Headed by our tour guide, shul member Andrew Davis, and ably assisted by Bernie the dog, the SACP shul group set off to travel to what we fondly call the “East End” and discover the heritage amongst the soring office buildings that loom over the famous skyline.
The City of London has been a center of settlement since Roman times and in some parts of the square mile you can still remnants of it, whether it be in a student accommodation by Aldgate station, or in a car park by London Wall, it’s clear that the Roman wall is still important, as seen in the engravings in the pavement, telling those visiting how they are crossing into the haloed City, and who can forget the modern Dragons on perches, who stand guard around the City’s perimeter.
While the City of London has grown over the centuries, it has been a refuge for three key groups of immigrants who arrived either from the docks or later from trains, finding a home in what we know as the “East End.” I for one really wanted to see where my own family had lived, worked, and worshipped, but there was a key group of immigrants who made the City of London home before our ancestors made it their home.
The Huguenots were the first large group of immigrants to find refuge in the City of London. As Calvinists, they were persecuted in Catholic France and fled to Europe and the America’s. Interestingly, many came to England and made their home in the city. There are several streets that Andrew took us to, where you could see the Huguenot influence from the architecture of the houses along Folgate Street and the abutting streets through to their Church – Hanbury Hall, near Spitalfields. Interestingly on the outside of the building you can still see the tiles which display their beliefs, skills and some links to their former homes. The Huguenot’s who settled in Spitalfields where great silk weavers and there are houses or groups of houses which show us that these were used by the weavers. In fact, one was purchased by the famous artist, Tracey Emin, who turned it into an artist colony, before she sold it, but the building still carries her initials at the top of the building. The Huguenots were not just successful and highly skilled workers, but they also learnt to assimilate and thus moved out of the City of London to the suburbs and other parts of the South of England.
The next significant group of immigrants that made the Square Mile, or how we fondly call it – the “East End” – was the Jewish immigrants. Jews have been in England since medieval times, apart from when we were banished, but it was in the mid to late 19th Century, that the City of London became the sanctuary for Jewish immigration on a large scale. While Bevis Marks, which we visited on this tour, dates from 1701 and is the home for the S and P Sephardi Community, it was the visit to Sandy Row synagogue which personally made me feel like I was walking the footsteps of my Great Grandparents and Grandparents. I have distant family members who were associated with Sandy Row Shul and lived cheek and jowl with other families in the tiny alley ways and streets in the Square Mile. It is wonderful to see that it is still a working shul and holds minyan’s and services on Shabbats and the High Holidays.
The City of London was not just a place for the Jewish immigrants to work, live and pray, the square mile was also home to the Yiddish Theatre. Sadly, no longer there, a plaque on the pavement in the shape of a violin, recognizes the site of this entertainment venue.
As we walked on, some street names became remarkably familiar, including Bell Lane, the original home of JFS. Now a high-rise office block supported by Sainsbury’s underneath, it was the school that members of the Jewish community attended before it moved to the suburbs of Camden Town and the fields of Kenton! Even though the Jewish Community moved out of the City of London several decades ago, there are still signs and buildings which bare a Jewish legacy. This includes the Soup Kitchen For The Jewish Poor on Brune Street, which served meals to the Jews that lived and worked in the City until 1992 through to Magan David on drain pipes on a primary school, which may well have been a cheder school back in the day. However, there are two streets which are famous for their links to the Jewish immigrants and that is Brick Lane, famous for its bagels and Petticoat Lane, the epicenter of what my grandmother called – the shmutter business.
Today, these streets are home to another group of immigrants who have made this area their own – the Bangladeshi Muslim community. Walking along these streets is different but also so familiar, as they are just like our families, making their homes, livelihoods and setting up mosques for their spiritual observance, just like the Jews and the Huguenots before them. But what is sad is that they are now being pushed out as the area, especially around Spitalfields, due to gentrification.
Our final stop was the most poignant, which highlighted how the City of London has been the first stop on a road to refuge for immigrants and those facing persecution. Whenever I visit Liverpool Street Station, I always seek out the sculpture which depicts the Kindertransport children arriving at the station with their one suitcase, containing all the future hope of their families, and how this station, in the heart of the City of London, welcomed them to a place of safety.
I could not recommend Andrew highly enough. I do not have the space to talk about all the places that Andrew showed us on our journey through to the “East End”, but it was a fascinating tour and highlighted that in one square mile there is a rich history weaved into the pavements, buildings, Churches, and also under foot, showing how the City has grown over the centuries. However, what I took home was that this small piece of land- literally one square mile, has always provided a place of refuge and a home for those that need it.
For tours, please contact Andrew Davis on 07767 436 580
Susan Azulay