Shoreditch is an area of
LondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
within the
London Borough of HackneyThe London Borough of Hackney is a London borough of North/North East London, and forms part of inner London. The local authority is Hackney London Borough Council....
in
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It is a built-up part of the
inner cityThe inner city is the central area of a major city or metropolis. In the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Ireland, the term is often applied to the lower-income residential districts in the city centre and nearby areas...
immediately to the north of the
City of LondonThe City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...
, located 2.5 miles (4 km)
east-northeastBoxing the compass is the action of naming all thirty-two points of the compass in clockwise order. Such names are formed by the initials of the cardinal directions and their intermediate ordinal directions, and are very handy to refer to a heading in a general or colloquial fashion, without...
of
Charing CrossCharing Cross denotes the junction of Strand, Whitehall and Cockspur Street, just south of Trafalgar Square in central London, England. It is named after the now demolished Eleanor cross that stood there, in what was once the hamlet of Charing. The site of the cross is now occupied by an equestrian...
.
Etymology
The etymology of 'Shoreditch' is debated. A legendary early tradition connects it with
Jane ShoreElizabeth "Jane" Shore was one of the many mistresses of King Edward IV of England, the first of the three whom he described respectively as "the merriest, the wiliest, and the holiest harlots" in his realm...
, the mistress of
Edward IVEdward IV was King of England from 4 March 1461 until 3 October 1470, and again from 11 April 1471 until his death. He was the first Yorkist King of England...
who according to an ancient ballad died in the eponymous ditch. However as the place is attested as 'Soersditch' long before this a more plausible suggestion is 'Sewer Ditch', in reference to an ancient drain or watercourse in what was a boggy area adjacent to the 'fens' of
FinsburyFinsbury is a district of central London, England. It lies immediately north of the City of London and Clerkenwell, west of Shoreditch, and south of Islington and City Road. It is in the south of the London Borough of Islington. The Finsbury Estate is in the western part of the district...
/Fensbury to the west (Mander 1996). Possibly it refers to the headwaters of the river
WalbrookWalbrook is the name of a ward, a street and a subterranean river in the City of London.-Underground river:The river played a key role in the Roman settlement of Londinium, the city now known as London. It is thought that the river was named because it ran through or under the London Wall; another...
which rose in the Curtain Road area.
The legendary associations of Jane Shore with the area are commemorated by a very large painting of that lady being retrieved from the ditch at
HaggerstonHaggerston is an area and a electoral ward in the London Borough of Hackney, in northeast London, UK. It is bounded by Hackney Road on the south, Kingsland Road on the west, Middleton Road on the north with London Fields and Broadway Market on the east...
Branch Library and by a design on glazed tiles in a shop in Shoreditch High Street showing Edward IV meeting her at the goldsmith's establishment her husband kept. This shop was formerly 'The Jane Shore' tavern (Clunn 1970: 312, 493).
Administration
The medieval parish of
Shoreditch (St Leonard's)Shoreditch was an ancient parish in the county of Middlesex. It was both a civil parish, used for administrative purposes, and an ecclesiastical parish of the Church of England...
, was originally part of the county of
MiddlesexMiddlesex is one of the historic counties of England and the second smallest by area. The low-lying county contained the wealthy and politically independent City of London on its southern boundary and was dominated by it from a very early time...
until 1889 when it became part of the new
County of LondonThe County of London was a county of England from 1889 to 1965, corresponding to the area known today as Inner London. It was created as part of the general introduction of elected county government in England, by way of the Local Government Act 1888. The Act created an administrative County of...
. The parish vestry was the local unit of administration until the creation of the
Metropolitan Borough of ShoreditchThe Metropolitan Borough of Shoreditch was a Metropolitan borough of the County of London between 1900 and 1965, when it was merged with the Metropolitan Borough of Stoke Newington and the Metropolitan Borough of Hackney to form the London Borough of Hackney....
in 1899 in the same area. Shoreditch town hall can still be seen on
Old StreetOld Street is a street in east London that runs west to east from Goswell Road in Clerkenwell, in the London Borough of Islington, to the crossroads where it intersects with Shoreditch High Street , Kingsland Road and Hackney Road in Shoreditch in the London Borough of Hackney.The nearest...
