents, business operators, community organisations and other local interests, is intended to help local people influence neighbourhood planning policies.[9][10]

History

Rome

The Romans had a cemetery to the east of the Bishopsgate thoroughfare, which roughly follows the line of Ermine Street: the main highway to the north from Londinium.[11] The cemetery was noticed by the antiquarian John Stow in 1576 and was the focus of a major archaeological excavation in the 1990s, following the redevelopment of Spitalfields Market.[11][12]

In 2013, Janet Montgomery of

jet and glass.[13][14]

Coat of arms attributed to Walter Brunus (or Brown), the founder of the priory in 1197
The parish of Spitalfields formed two of the wards, in the Metropolitan Borough of Stepney, which was formed in 1900..

St Mary Spital

In 1197, a

Henry VIII. At the time of the dissolution, the hospital had beds for 180 sick poor.[16]

The inner precinct of priory hospital was adjacent to the area that later became the Hamlet and parish of Spitalfields, in the tiny extra-parochial area called the Liberty of Norton Folgate. Although the chapel and monastic buildings were mostly demolished in the time of Henry VIII, the Liberty remained an autonomous area outside of any parish. The adjacent outer precincts, to the south, were re-used for artillery practice by the gunners of the Tower of London. The area, known as the Old Artillery Ground was placed under the special jurisdiction of the Tower of London as one of its Tower Liberties.[17]

Other parts of the priory area were used for residential purposes by London dwellers seeking a rural retreat and by the mid-17th century further development extended eastward into the erstwhile open farmland of the Spital Field.[18]

Huguenots

A map showing the bounds of the Parish of Spitalfields, c.1885

Spitalfields consisted mainly of fields and nursery gardens until its development in the late 17th century.

silk industry was established by French Protestant (Huguenot) refugees who settled in the area after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685. By settling outside the bounds of the City of London, they hoped to avoid the restrictive legislation of the City guilds. The Huguenots brought with them little, apart from their skills, and an Order in Council of 16 April 1687 raised £200,000 to relieve their poverty. In December 1687, the first report of the committee set up to administer the funds reported that 13,050 French refugees were settled in London, primarily around Spitalfields, but also in the nearby settlements of Bethnal Green, Shoreditch, Whitechapel and Mile End New Town.[20]

The late 17th and 18th centuries saw an estate of well-appointed terraced houses, built to accommodate the master weavers controlling the silk industry, and grand urban mansions built around the newly created Bishops Square which adjoins the short section of the main east–west street known as Spital Square. Christ Church, Spitalfields on Fournier Street, designed by the architect Nicholas Hawksmoor, was built during the reign of Queen Anne to demonstrate the power of the established church to the dissenting Huguenots, who had built ten chapels in the area.[21] More humble weavers dwellings were congregated in the Tenterground.[22] The Spitalfields Mathematical Society was established in 1717. In 1846, it merged with the Royal Astronomical Society.[23]

Spitalfields Market was established in 1638 when Charles I gave a licence for flesh, fowl and roots to be sold in what was then known as Spittle Fields.[24] The market currently receives around 25,000 visitors every week.[24]

Huguenots of Spitalfields is a registered charity promoting public understanding of the Huguenot heritage and culture in Spitalfields, the City of London and beyond. They arrange tours, talks, events and schools programmes to raise the Huguenot profile in Spitalfields and to raise funds for a permanent memorial to the Huguenots.[25]

From the 1730s Irish weavers came, after a decline in the Irish linen industry, to take up work in the silk trade. The 18th century saw periodic crises in the silk industry, brought on by imports of French silk – in a lull between the wars between the two rivals; and imports of

printed calicos. The depression in the trade and the prices paid to weavers led to protests. In 1769, the Spitalfield riots occurred when attempts were made to disperse protest meetings by weavers during the downturn in the market for silk. The riots ended in an Irish and a Huguenot weaver being hanged in front of the Salmon and Ball public house at Bethnal Green.[20]

Price controls on amounts master weavers could pay journeymen for each piece were established, removing incentives to pay higher wages during good times. During bad times workers had no work. As the price was per piece, there was no incentive for using machinery, as the master would have to pay for the machine and still pay the same price per piece to journeymen. By 1822 labour rates were so above market labour rates, that much of the employment in silk manufacture had moved away. Remaining manufacture focussed on expensive fashion items, which required proximity to court and had higher margins.[26]

In 1729, Spitalfields was detached from the parish of Stepney, and became an independent parish; by this time parish areas had both civil and ecclesiastical (church) functions. The area's parish church was Christ Church, Spitalfields, with St Stephen Spitalfields added later. The church of St Stephen Spitalfields was built in 1860 by public subscription but was demolished in 1930. The adjacent vicarage is all that remains.

