Whitechapel High Street

Whitechapel High Street follows part of a Roman road, presumed to have continued to Colchester. A major Roman cemetery was located along the street.[5]

In the medieval period the street was known as Algatestreet. It was a major thoroughfare to and from the City of London. Settlement in the area probably began in the 13th century.[6]

The name “Whitechapel” refers to a chapel of ease in the parish of Stepney that was built in the mid-13th century in the area that is now Altab Ali Park on Whitechapel Road. The church was named St Mary Matfelon, but commonly known as the “White Chapel”, referring to the colour of its white chalk rubble walls.[7]

Early maps such as the Agas map show that by the mid-16th century the street had a continuous frontage of mostly 2-storey timber-framed houses with fields behind. Remains of the Boar’s Head Inn, which included the site of the Boar's Head Theatre from 1598-1616, were found beneath the Unite Students building (No 141-143).[5]

Stow’s Survey of London in 1603 complained that the street was “pestered” with cottages and alleys, concluding that the “unsavoury” passage to Aldgate was “no small blemish to so famous a city”.[8] Morgan’s map of 1682 shows “White Chapel Street” extending from Aldgate to St Mary’s Church, with numerous narrow alleys leading to courtyards or fields behind the street.[9] Some still remain, such as Angel Alley (No 84) and Gunthorpe Street (No 88). While no buildings survive from this period, later buildings such as No 85 and Nos 91-93 reused their extremely narrow plots, preserving their cramped character. By 1746, Roque’s map shows the land behind the street was entirely built up.[10]

In contrast to the buildings, the street itself was wide. Maitland’s Survey of London of 1756 describes it as “a spacious Street for Entrance into the City Eastward … accommodated with good Inns for the Reception of Travellers, Horses, Coaches, Waggons, &c [and] a great many Butchers, who carry on a great Trade, both Wholesale and Retail”.[11] The oldest remaining inn is the White Hart (No 89) from 1721.

Whitechapel High Street in 1869, painted by Edwin Edwards

Carey’s map of 1795 introduced the modern name “White Chapel High Street” for the part of the street outside the City of London boundary; Whitechapel Road for the western part beginning at St Mary’s Church; and Aldgate High Street for the eastern part between the city boundary and the old roman wall.[12] By 1810 there were 148 numbered buildings.[13]

“Whitechapel High Street was lined with coaching inns; the road was full of traffic, carts with garden produce, market women with baskets of fruit, flocks of sheet, herds of cattle, brewers’ drays and hay wains for the hay market.”[14] From at least 1665 until 1928, in the Whitechapel hay market, farmers sold animal fodder from large carts in the street.[15]

In the late 18th and early 19th century the street was lined with 4-storey brick shop-houses, still visible at Nos 65-68, 74-76 and 128-129. It became a traffic intersection. Commercial Road was created in 1802-4 to link the docks with the City.[3] The southern section of Commercial Street was created in 1843–5 as part of a slum clearance programme, and to connect Whitechapel High Street with Spitalfields Market.[16] The Whitechapel to Bow tramway opened in 1870.[15] In 1884 the District Railway extended its underground service through Aldgate East to Whitechapel station.

Whitechapel High Street in 1905, looking east towards St Mary's Church

As London’s population increased during the 19th century,and Whitechapel as a whole suffered poverty and overcrowding, the high street remained relatively prosperous. It shows as a narrow strip of “middle class – well-to-do” housing on Booth’s poverty map of 1889. Victorian era, philanthropic improvements included the ornate Passmore Edwards Library and the Whitechapel Gallery. Grand Edwardian era buildings remain at No 90, 102-5 and 126-7.

Many Jewish refugees from Eastern Europe to Whitechapel during 1880-1914 found work in the clothing industry, and the high street became their shop window. Clothing and footwear accounted for one-third of the 144 businesses listed on the street in 1921.[17] The last remaining ones are at No 65a, 88 and 102-5. The largest was Gardiner's department store (No 31-35), which opened in the 1870s and was destroyed by fire in 1972.[18] The traffic intersection became known as Gardiner’s Corner. In 1936 a fascist march into the East End was blocked there in the Battle of Cable Street. One of the few remaining signs of the Jewish presence is a Star of David on the former Jewish Daily Post building (No 88).

Like much of the East End, Whitechapel High Street was extensively damaged by the blitz during World War II. Some buildings were repaired in their original style; others were rebuilt during the 1950s in plain utilitarian style, such as No 83, 87 and 94. Some sites, such as No 97, remained empty for decades. Rising property prices have encouraged repair and rebuilding, and few signs of the blitz remain. One notable absence is St Mary’s Church, which was gutted by a fire bomb in 1940 and demolished in 1952.[7]

Whitechapel High Street in 1991, looking east on the Aldgate Gyratory

In the 1960s the street became one-way as part of the Aldgate Gyratory, isolating the buildings on the south side as far as Gardiner’s department store in the centre of a large roundabout with return flow along Braham Street. Large concrete and glass office buildings occupied this area, creating a “sense of desolation and insecurity for pedestrians”.[2] The gyratory system was removed in 2008, and Whitechapel High Street became two-way again. Tall office and apartment buildings were combined with attempts to improve the street level environment.