. It has been restored and is now run by the
Shoreditch Town Hall Trust. The Metropolitan Borough of Shoreditch was made up of three main districts in all: Shoreditch,
HoxtonHoxton is an area in the London Borough of Hackney, immediately north of the financial district of the City of London. The area of Hoxton is bordered by Regent's Canal on the north side, Wharf Road and City Road on the west, Old Street on the south, and Kingsland Road on the east.Hoxton is also a...
and
HaggerstonHaggerston is an area and a electoral ward in the London Borough of Hackney, in northeast London, UK. It is bounded by Hackney Road on the south, Kingsland Road on the west, Middleton Road on the north with London Fields and Broadway Market on the east...
. The whole Metropolitan Borough was incorporated into the much larger
London Borough of HackneyThe London Borough of Hackney is a London borough of North/North East London, and forms part of inner London. The local authority is Hackney London Borough Council....
in 1965.
Origins
Though now part of the
inner cityThe City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...
, Shoreditch was previously an extramural suburb of the City of London, centred around
Shoreditch ChurchSt Leonard's, Shoreditch is the ancient parish church of Shoreditch, often known simply as Shoreditch Church. It is located at the intersection of Shoreditch High Street with Hackney Road, within the London Borough of Hackney. The current building dates from about 1740...
at the crossroads where Shoreditch High Street and
Kingsland RoadKingsland Road is the name of a road, part of the A10, in the London Borough of Hackney in England. It runs from the junction with Old Street and Hackney Road north to the junction with Balls Pond Road and Dalston Lane, where it changes its name to Kingsland High Street...
are intersected by
Old StreetOld Street is a street in east London that runs west to east from Goswell Road in Clerkenwell, in the London Borough of Islington, to the crossroads where it intersects with Shoreditch High Street , Kingsland Road and Hackney Road in Shoreditch in the London Borough of Hackney.The nearest...
and
Hackney RoadHackney Road is a London arterial route running from Shoreditch Church to Cambridge Heath. It occupies a no mans land in between Bethnal Green and Haggerston...
.
Shoreditch High Street and Kingsland road are a small sector of the Roman
Ermine StreetErmine Street is the name of a major Roman road in England that ran from London to Lincoln and York . The Old English name was 'Earninga Straete' , named after a tribe called the Earningas, who inhabited a district later known as Armingford Hundred, around Arrington, Cambridgeshire and Royston,...
and modern A10. Known also as the Old North Road, it was a major coaching route to the north, exiting the City at
BishopsgateBishopsgate is a road and ward in the northeast part of the City of London, extending north from Gracechurch Street to Norton Folgate. It is named after one of the original seven gates in London Wall...
. The east-west course of Old Street-Hackney Road was also probably originally a Roman Road, connecting Silchester with
ColchesterCamulodunum is the Roman name for the ancient settlement which is today's Colchester, a town in Essex, England. Camulodunum is claimed to be the oldest town in Britain as recorded by the Romans, existing as a Celtic settlement before the Roman conquest, when it became the first Roman town, and...
, bypassing the City of London to the south (Sugden n.d.).
Shoreditch church (dedicated to St Leonard) is of ancient origin and features in the famous line 'when I grow rich say the bells of Shoreditch', from the nursery rhyme
Oranges and Lemons"Oranges and Lemons" is an English nursery rhyme and singing game which refers to the bells of several churches, all within or close to the City of London. It is listed in the Roud Folk Song Index as #3190.-Lyrics:Common modern versions include:...
.
Shoreditch was the site of a house of canonesses, the Augustinian
Holywell PrioryHaliwell or Holywell Priory in Shoreditch was a religious house near London, England. The Victoria County History for Middlesex describes it as the priory of St. John the Baptist at Haliwell, a house of Augustinian canonesses....
(named after a Holy Well on the site), from the 12th Century until its dissolution in 1539. This priory was located between Shoreditch High Street and Curtain Road to east and west and Batemans Row and Holywell Lane to north and south. Nothing remains of it today (Wood 2003).
Tudor theatre
In 1576
James BurbageJames Burbage was an English actor, theatre impresario, and theatre builder in the English Renaissance theatre. He built The Theatre, the facility famous as the first permanent dedicated theatre built in England since Roman times...
built the first playhouse in England, known as '
The TheatreThe Theatre was an Elizabethan playhouse located in Shoreditch , just outside the City of London. It was the second permanent theatre ever built in England, after the Red Lion, and the first successful one...
