This fun and engaging walking tour — led by Barratt London head of planning and Golden Key Academy graduate Martin Scholar — focuses on how the area’s built environment has changed, adapted and developed over the past 500 years to create the vibrant mix of cultural activity we see today.
The tour references local buildings and street names to explore how the historical development of the district was shaped by the arrival and later large-scale departure of its Huguenot and Jewish communities. It then focusses on the arrival of the area’s vibrant and world-famous Bangladeshi community before going on to discuss and illustrate how the district’s population and built environment is rapidly changing once again.
The tour will take in one of the finest collections of surviving Georgian architecture in London, the extraordinary variety of Brick Lane which is described by many as the ‘heartland’ of the Bangladeshi community in Britain; the tragic story of the murder and subsequent protests behind Altab Ali Park; the Whitechapel Bell Foundry and surrounding back streets, squares and stories; Rinkoffs Bakery where we may stop for a quick Crodough; and finally the unexpected delights of Stepney Green.
Other highlights include Fieldgate Street Synagogue, Nelson Street Synagogue, the Neuron Pod by acclaimed architect Will Alsop, and housing typologies from the 16th to 21st centuries. Providing a safe and fun way for enthusiastic urbanists to explore the city, this tour will explore the architecture and history of London’s East End.
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