Sights · Our pick in London
Shoreditch and Spitalfields: the back story
The back story
About Shoreditch and Spitalfields: the back story
Spitalfields and Shoreditch lie just north-east of the City. Their streets tell a story of migration, markets and reinvention.
Huguenot Spitalfields
French Protestant refugees, the Huguenots, settled here in the late 17th century and built the tall Georgian houses of Fournier Street and Folgate Street, with attic windows lighting their looms. Hawksmoor’s Christ Church rises above them.
Markets
Spitalfields Market, Columbia Road Flower Market on Sundays and the street food of Brick Lane make the area a weekend magnet.
In Spitalfields, the Georgian houses were built for silk weavers; today they are among London’s most admired streets.
Shoreditch
Shoreditch, once a district of furniture workshops and warehouses, became a centre of art, nightlife and technology from the 1990s, with restaurants, bars and street art.
Our advice: come on a Sunday for Columbia Road and the markets, visit Dennis Severs’ House if you can book, and finish in a Shoreditch bar.
Why it's on our list
- Huguenot Spitalfields
- Markets
- Shoreditch
- Brick Lane
Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with Shoreditch and Spitalfields: the back story before you go.