', on the site of the Priory (commemorated today by a plaque on Curtain Road, and excavated in 2008, by
MoLASMolas is a commune in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern France.-Population:-References:*...
). Some of
Shakespeare'sWilliam Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
plays were performed here and at the nearby
Curtain TheatreThe Curtain Theatre was an Elizabethan playhouse located in Curtain Close, Shoreditch , just outside the City of London. It opened in 1577, and continued staging plays until 1622....
, built the following year and 200 yards (183 m) to the south (marked by a commemorative plaque in Hewett Street off Curtain Road). It was here that Shakespeare's
Romeo and JulietRomeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.Romeo and Juliet belongs to a...
gained 'Curtain plaudits' and where
Henry VHenry V is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to be written in approximately 1599. Its full titles are The Cronicle History of Henry the Fifth and The Life of Henry the Fifth...
was performed within 'this wooden O'. In 1599 Shakespeare's Company literally upped sticks and moved the timbers of 'The Theatre' to
SouthwarkSouthwark is a district of south London, England, and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Southwark. Situated east of Charing Cross, it forms one of the oldest parts of London and fronts the River Thames to the north...
at expiration of the lease to construct The
GlobeThe Globe Theatre was a theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 by Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, and was destroyed by fire on 29 June 1613...
. The Curtain continued performing plays in Shoreditch until at least 1627 (Shapiro 2005).
The suburb of Shoreditch was attractive as a location for these early theatres because it was outside the jurisdiction of the somewhat puritanical City fathers. Even so, they drew the wrath of contemporary moralists as did the local:
"... base tenements and houses of unlawful and disorderly resort' and the 'great number of dissolute, loose, and insolent people harboured in such and the like noisome and disorderly houses, as namely poor cottages, and habitations of beggars and people without trade, stables, inns, alehouses, taverns, garden-houses converted to dwellings, ordinaries, dicing houses, bowling alleys, and brothel houses." (Middlesex Justices in 1596 cited in: Schoenbaum 1987: 126)
During the 17th century, wealthy traders and
HuguenotThe Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France during the 16th and 17th centuries. Since the 17th century, people who formerly would have been called Huguenots have instead simply been called French Protestants, a title suggested by their German co-religionists, the...
silk weavers moved to the area, establishing a textile industry centred to the south around Spitalfields. By the 19th century Shoreditch was also the locus of the furniture industry, now commemorated in the
Geffrye MuseumFounded in 1914, the Geffrye Museum is a museum specialising in the history of the English domestic interior. Named after Sir Robert Geffrye, former Lord Mayor of London and Master of the Ironmongers' Company, it is located on Kingsland Road in London...
on
Kingsland RoadKingsland Road is the name of a road, part of the A10, in the London Borough of Hackney in England. It runs from the junction with Old Street and Hackney Road north to the junction with Balls Pond Road and Dalston Lane, where it changes its name to Kingsland High Street...
. However the area declined along with both textile and furniture industries and by the end of the 19th Century Shoreditch was a byword for crime, prostitution and poverty. This situation was not improved by extensive devastation of the housing stock in
the BlitzThe Blitz was the sustained strategic bombing of Britain by Nazi Germany between 7 September 1940 and 10 May 1941, during the Second World War. The city of London was bombed by the Luftwaffe for 76 consecutive nights and many towns and cities across the country followed...
during
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and insensitive redevelopment in the post war period.
Victorian entertainments
In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries Shoreditch was a centre of entertainment to rival the West-End and boasted many theatres and Music halls:
- The National Standard Theatre, 2/3/4 Shoreditch High Street (1837–1940). In the late 19th century this was one of the largest theatres in London. In 1926 it was converted into a cinema called The New Olympia Picturedrome. The building was demolished in 1940. Sims Reeves
John Sims Reeves , usually called simply Sims Reeves, was the foremost English operatic, oratorio and ballad tenor vocalist of the mid-Victorian era....
, Mrs Marriott and James Anderson all performed here; as well as programmes of classical opera and even Shakespeare, with such luminaries as Henry IrvingSir Henry Irving , born John Henry Brodribb, was an English stage actor in the Victorian era, known as an actor-manager because he took complete responsibility for season after season at the Lyceum Theatre, establishing himself and his company as...
