Spitalfields

For the musical group, see Spitalfield.

Spitalfields
Christ Church, Spitalfields
Spitalfields  Spitalfields shown within Greater London
OS grid reference	TQ335815
London borough	Tower Hamlets
Ceremonial county	Greater London
Region	London
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	LONDON
Postcode district	E1
Dialling code	020
Police	Metropolitan
Fire	London
Ambulance	London
EU Parliament	London
London Assembly	City and East
List of places: UK • England • London

Spitalfields is a former parish in the borough of Tower Hamlets, in the East End of London, near to Liverpool Street station and Brick Lane. The area straddles Commercial Street and is home to many markets, including the historic Old Spitalfields Market, founded in the 17th century, Sunday UpMarket, and the various other Brick Lane Markets on Brick Lane and Cheshire Street.

History

Etymology

The name Spitalfields is a contraction of 'hospital fields', in reference to the open land which lay behind and to the east of "The New Hospital of St Mary without Bishopgate" erected on the east side of the Bishopsgate thoroughfare in 1197. Before that time the area was apparently known as Lollesworth. The original Spital Field is depicted, and labelled as such, at the top right hand corner of the sixteenth century Civitas Londinium map of Ralph Agas.

Origins

Spitalfields was the location of one of Roman London's large extramural cemeteries, situated to the east of the Bishopsgate thoroughfare, which roughly follows the line of Ermine Street: the main highway to the north from Londinium. The presence of a Roman cemetery here was noticed by the antiquarian John Stow as far back as 1576 and became the focus of a major archaeological excavation in the 1990s, following the redevelopment of Spitalfields Market. Perhaps the most spectacular find was the discovery in 1999 of a sarcophagus containing the remains of a high status, silk clad, Roman lady, complete with jet accessories and a unique glass phial.

In 1197 the former Roman cemetery became the site of a priory called "The New Hospital of St Mary without Bishopgate", latterly known as St Mary Spital, founded by Walter Brunus and his wife Roisia. This religious foundation was one of the biggest hospitals in medieval England and was the focus of a large medieval cemetery which included a stone charnel house and mortuary chapel. This latter has recently been uncovered by archaeologists and preserved for public viewing. The Priory and Hospital were dissolved in 1539 under Henry VIII. Although the chapel and monastic buildings were mostly demolished, the area of the inner precinct of the priory maintained an autonomous administrative status as the Liberty of Norton Folgate. The adjacent outer precincts of the priory, to the south, were re-used as an Artillery Ground and placed under the special jurisdiction of the Tower of London as one of the Tower liberties. Other parts of the former priory area were utilised for residential purposes by London dwellers seeking a rural retreat and by the mid seventeenth century further development extended eastward into the erstwhile open farmland of the Spital Field.

In 1729 Spitalfields was detached from the parish of Mile End and organized as a Civil Parish divided into two ecclesiastical subdivisions, namely; Christchurch Spitalfields and St. Stephen's Spitalfields. 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. In 1911 the parish of St. Mary Spital (the merged former ex-parochial liberties of Norton Folgate and the Old Artillery Ground) became part of the civil parish of Spitalfields. Spitalfields as a civil parish was abolished in 1965 upon the establishment of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.

Huguenots

Spitalfields' historic association with the silk industry was established by French Protestant (Huguenots) refugees who settled in this area after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685. By settling here, 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 for the relief of 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.

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 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 of their own chapels in the area. More humble weavers dwellings were congregated in the Tenterground.

There has been a market on the site since 1638 when Charles I gave a licence for flesh, fowl and roots to be sold in what was then known as Spittle Fields. The Market currently receives around 25,000 visitors every week.

Main article: Old Spitalfields Market

From the 1730s Irish weavers came here, 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, bought 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 thence the prices paid to weavers, led to protests. In 1769, the Spitalfield Riots occurred, where attempts were made to break up meetings of weavers, called to discuss the threat to wages, caused by another downturn in the market for silk. This ended with an Irish and a Huguenot weaver being hanged in front of the Salmon and Ball public house at Bethnal Green.