Victorian era

Ordnance Survey map of Spitalfields rookery, 1894

By the Victorian era, the silk industry had entered a long decline and the old merchant dwellings had degenerated into multi-occupied slums. Spitalfields became a by-word for urban deprivation, and, by 1832, concern about a London cholera epidemic led The Poor Man's Guardian (18 February 1832) to write of Spitalfields:

The low houses are all huddled together in close and dark lanes and alleys, presenting at first sight an appearance of non-habitation, so dilapidated are the doors and windows:- in every room of the houses, whole families, parents, children and aged grandfathers swarm together.

In 1860, a treaty with France allowed the import of cheaper French silks. This left the many weavers in Spitalfields, as well as neighbouring Bethnal Green and Shoreditch, unemployed and indigent. New trades such as furniture and boot making came to the area, and the large windowed Huguenot houses were found suitable for tailoring, attracting a new population of Jewish refugees drawn to live and work in the textile industry.[20]

Petticoat Lane Market, Spitalfields, c. 1890.

By the later 19th century, inner Spitalfields became known as the worst criminal

the Whitechapel Murders. The renewed focus on the area's poverty helped prompt the decision to demolish some local slums in 1891–94.[29] Deprivation continued and was brought to notice by social commentators such as Jack London in his The People of the Abyss
(1903). He highlighted 'Itchy Park', next to Christ Church, Spitalfields, as a notorious rendezvous for homeless people.

Modern Spitalfields

View of Christ Church and the fruit and wool exchange.

In the late 20th century the Jewish presence diminished and was replaced by an influx of

Bangladeshi immigrants, who also worked in the local textile industry and made Brick Lane the curry capital of London. By 1981, at least 60% of households were of minority ethnic origin.[30]

Another development, from the 1960s onwards, has been a campaign to save the housing stock of old merchant terraces west of Brick Lane from demolition. Many have been conserved by the Spitalfields Historic Buildings Trust which has led to gentrification and a large increase in property prices.[31] In the 21st century, large office blocks were built between Bishopsgate and Spitalfields Market, affecting the character of the area. Conservationists secured the preservation of Old Spitalfields Market and the provision of shopping, leisure amenities and a plaza (urban square) beside the blocks,[31] but permission was granted to developers, to demolish the Fruit and Wool exchange on the edge of old Spitalfields market, in order to erect office buildings.

Since 1998 the area has formed part of the Spitalfields and Banglatown electoral ward. The name reflecting the areas strong links with Bangladesh. In September 2015, a demonstration against gentrification in London took the form of a protest at Cereal Killer Cafe, a hipster café on Brick Lane which serves cereal.[32]

Community

Spitalfields has a very strong sense of local community,[33] with the Spitalfields Community Group aiming to represent the people who both live and work, this is to build a better sense of community as well as improve the quality of life of its members and their neighbours in Spitalfields.[34] and the Spitalfields Music who strengthen the local community through musical events.[35] The Spitalfields Housing Association also works closely with residents by providing good quality community services.[36] A community garden, Nomadic Community Gardens, is a social project based in an area once an area fenced off and overgrown and is popular among a diverse range of people such as locals without gardens,[37] and is made up of found materials, street art, sculpture and allotments.[38] Nomadic Community Gardens is a temporary project or "meanwhile use" run by a private limited company[39] on behalf of the property developer Londonewcastle, which leases the site to the garden operator for a peppercorn rent and provided start-up funding.[40] Londonewcastle gained planning consent for a development of "affordable housing, townhouses and apartments"[41] on the site in November 2015.[42] Construction on the Fleet Street Hill Project was intended to commence in 2016[40] but, as of June 2019, no work has begun on the site.

Culture

Dennis Severs' House

Whitechapel Art Gallery
is at the bottom of Brick Lane.

Amongst the many well known artists living in Spitalfields are

Gilbert and George, Ricardo Cinalli, Tracey Emin[45] and Stuart Brisley. TV presenter, architecture expert and Georgian fanatic Dan Cruickshank was an active campaigner for Spitalfields, and continues to live in the area. Writer Jeanette Winterson turned a derelict Georgian house into an organic food shop, Verde's, as part of the Slow Food
movement.