. There was considerable rivalry with the West End theatres, in a letter from John Douglass (the owner, from 1845) to The Era after a Drury Lane first night, in which he says that "seeing that a hansom cab is used in the new drama at Drury Lane, I beg to state that a hansom cab, drawn by a live horse was used in my drama . . . . produced at the Standard Theatre in ....... - and so on- "with real rain, a real flood, and a real balloon."
- The Shoreditch Empire aka The London Music Hall, 95–99 Shoreditch High Street, (1856–1935). The theatre was rebuilt in 1894 by Frank Matcham
Frank Matcham was a famous English theatrical architect. He is buried in Highgate Cemetery.-Early career:...
. the architect of the Hackney EmpireThe Hackney Empire is a theatre on Mare Street, in the London Borough of Hackney, built in 1901 as a music hall.-History:Hackney Empire is a grade II* listed building...
. Charlie ChaplinSir Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin, KBE was an English comic actor, film director and composer best known for his work during the silent film era. He became the most famous film star in the world before the end of World War I...
is recorded as performing here, in his early days, before he achieved fame in America.
- The Royal Cambridge Music Hall, 136 Commercial Street (1864–1936), was destroyed by fire in 1896, then rebuilt in 1897 by Finch Hill
William Finch Hill was a British theatre and music hall architect of the Victorian era.Little is known of Finch Hill's early life, he possibly obtained his early architectural experience in church building. He set himself up as 'surveyor and architect', predominantly building public houses. In...
, architect of the Britannia TheatreThe Britannia Theatre was located at 115/117 High Street, Hoxton, London. The theatre was badly damaged by a fire in 1900. The site was reused as a Gaumont cinema from 1913 to 1940, when this too was destroyed...
, in nearby HoxtonHoxton is an area in the London Borough of Hackney, immediately north of the financial district of the City of London. The area of Hoxton is bordered by Regent's Canal on the north side, Wharf Road and City Road on the west, Old Street on the south, and Kingsland Road on the east.Hoxton is also a...
. The Builder of December 4, 1897, said The New Cambridge Music Hall in Commercial Street, Bishopsgate, is now nearing completion. The stage will be 41 feet (12.5 m) wide by 30 feet (9.1 m) deep . The premises will be heated throughout by hot water coils, and provision has been made for lighting the house by electric light.
None of these places of entertainment survive today. For a brief time Music hall was revived in Curtain Road by the temporary home of the Brick Lane Music Hall. This too has now moved on.
A number of playbills and posters from these Music halls survive in the collections of both the
Bishopsgate InstituteBishopsgate Institute is a cultural institute, located on Bishopsgate, in proximity of Liverpool Street station and Spitalfields market, London, England.Bishopsgate Institute was established in 1895...
and the
Victoria and Albert MuseumThe Victoria and Albert Museum , set in the Brompton district of The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England, is the world's largest museum of decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 4.5 million objects...
.
Geography
The historic heart of Shoreditch is
Shoreditch High StreetShoreditch High Street is the old main street of Shoreditch, London. It is part of the A10 road and connects Norton Folgate to the south with Kingsland Road to the north. It constitutes a segment of the Roman Ermine Street, which ran directly north from London to Lincoln and York...
and
Shoreditch ChurchSt Leonard's, Shoreditch is the ancient parish church of Shoreditch, often known simply as Shoreditch Church. It is located at the intersection of Shoreditch High Street with Hackney Road, within the London Borough of Hackney. The current building dates from about 1740...
. In the past the area of Shoreditch was defined by the borders of the
parish of ShoreditchShoreditch was an ancient parish in the county of Middlesex. It was both a civil parish, used for administrative purposes, and an ecclesiastical parish of the Church of England...
which later defined the borders of the
Metropolitan Borough of ShoreditchThe Metropolitan Borough of Shoreditch was a Metropolitan borough of the County of London between 1900 and 1965, when it was merged with the Metropolitan Borough of Stoke Newington and the Metropolitan Borough of Hackney to form the London Borough of Hackney....
. Since 1965, when the latter unit of local government was dissolved, it has been more fuzzily defined.
