Spitalfields Area Guide

Spitalfields neighbours our home district of Shoreditch and is a former parish in the London borough of Tower Hamlets.
One of the many attractions of the area is the “Old Spitalfields Market”, there has been a market on this site for over 350 years. The market gained a new name in 1991, being named the “Old Spitalfields Market” when the “New Spitalfields Market “opened in the same year (now in Leyton, east London)
Home to many historical pubs including
- The Ten Bells
- Galvin Hop
- Vagabond
- The Gun
The Gun was a pub which is situated to the south of the Spitalfields Market buildings recalls Tudor times, when the old Artillery Ground in this area was used by the Honourable Artillery Company to practice with cross bow and later guns an artillery pieces.

The area and the occupants have changed significantly over the years. More recently in the late 20th century the Jewish presence diminished and was replaced by an influx of Bangladeshi immigrants, who worked in the local textile industry.
From the 1960s there has been a campaign to save some of the old merchant terraces on Brick Lane from demolition. Many have been conserved by the Spitalfields Historic Buildings Trust. An example of this conservation is 19 Princelet Street, otherwise known as the Museum of Immigration and Diversity.

Many notable people have lived or were born in Spitalfields, some include….
- Inga Beale, CEO of Lloyds of London
- Jack the Ripper, all of his victims lived in Spitalfields.
- George Peabody, Established the Peabody trust, the Peabody Trust provides good quality housing for the deserving poor in London.