Price controls on amounts master weavers could pay journeymen for each piece were established. This removed all incentive to pay higher wages during good times. During bad time workers had no work. As the price was per piece, there was incentive for using machinery, as 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 to the country. Remaining manufacture tended to focus on expensive fashion items, which required proximity to court and had higher margins.

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 at 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 was established with France, allowing the import of cheaper French silks. This left the many weavers in Spitalfields, and neighbouring Bethnal Green and Shoreditch 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.

By the later 19th century inner Spitalfields had eclipsed rival claimants to the dubious distinction of being the worst criminal rookery of London with common lodging-houses in the Flower and Dean Street area being a focus for the activities of robbers and prostitutes. The latter street was dubbed in 1881 as being "perhaps the foulest and most dangerous street in the metropolis". Another claimant to the distinction of being "the worst street in London" was nearby Dorset Street, which was highlighted by the brutal killing and mutilation of a young woman named Mary Kelly in her lodgings here by the serial killer known as Jack the Ripper in the autumn of 1888. This was the climax of a whole series of slayings of local prostitutes that became known as the Whitechapel Murders. The sanguinary activities of "Jack" was one of the factors which prompted the demolition of some of the worst streets in the area 1891-94. Deprivation, however, 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 vagrants.

Modern Spitalfields

In the late 20th century the Jewish presence diminished, to be replaced by an influx of Bangladeshi immigrants, who also worked in the local textile industry and made Brick Lane the curry capital of London.

Another development, from the 1960s onwards, has been a campaign to save the housing stock of old merchant terraces to the west of Brick Lane from demolition. Many have been conserved by exponents of a 'New Georgian' ethos, such as the architectural historian and TV pundit Dan Cruickshank. Such gentrification has, however, caused massive inflation in house prices and the removal of the last of the vagrants from this area.

Current 'urban regeneration' has also seen the erection of large modern office blocks, between Bishopsgate and Spitalfields Market. These represent, in effect, an expansion of the City of London, northwards, beyond its traditional bounds, into this area. However, a rear-guard action by conservationists has resulted in the preservation of Old Spitalfields Market and the provision of shopping, leisure amenities and a new plaza behind the city blocks.

The area within Tower Hamlets now forms part of the council ward of Spitalfields and Banglatown. Its name represents the modern association of the Bangladeshi community with this area and neighbouring Brick Lane.

Arts scene

The area is well known for its arts scene. Dennis Severs forswore modern comforts at 18 Folgate Street, living a unique life. The house, a time capsule of the 18th century, is now open to the public. In 2009, Raven Row, a non-profit contemporary art centre, opened to the public at 56 Artillery Lane. Constructed within a pair of 18th century silk merchants' houses, onto which London practice 6a Architects added two contemporary galleries, it stands on the part of the street know until 1895 as Raven Row. Whitechapel Art Gallery is located at the bottom of Brick Lane.

Amongst the many well known artists living in Spitalfields are Gilbert and George, Tracey Emin 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.

In literature

Spitalfields figures in many classic and contemporary works of literature, which reflect its sense of mystery and its fascinating multicultural heritage, including:

• A New Wonder, a Woman Never Vexed (performed 1610-14; printed 1632) by William Rowley - this is a dramatisation of the foundation of St Mary Spital by Walter Brunus
• Children of the Ghetto (1893) by Israel Zangwill
• The People of the Abyss (1903), the journalistic memoir by Jack London
• Hawksmoor (1985) by Peter Ackroyd
• The Satanic Verses (1988) by Salman Rushdie
• City of the Mind (1991) by Penelope Lively
• Downriver (1991) by Iain Sinclair
• Rodinsky's Room (1999) by Iain Sinclair and Rachel Lichtenstein
• The PowerBook (2000) by Jeanette Winterson
• Brick Lane (2003) by Monica Ali
• The Quincunx (1991) by Charles Palliser

In film

19th century Spitalfields was recreated as the setting for the film From Hell about Jack the Ripper. This included a reconstruction (in Prague) of the notorious Ten Bells pub (still extant on Commercial Street): alleged to have been a rendezvous of some of the Ripper's prostitute victims, before they were murdered. In the film Johnny Depp (as Inspector Abberline) is seen drinking there with Ripper victim Mary Jane Kelly.