HoxtonHoxton is an area in the London Borough of Hackney, immediately north of the financial district of the City of London. The area of Hoxton is bordered by Regent's Canal on the north side, Wharf Road and City Road on the west, Old Street on the south, and Kingsland Road on the east.Hoxton is also a...
to the north of Old Street was historically part of Shoreditch parish and borough and is still, often, conflated with it resulting in the names "Hoxditch" or "Shoho" sometimes being applied to the whole.
Shoreditch has, since around 1996, become a popular and fashionable part of London. Often conflated with neighbouring
HoxtonHoxton is an area in the London Borough of Hackney, immediately north of the financial district of the City of London. The area of Hoxton is bordered by Regent's Canal on the north side, Wharf Road and City Road on the west, Old Street on the south, and Kingsland Road on the east.Hoxton is also a...
, the area has been subject to considerable gentrification in the past twenty years, with accompanying rises in land and property prices.
Recently – During the second 'dot-com' boom the area has become popular with London based web technology companies who base their head offices around Old Street. These include
Last.fmLast.fm is a music website, founded in the United Kingdom in 2002. It has claimed 30 million active users in March 2009. On 30 May 2007, CBS Interactive acquired Last.fm for UK£140m ....
,
DopplrDopplr is a free social networking service, launched in 2007, that allows users to create itineraries of their travel plans and spot correlations with their contacts’ travel plans in order to arrange meetings at any point on their journey. Additional features include allowing the user to calculate...
,
SongkickSongkick is a website and service that provides personalized news about live music events. It allows users to track their favorite bands and receive email alerts when a tracked band plays a gig nearby. Songkick is one of the original high tech startups in London's Silicon Roundabout area.- Service...
,
SocialGOSocialGO is a British company producing a social network builder that allows users to build an online community for a group, business or interest. Founded in June 2007, SocialGO was co-founded by Alex Halliday, Steve Hardman, and Dominic Wheatley...
and
7digital7digital is a privately held digital media delivery company based in the United Kingdom, offering downloadable music, video and movies to customers primarily within major European markets...
– who tend to gravitate towards Old Street roundabout, popularising the term 'Silicon Roundabout' to describe the area, referred to by Prime Minister
David CameronDavid William Donald Cameron is the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Leader of the Conservative Party. Cameron represents Witney as its Member of Parliament ....
in a speech in November 2010.
Formerly a predominantly working class area, Shoreditch and
HoxtonHoxton is an area in the London Borough of Hackney, immediately north of the financial district of the City of London. The area of Hoxton is bordered by Regent's Canal on the north side, Wharf Road and City Road on the west, Old Street on the south, and Kingsland Road on the east.Hoxton is also a...
have, in recent years, been gentrified by the creative industries and those who work in them. Former industrial buildings have been converted to offices and flats, while Curtain Road and
Old StreetOld Street is a street in east London that runs west to east from Goswell Road in Clerkenwell, in the London Borough of Islington, to the crossroads where it intersects with Shoreditch High Street , Kingsland Road and Hackney Road in Shoreditch in the London Borough of Hackney.The nearest...
are notable for their clubs and pubs which offer a variety of venues to rival those of the West End. Art galleries, bars, restaurants, media businesses and the building of the Hackney Community College campus are further features of this transformation. However, to the north, east and south, poor quality housing and
urban decayUrban decay is the process whereby a previously functioning city, or part of a city, falls into disrepair and decrepitude...
is still prevalent. Other traditions of working class entertainment survive on Shoreditch High Street where the music halls of yesteryear have been replaced by the greatest concentration of
stripteaseA striptease is an erotic or exotic dance in which the performer gradually undresses, either partly or completely, in a seductive and sexually suggestive manner...
venues in London (Clifton 2002). On
Commercial StreetCommercial Street is a road in Tower Hamlets, east London that runs north to south from Shoreditch High Street to Whitechapel High Street through the East End district of Spitalfields...
to the South, prostitution was still rife (Taylor 2001: 61) in 2001, but since the development of
Shoreditch High Street railway stationShoreditch High Street is a railway station in Shoreditch, London. The station is located on Bethnal Green Road close to Shoreditch High Street and is served by London Overground services running on the extended East London Line under the control of the London Rail division of Transport for London...
and other amenities this has declined markedly.
Notable local residents
- John Appold
John George Appold, FRS was a British fur dyer and engineer. Appold was the son of a fur-skin dyer, established in Finsbury...
