Showing posts with label Spitalfields. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Spitalfields. Show all posts

Saturday, 13 June 2015

Another tradesmen's entrance

I've pounded the streets of London looking for a gate with a sign saying "Servants". I've failed, so if you know the location of one I could photograph, please say. As consolation, I thought I'd share with you this very smart Tradesmen's entrance (no sniggering please) in Princelet Street, Spitalfields. It's a great area for ghost signs and Georgian architecture, so a walk is rewarding for sign hunters.

Sunday, 14 December 2014

The Liberty of Norton Folgate

A Liberty was an area in London considered independent of the city’s normal administration. They tended to attract people eager to be unrestricted by the usual rules and regulations – actors, writers and criminals, for example. Norton Folgate, in Spitalfields, was home to Christopher Marlowe in 1589, and later boasted a playhouse which specialised in Victorian melodrama. The Liberty ended when it became part of the borough of Stepney in 1900.

The land for these Norton Folgate almshouses in Puma Court was bought in 1851 and the houses were built in 1860. Recently modernised, they are governed by Church trustees and Tower Hamlets council.  

Sunday, 9 November 2014

123 go

This handsome sign is a landmark in achingly trendy Shoreditch. It’s on the corner of Bethnal Green Road and Brick Lane, in hipster territory. The smart mid-Victorian terrace dates from around 1878-1883. The growth of the cabinet making industry at this time brought new buildings to the area, often on conspicuous corner sites. This building has been associated with the clothing industry, restaurants and illegal gun trade.