Notable people associated with Spitalfields

• Nicholas Culpeper (1616–1654), botanist, herbalist, physician, and astrologer was born locally at the Red Lion Inn, when the area was still semi-rural.
• Sir Benjamin Truman (1699/1700–1780), brewer.
• Jack Sheppard (1702–1724), highwayman and multiple absconder, born in New Fashion Street, now known as White's Row.
• Obadiah Shuttleworth (d.1734), musician
• Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832), philosopher, born locally.
• Mary Wollstonecraft (1759–1797), early feminist, born locally, possibly at 21 Hanbury Street.
• George Peabody (1795-1869), established the Peabody Donation Fund, which continues to this day, as the Peabody Trust, to provide good quality housing "for the deserving poor" in London
• Jack the Ripper: all of his victims or presumed victims lived in Spitalfields and two (Chapman and Kelly) were murdered there (the others being murdered in nearby Whitechapel):
  • Annie Chapman (c. 1841 - 1888), resided at a common lodging house at 35 Dorset Street. Her body was found at 29 Hanbury Street
  • Mary Jane Kelly (c. 1863–1888), lived and was murdered at 13 Millers Court, just off Dorset Street
  • Martha Tabram (1849–1888), resided at a common lodging house at 19 George Street.
  • Mary Ann Nichols (1845–1888), resided at a common lodging house at 18 Thrawl Street.
  • Elizabeth Stride (1843–1888), resided at a common lodging house at 32 Flower and Dean Street.
  • Catherine Eddowes (1842–1888), resided with her partner John Kelly at Cooney's common lodging house at 55 Flower and Dean Street.
• Basil Henriques (1890–1961), for whom Henriques Street (formerly Berner Street) is named.
• Joe Loss LVO OBE (1909–1990), born locally, founder of the Joe Loss Orchestra.
• Wolf Mankowitz (1924–1998), writer, playwright and screenwriter, of Russian Jewish descent, was born in Fashion Street.
• Gilbert & George (1943 - ;1942 - ), artists, reside in Fournier Street.
• Dennis Severs (1944–1999), lived at 18 Folgate Street 1979 - 1999.
• Sandra Esquilant (1948 - ), landlady of The Golden Heart, listed among the 100 most influential people in art.
• Dan Cruickshank (1949 - ), art and architectural historian.
• Jeanette Winterson (1959 - ), writer, lives on Brushfield Street where she also runs a delicatessen.
• Tracey Emin (1963 - ), artist, resides in Fournier Street.
• Joe Wright (1972 - ), film director, recent addition to Wilkes Street.
• Samantha Morton, actor, lives on the corner of Fournier and Wilkes.
• Emdadur Choudhury, activist and Remembrance Day protester.
• John Nicolson, Journalist & Broadcaster, resides on Fournier Street in a house he restored and renovated himself.
• Keith Mansfield, writer and publisher, lives locally.

Transport

The nearest London Underground station is Liverpool Street. London Liverpool Street is also a National Rail station.

The nearest London Overground station is Shoreditch High Street

See also

• Bethlem Royal Hospital
• List of schools in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets
• Old Truman Brewery - The Black Eagle Brewery on Brick Lane, and into surrounding streets.
• Spitalfield Riots
• Spitalfields Festival
• Stepney Historical Trust

External links

• Spitalfields Life Daily blog that tells the stories of Spitalfields residents, past and present.
• London Metropolitan University East End Archive: The Paul Trevor Collection - photographs of the Spitalfields area from the 1970s to the 1990s.
• The Priory of St Mary Spital
• spitalfields.org TH Council website
• Brief History of Spitalfields
• Spitalfields City Farm
• 19 Princelet Street Unrestored Huguenot Master weaver's house, with synagogue. Rarely open to the public at present, but eventually to become a museum of immigration & diversity.
• Dennis Severs' House 18th century time capsule
• Nighttime photos of Spitalfields, Whitechapel, etc.; a German language website, but mostly photos
• Kinetica Museum