, FRS (1800–1865), a pioneer of the centrifugal pumpA centrifugal pump is a rotodynamic pump that uses a rotating impeller to create flow by the addition of energy to a fluid. Centrifugal pumps are commonly used to move liquids through piping...
.
- William James Blacklock
William James Blacklock was an English landscape painter, painting scenery in Cumbria, the Lake District and the Scottish Borders.-Biography:...
, British landscape artist, was born in Shoreditch in 1816.
- James Burbage
James Burbage was an English actor, theatre impresario, and theatre builder in the English Renaissance theatre. He built The Theatre, the facility famous as the first permanent dedicated theatre built in England since Roman times...
– TudorThe Tudor period usually refers to the period between 1485 and 1603, specifically in relation to the history of England. This coincides with the rule of the Tudor dynasty in England whose first monarch was Henry VII...
actor and impresario: built The TheatreThe Theatre was an Elizabethan playhouse located in Shoreditch , just outside the City of London. It was the second permanent theatre ever built in England, after the Red Lion, and the first successful one...
; buried in Shoreditch churchSt Leonard's, Shoreditch is the ancient parish church of Shoreditch, often known simply as Shoreditch Church. It is located at the intersection of Shoreditch High Street with Hackney Road, within the London Borough of Hackney. The current building dates from about 1740...
.
- Richard Burbage
Richard Burbage was an English actor and theatre owner. He was the younger brother of Cuthbert Burbage. They were both actors in drama....
– Actor in the Lord Chamberlain's MenThe Lord Chamberlain's Men was a playing company for whom Shakespeare worked for most of his career. Formed at the end of a period of flux in the theatrical world of London, it had become, by 1603, one of the two leading companies of the city and was subsequently patronised by James I.It was...
, Shakespeare's own Company. Renowned for his performance of Shakespeare's greatest roles: Hamlet, Richard III etc. Buried in the church.
- Tracey Emin
Tracey Karima Emin RA is a British artist of English and Turkish Cypriot origin. She is part of the group known as Britartists or YBAs ....
, also a member of YBA scene and still lives in nearby Spitalfields.
- William Fairman, the radio presenter, has lived in Shoreditch since 2001.
- Peaches Geldof
Peaches Honeyblossom Geldof is a British journalist, television presenter and model.-Background:Geldof was born in London in 1989, the second daughter of Bob Geldof and Paula Yates. She is the granddaughter of Hughie Green. Her sisters are Fifi Trixibelle Geldof and Pixie Geldof...
, socialite/model.
- Henry Hate
Henry Hate, as Henry Martinez Jr in Orange, California, is a Mexican/American expatriate tattoo artist, artist and former musician living In London England. Henry is known for some of his high profile clients whom have been the subject of tabloid cover stories, such as Amy Winehouse and fashion...
, Celebrity Tattoo Artist, clients include Boy GeorgeBoy George is a British singer-songwriter who was part of the English New Romantic movement which emerged in the early 1980s. He helped give androgyny an international stage with the success of Culture Club during the 1980s. His music is often classified as blue-eyed soul, which is influenced by...
, Alexander McQueenLee Alexander McQueen, CBE was a British fashion designer and couturier best known for his in-depth knowledge of bespoke British tailoring, his tendency to juxtapose strength with fragility in his collections, as well as the emotional power and raw energy of his provocative fashion shows...
, Amy WinehouseAmy Jade Winehouse was an English singer-songwriter known for her powerful deep contralto vocals and her eclectic mix of musical genres including R&B, soul and jazz. Winehouse's 2003 debut album, Frank, was critically successful in the UK and was nominated for the Mercury Prize...
and Pete DohertyPeter Doherty is an English musician, writer, actor, poet and artist. He is best known musically for being co-frontman of The Libertines, which he reformed with Carl Barât in 2010. His other musical project is indie band Babyshambles...
.
- Anissa Helou
Anissa Helou is a London-based cookbook author, teacher, and chef specialising in the cuisines of the Mediterranean, Middle East and North Africa.-Biography:...
, cookbook author, teacher and chef specialising in the cuisines of the Mediterranean, Middle East and North Africa.