Spitalfields figures in a number of works of literature, including

.

19th-century Spitalfields is the setting for the film From Hell, a fictional retelling of the story of Jack the Ripper.

In December 2009 an anonymous Spitalfields resident started a blog called Spitalfields Life, writing under the pseudonym "The Gentle Author",[46][47][48] and promising to post 10,000 daily essays. As of June 2020, the writer had posted over 4,000 articles about life in Spitalfields, and the surrounding areas within walking distance.

Economy

The economic makeup of Spitalfields is primarily centred around its four marketplaces. Old Spitalfields Market is the main one where traders sell antiques, food and fashion items, while Petticoat Lane Market mainly sells general clothing.[49]

Notable people

Transport

Railway

Spitalfields has no connection to the

East London Line, technically lay within the boundaries of Spitalfields, but principally served Shoreditch: it closed in 2006.[67] Liverpool Street station (mainline and underground), Aldgate East (underground) and Shoreditch High Street (London Overground
) are all in close proximity to Spitalfields.

Road

The area is formed around Commercial Street (on the A1202 London Inner Ring Road).

See also

References

  1. ^ "Tower Hamlets Ward population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
  2. ^ Brewer's Dictionary of London Phrase and Fable, Russ Willey, 2010, ISBN 978 0550 100313, p292
  3. ^ a b Gover, J. E. B.; Mawer, Allen; Stenton, F. M. (1942). The Place-Names of Middlesex. English Place-Name Society. Vol. 18. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 151–2.
  4. ^ B. Lambert (1806). The history and survey of London and its environs. T. Hughes. p. 79. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
  5. ^ F. H. W. Sheppard (1957). The Priory of St Mary Spital | Survey of London: volume 27 (pp. 21–23). Retrieved 1 April 2013.
  6. .
  7. ^ "Your Councillors". democracy.towerhamlets.gov.uk. 12 July 2020.
  8. ^ "Rushanara Ali MP". UK Parliament.
  9. ^ "Spitalfields & banglatown neighbourhood Plan". Spitalfieldsforum.org.uk. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
  10. ^ Brooke, Mike (6 April 2016). "Spitalfields planning forum gets legal recognition in bid to halt City encroachment". Docklands and East London Advertiser. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
  11. ^ .
  12. ^ "Discovering peopleat Spitalfields market". 12 March 2007. Archived from the original on 12 March 2007. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
  13. ^ "Pagans of Roman Britain". Bbc.co.uk. 7 January 2014. Retrieved 7 January 2014.
  14. ^ "The story of the silk and gold clad woman buried in London's Spitalfields". Independent.co.uk. 16 December 2020. Archived from the original on 24 May 2022. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  15. ^ Thomas, Sloane and Phillpotts (1997) Excavations at the Priory and Hospital of St Mary Spital, London. Museum of London: London: 19–20
  16. ^ The Blackest Streets, Sarah Wise, The Life and Death of a Victorian Slum, Vintage Publishing 2009
  17. ^ Thomas: pp. 30–75
  18. ^ Fiona Rule (2008) The Worst Street in London, pp. 18-26, Hersham, Ian Allan.
  19. ^ F. H. W. Sheppard (1957). General introduction | Survey of London: volume 27 (pp. 1–13). Retrieved 25 November 2012. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  20. ^ a b c Industries: Silk-weaving, A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 2: General; Ashford, East Bedfont with Hatton, Feltham, Hampton with Hampton Wick, Hanworth, Laleham, Littleton (1911), pp. 132–137. Date accessed: 4 March 2009
  21. ^ Fiona Rule (2008) The Worst Street in London. Hersham, Ian Allan: 28
  22. ^ Thomas: pp. 76–95
  23. ^ Dreyer, Joseph (1920). History of the Royal Astronomical Society. p. 99.
  24. ^ a b Old Spitalfields Market Published 2008. Retrieved 17 June 2009.
  25. ^ "Huguenots of Spitalfields heritage tours & events in Spitalfields - Huguenot Public Art Trust". Huguenotsofspitalfields.org.
  26. ^ Observations on the ruinous tendency of the Spitalfields Act to the silk manufacture, books.google.com
  27. .
  28. ^ White: p. 331
  29. .
  30. ^ .
