Westminster to Greenwich--West End to East End: the metropolis beckons

Greetings. finally catching up with postings regarding the last week. We did not read the novel Brick Lane as did the English literature group. But we did discuss the East End. In any case, we all partook in the adventure of dining in the East End. It was a long series of tables so I include a picture from each end. On the walk to the restaurant, you might have noticed the nearby church (on the corner of Fournier St. and Commericial St. , a block off Brick Lane). It was designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor (in the 1710s), a student of Christopher Wren (who had designed St. Paul's and the Emmanuel College Chapel we saw). A block further on is The Jamme Masjid or Great London Mosque on the corner of Brick Lane and Fournier Street.

• This building is a perfect illustration of the East End's role as the point of entry for immigrant groups. It was originally founded as a church for Hugenots - French protestants who fled to London to avoid persecution at home. The chapel was later used by Methodists. In the late 19th century, when Whitechapel became the centre of the Jewish East End, it became the Machzike Adass, also known as the Spitalfields Great Synagogue. With the dispersal of the Jewish community and a new influx of Bengali immigrants, it became the Jamme Masjid or Great London Mosque in 1976. (PortCities London)
  

Huguenots, as we discussed, were French Protestants, and many of them had fled France after the Revocation of Nantes in 1685. In any case, the area from Spitalfields to Brick Lane still has the simple 2-3 story buildings with the huge windows on the ground floor. Many of these housed Huguenot silkweavers and their looms (for which intricate work they needed light). I'd like to do more with the history of the Spitalfields area, next program. In any case, it is notable that the Brick Lane area housed Huguenots, working class Methodists, Jews immigrating from continental Europe, and Bengalis in succession from the 18th to the 20th centuries. You might have noticed that, in the 21st century, the area around Brick Lane has gone decidedly upmarket (at least the area around Spitalfield Market). Orwell's "Spikes" are nowhere to be seen.