- Damien Hirst
Damien Steven Hirst is an English artist, entrepreneur and art collector. He is the most prominent member of the group known as the Young British Artists , who dominated the art scene in Britain during the 1990s. He is internationally renowned, and is reportedly Britain's richest living artist,...
artist, was key to the redefinition of the area's art scene in the 1980s and 90s
- Hetty King
Winifred Emms , best known by her stage name Hetty King, was an English entertainer who played in the music halls over a period of 70 years.-Birth:...
a famous male impersonator of the Music hallMusic Hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment which was popular between 1850 and 1960. The term can refer to:# A particular form of variety entertainment involving a mixture of popular song, comedy and speciality acts...
, was born here. Her father, William Emms was a local comedian known as William King.
- Christopher Marlowe
Christopher Marlowe was an English dramatist, poet and translator of the Elizabethan era. As the foremost Elizabethan tragedian, next to William Shakespeare, he is known for his blank verse, his overreaching protagonists, and his mysterious death.A warrant was issued for Marlowe's arrest on 18 May...
– ElizabethanThe Elizabethan era was the epoch in English history of Queen Elizabeth I's reign . Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history...
dramatistA playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
lived in Norton FolgateNorton Folgate is a short length of street in London, connecting Bishopsgate with Shoreditch High Street on the northern edge of its financial district, the City of London. It constitutes a very small section of the A10, the former Roman Ermine Street...
, the southern continuation of Shoreditch High Street, and wrote plays for the Shoreditch theatres.
- Hoxton Tom McCourt
Hoxton' Tom McCourt is the former bassist and bandleader of punk rock/Oi! band, The 4-Skins. He was one of the most influential members of the skinhead revival of 1977 to 1978, the mod revival of 1978 to 1979 and the Oi! movement from 1979 to 1984.McCourt moved to Hoxton, and was given the...
, influential in the late 1970s and early 1980s mod and oi/punk scenes and founder of the band, the 4-Skins born in Shoreditch in 1961.
- Matt Monro
Matt Monro was an English singer who became one of the most popular entertainers on the international music scene during the 1960s...
– Singer (Born Terence Parsons on December 1, 1930) Dubbed "The singers singer" and "The British Sinatra") Famous for singing the James Bond theme "From Russia with Love" and "On Days Like These" from the film "The Italian job".
- Howard Moon, Resident Jazz Enthusiast from BBC 3's 'The Mighty Boosh'. (Fictional Character)
- Vince Noir, Electro Fanatic and best friend to the aforementioned Howard Moon. (Fictional Character)
- Miquita Oliver
Miquita Billie Alexandra Oliver is a British television presenter and radio personality. She co-hosted Channel 4's Popworld from 2001–2006 and went on to present on T4 from 2006-2010 as well as having her own show, The Month With Miquita, on 4Music...
, T4 Presenter.
- William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
– lodged in nearby BishopsgateBishopsgate is a road and ward in the northeast part of the City of London, extending north from Gracechurch Street to Norton Folgate. It is named after one of the original seven gates in London Wall...
and wrote and performed plays for both The TheatreThe Theatre was an Elizabethan playhouse located in Shoreditch , just outside the City of London. It was the second permanent theatre ever built in England, after the Red Lion, and the first successful one...
and Curtain TheatreThe Curtain Theatre was an Elizabethan playhouse located in Curtain Close, Shoreditch , just outside the City of London. It opened in 1577, and continued staging plays until 1622....
. A small chapel in Hollywell Street commemorated his association with the area, but was destroyed in World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. A pub sign that claimed that he drank in the White Horse on Shoreditch High Street has recently been removed.
- William Sommers
William 'Will' Sommers was the best-known court jester of Henry VIII of England.Born in Shropshire, Sommers came to the attention of Richard Fermor, a merchant of the staple at Calais, who brought him to Greenwich in 1525 to present to the King. Impressed by Sommers' sense of humour, Henry...
– Henry VIIIHenry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
's jester; buried in Shoreditch church.
- Richard Tarleton – Elizabethan
The Elizabethan era was the epoch in English history of Queen Elizabeth I's reign . Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history...
comedian. Shakespeare's YorickYorick is the deceased court jester whose skull is exhumed by the gravedigger in Act 5, Scene 1, of William Shakespeare's Hamlet.Yorick may also refer to:* Yorick...
is believed to be a homage to his memory. Buried in Shoreditch church.
- Nat Wei, Baron Wei
Nathanael Ming-Yan Wei, Baron Wei , also known as Nat Wei, is a social entrepreneur, interested in social reform, the youngest member of the House of Lords...
