Tower Hamlets
Taking in Spitalfields, Bow and, to the south, the Isle of Dogs, Tower Hamlets’ story dates back to Roman times.
The imprint of the many migrant communities who’ve made the area their home is everywhere – perhaps most notably in Brick Lane Jamme Masjid. Now a mosque, it was built in 1743 as a French Protestant church, before becoming a synagogue in 1898.
Tower Hamlets’ diverse influences are part of the draw for numerous creative people. Artists Gilbert & George and Tracey Emin are among those to have lived in the borough.
Tourists flock to bustling markets on Columbia Road and Petticoat Lane – and to explore the streets once roamed by Jack the Ripper.
But it’s also where bankers go to work among the sleek glass towers of Canary Wharf. And where Victoria Park opened in 1845 for the benefit of the East End working class – one of the first public parks in London.
The Roman Road market in 1968
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John Galt's photos of the East End and its poverty
Photographing in the 1900s, this Christian missionary hoped to draw attention to his local community
Why fashion manufacturing moved away from London
From the 1940s onwards, here’s why many London-based fashion makers struggled to retain their base in the capital
Photographing an east London rent strike, 1939
Cyril Arapoff captures life in a dangerously dilapidated apartment block
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