  31. ^ Feargus O'Sullivan (30 September 2015). "Breakfast of Gentrifiers How a London café that specializes in cereal became the latest flashpoint in the city's ongoing gentrification debate". CityLab. Retrieved 30 September 2015. When Londoners talk about regeneration, gentrification and the supposed cascade of bars, beards and real estate bubbles they bring in their wake, they typically talk about the café's home neighborhood of Shoreditch.
  32. ^ "Community - Spitalfields Society". spitalfieldssociety.org.
  33. ^ "Spitalfields Community Group". Spitalfieldscommunitygroup.org.uk.
  34. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 12 July 2011. Retrieved 10 July 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  35. ^ "SHA". Spitalfieldsha.co.uk.
  36. ^ "WHERE: The Nomadic Community Gardens of Brick Lane". Underground Retail Limited. 15 September 2016. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
  37. ^ "The Nomadic Community Garden in London and where to find it – Inspiring City". 15 April 2017.
  38. ^ "NOMADIC COMMUNITY GARDENS LTD - Overview (free company information from Companies House)". beta.companieshouse.gov.uk. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
  39. ^ a b "Meet the Londoners who are setting up new pop-up villages in London's empty building sites". Homes and Property. 20 October 2015. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
  40. ^ "Fleet Street Hill | Londonewcastle". londonewcastle.com. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
  41. ^ Waite, Richard (25 November 2015). "Appeal victory for Partington and Barber in Shoreditch". Architects Journal. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
  42. ^ Dennis Severs. "The Tour". p. 3. Retrieved 25 November 2012.
  43. OCLC 60623878
    . Retrieved 25 November 2012.
  44. ^ Acharya, Dipal (20 April 2018). "My London: Tracey Emin". Standard.co.uk. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
  45. ^ "Spitalfields Life". Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  46. ^ Saumarez Smith, Charles (17 March 2012). "Last of the swagmen". The Spectator. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  47. ^ Barkham, Patrick (20 March 2012). "Tales of the city: the rise of the local blog". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  48. ^ "Shops & Markets". Spitalfields Forum.
  49. ^ Gray, Alistair (20 December 2013). "Inga Beale, the steely trailblazer shaking up a masculine bastion". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 10 December 2022.
  50. ^ Susannah Butter (2016). "Lloyd's CEO Inga Beale on coming out as bisexual in a job interview". London Evening Standard. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  51. ^ Gould, Mark (10 December 2013). "Dan Cruikshank: London's East End is threatened by 'creeping and ghastly greed'". The Guardian.
  52. ^ Fiona Rule (2008) The Worst Street in London. Hersham, Ian Allan: 20-1
  53. ^ "One day Gilbert & George walked into the bar, and my life changed" Published 17 December 2006. Retrieved 5 October 2009.
  54. ^ "Well, that's Gilbert and George for you". independent.co.uk. 26 August 1995. Archived from the original on 24 May 2022.
  55. .
  56. ^ a b Sheppard, F. H. W., ed. (1957). "The Wood-Michell estate: Hanbury Street west of Brick Lane". Spitalfields and Mile End New Town. Survey of London. Vol. 27. London: Athlone Press. pp. 189–193. Retrieved 2 June 2008.
  57. ^ Stewart Evans and Donald Rumbelow (2006) Jack the Ripper: Scotland Yard Investigates: 51–55
  58. ^ Stewart Evans and Donald Rumbelow (2006) Jack the Ripper: Scotland Yard Investigates: 56–62
  59. ^ Paul Begg (2006) Jack the Ripper: The Facts: 42
  60. ^ Stewart Evans and Donald Rumbelow (2006) Jack the Ripper: Scotland Yard Investigates: 114-40
  61. ^ "Joe Loss - Biography & History - AllMusic". AllMusic.
  62. ^ Today, Realty (17 September 2013). "Pirates of the Caribbean Actress Keira Knightly Lists London Townhouse for $4.7 Million". realtytoday.com.
  63. ^ Fiona Rule (2008) The Worst Street in London. Hersham, Ian Allan: 30
  64. ^ Winterson, Jeanette (12 June 2010). "Once upon a life: Jeanette Winterson". The Guardian.
  65. ^ "Disused Stations: Bishopsgate Low Level Station". Disused-stations.org.uk.
  66. ^ Baker, Thomas, ed. (1998). "Stepney: Communications". A History of the County of Middlesex. Vol. 11. London: Victoria County History. pp. 7–13. Archived from the original on 12 January 2015. Retrieved 11 January 2015.

Further reading

External links