, of Shoreditch, youngest non-hereditary peer ever upon entry to the House of Lords and government advisor on Big Society.
- Barbara Windsor
Barbara Ann Windsor, MBE , better known by her stage name Barbara Windsor, is an English actress. Her best known roles are in the Carry On films and as Peggy Mitchell in the BBC soap opera EastEnders....
comediene, film and television actress was born here.
Education
Transport
Reversion to two-way streets
In the mid-1960s, the main streets of Shoreditch were formed into a mile-long one-way system, which became associated with traffic congestion, poor conditions for walking and cycling, high speeds, high collision rates, and delays for bus services. The gyratory system came to be seen as "the main factor holding back the cultural regeneration of South Shoreditch" and "a block to economic recovery". Following a lengthy campaign, the then newly formed
Transport for LondonTransport for London is the local government body responsible for most aspects of the transport system in Greater London in England. Its role is to implement the transport strategy and to manage transport services across London...
agreed to revert most of the streets to two-way working, a project which was completed in late 2002.
Nearest stations
In 2005 funding was announced for the
East London Line ExtensionThe East London line extension project is a British railway engineering project in London, managed by Transport for London. The project involves extending the East London Line and making it part of the mainline London Overground network...
which would extend the existing line from
Whitechapel tube stationWhitechapel is a London Underground and London Overground station on Whitechapel Road in the Whitechapel neighbourhood of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in east London, England. The station is located on the east–west tracks shared by the District line and Hammersmith and City line and is on...
bypassing
Shoreditch tube stationShoreditch tube station was a London Underground station in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in east London. It was in Travelcard Zone 2. The station closed permanently at the end of traffic on 9 June 2006....
(which closed in June 2006) and creating a new station titled Shoreditch High Street at the site of the old
Bishopsgate Goods YardBishopsgate station was a railway station located on the eastern side of Shoreditch High Street in the modern London Borough of Tower Hamlets; the western edge of the East End. It was in use from 1840 to 1964 when it was destroyed by fire...
which was demolished in 2004.
The nearest
London Underground station is
Liverpool StreetLiverpool Street railway station, also known as London Liverpool Street or simply Liverpool Street, is both a central London railway terminus and a connected London Underground station in the north-eastern corner of the City of London, England...
.
London Liverpool StreetLiverpool Street railway station, also known as London Liverpool Street or simply Liverpool Street, is both a central London railway terminus and a connected London Underground station in the north-eastern corner of the City of London, England...
and are also the nearest
National RailNational Rail is a title used by the Association of Train Operating Companies as a generic term to define the passenger rail services operated in Great Britain...
stations.
Disused stations
- Shoreditch railway station
Shoreditch railway station was a station on the North London Railway in London, United Kingdom. It was situated on a viaduct between Haggerston and Broad Street stations....
(closed 1940)
- Shoreditch tube station
Shoreditch tube station was a London Underground station in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in east London. It was in Travelcard Zone 2. The station closed permanently at the end of traffic on 9 June 2006....
(closed 2006)
See also
- Curtain Road Arts
Curtain Road Arts was an artist-run project housed in an old furniture warehouse in Shoreditch, London, which functioned as a studio and an art project space. It was a centre for a great deal of activity in the 90s, and included artists such as Glenn Brown, Alex Landrum, Dermot O'Brien, Anya...
- East London Line
The East London Line is a London Overground line which runs north to south through the East End, Docklands and South areas of London.Built in 1869 by the East London Railway Company, which reused the Thames Tunnel, originally intended for horse-drawn carriages, the line became part of the London...
- Hackney College
Hackney College is sometimes used to refer to Hackney Community College, a popular further education college in London Borough of Hackney...
- Hackney Community College Basketball Academy
The Hackney Community College's Basketball Academy is a basketball programme, located in the London Borough of Hackney in the UK originally designed to engage young people vulnerable to exclusion from education to gain qualifications through engagement with a sport in which they demonstrated talent...
- London United Basketball
- Nelson's Retreat Pub
- Shoreditch Park
Shoreditch Park is an open space in Hoxton, in the London Borough of Hackney. It is bounded by Poole Street , Rushton and Mintern Streets and New North Road and Pitfield Street . The park derives its name from the Metropolitan Borough of Shoreditch, the local authority when it was established...
External links