The Worst Street in London: Foreword by Peter Ackroyd (30 page)
Read The Worst Street in London: Foreword by Peter Ackroyd Online
Authors: Fiona Rule
This road was built in the 1840s to relieve traffic going to and from Spitalfields Market. Many ancient rookeries were demolished in the process and the displacement of their residents caused serious overcrowding in the nearby roads such as Dorset Street, Flower and Dean Street and Fashion Street. On the far side of Christ Church is what remains of Itchy Park – for centuries a popular recreation ground for tramps and prostitutes. Musician Steve Marriott remembered playing hooky from school in the park during the 1960s in the Small Faces hit Itchycoo Park. Note: the ‘park’ is actually Christ Church’s graveyard.
Continue to Fashion Street (one of the worst roads in the area by the late 19th century) then on to what was once the entrance to Flower and Dean Street.
This road has now been completely obliterated. It was once filled with lodging houses and rivaled Dorset Street in its notoriety. Many of the houses were knocked down after The Cross Act came into power. However, the empty sites were rejected by developers and stood empty for years until the Rothschild family built Rothschild Buildings (on the right hand side of the street) and Nathaniel Buildings (on the left) in the late 1880s.
Cross the road and go back towards Spitalfields Market.
This part of Commercial Street is historically a popular place for prostitutes to ply their trade. After dark they can still be seen today, often trying to persuade unwitting drinkers to give them a cigarette.
Turn left into Whites Row.
This road was originally a path across the Spital Field. There is a very fine master weaver’s house halfway down this street (identified by a steep flight of steps to the grand front door). By the 1880s, both sides of this street mainly consisted of common lodging houses and furnished rooms, many of which were run by William Crossingham of Dorset Street. In World War 2, a bomb exploded at the bottom of Whites Row, which helped the council push through plans to demolish the north side of the street along with the remaining south side of Dorset Street.
Turn right into Crispin Street.
On the left hand side of the road is what was once the Providence Row Night Refuge. Opened in 1868, it took in destitute men, women and children and was a popular shelter for the local prostitutes, who pretended they had seen the error of their ways in order to get a bed for a couple of nights.
Walk up Crispin Street and look right.
This small, unassuming service road was once the worst street in London. The street was originally built for silk weavers. The houses would have looked similar to those in Fournier Street. Looking up the street from Crispin Street, there was a pub on the left-hand side (on the corner) called The Horn of Plenty. Halfway up on the left stood the Blue Coat Boy, one of the area’s oldest pubs. At the Commercial Street end was the Britannia, a gin palace-type affair.
By the 1880s, this street was almost entirely comprised of lodging houses and furnished rooms. About a third of the way up on the left lay Little Paternoster Row, which led to Brushfield Street. The lodging house where Mary Ann Austin was killed was on the corner of this street. Just over half way up on the left was the notorious Miller’s Court where both Mary Kelly and Kitty Ronan were murdered. Jack McCarthy lived in a house at the entrance to Miller’s Court, the downstairs of which was a general shop.
The north side of Dorset Street was demolished in 1929 to make way for the present building (offices and a flower and fruit auction room). The road was narrowed during development. The south side of the street was demolished in the 1960s to make way for Whites Row car park. The walk is now at an end. To return to Liverpool Street Station, continue along Crispin Street, and then turn left into Brushfield Street. At the end of the road, turn left into Bishopsgate. Liverpool Street Station is a short distance away on your right.
END
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Table of Contents
Part One: The Rise and Fall of Spitalfields
Chapter 1: The Birth of Spitalfields
Chapter 2: The Creation of Dorset Street and Surrounds
Chapter 3: Spitalfields Market
Chapter 5: A Seedier Side/Jack Sheppard
Chapter 6: A New Parish and a Gradual Descent
Chapter 7: The Rise of the Common Lodging House
Chapter 8: Serious Overcrowding
Chapter 9: The Third Wave of Immigrants (The Irish Famine)
Chapter 10: The McCarthy Family
Chapter 11: The Common Lodging House Act
Part Two: The Vices of Dorset Street
Chapter 12: The Birth of Organised Crime in Spitalfields
Chapter 14: Prostitution and Press Scrutiny
Chapter 15: The Fourth Wave of Immigrants
Chapter 16: The Controllers of Spitalfields
Part Three: International Infamy
Chapter 18: The Situation Worsens
Chapter 19: A Lighter Side of Life
Chapter 20: The Landlords Enlarge their Property Portfolios
Chapter 21: The Worst Street in London
Chapter 22: The Murder of Mary Ann Austin
Chapter 23: The Beginning of the End
Chapter 26: The Redevelopment of Spitalfields Market
Part Five: A Walk Around Spitalfields
Table of Contents
Part One: The Rise and Fall of Spitalfields
Chapter 1: The Birth of Spitalfields
Chapter 2: The Creation of Dorset Street and Surrounds
Chapter 3: Spitalfields Market
Chapter 5: A Seedier Side/Jack Sheppard