Histories of Whitechapel
Welcome to the Survey of London’s Whitechapel project, where you can share and explore the many histories of Whitechapel’s buildings and places.
On our map you’ll find information about every building in Whitechapel in 2016, including photographs, stories and research, film clips and audio recordings added by historians, local people and others with an interest in the area. It has grown in content since then, a collaborative work in progress made up of the Survey’s own research alongside material that many others have contributed.
This is an experiment in the making of the history of a place. Sharing our knowledge and experiences will help us to understand the histories of buildings, streets and neighbourhoods, and through them the lives of the people of Whitechapel. To start exploring, go to the map and click on a building to see content about that site, or you can explore buildings related to a particular historical period or theme.
If you have any information, research, images, or memories of Whitechapel, you can sign up and start contributing them here.
Stories Wanted
There are many buildings in Whitechapel about which we would welcome more information. If you know something, you can make an account or use the form below to tell us.
Latest Submissions
Arch 14 Chamber Street
Garage, Arch 14 Chamber Street | Rebecca Preston | May 19, 2020
From at least 1930 the Co-operative Wholesale Society leased premises for a garage from the London and North Eastern Railway Company at what was then known as 15 or 14–15 Chamber Street and Arch 53/54. This was occupied by the ‘Secretary, CWS’ in 1935 and was still in use as a CWS garage in 1968.1 It is ...
White Hart Yard behind 8–13 Whitechapel High Street, c.1825
The White Chapel Building (former Sedgwick Centre) | Helen Jones | May 14, 2020
drawing by Helen Jones based on a plan in the Mercers' Company Archives, Dean Colet Estate plans, plate 33 (with ...
120 Leman Street
120 Leman Street | Rebecca Preston | May 13, 2020
Imperial Buildings or Warehouses were erected on this site in about 1884 replacing a sugar refinery on the wedge of land between the south side of Chamber Street and the arches of the London & Blackwall Railway Company.1 The twelve four-storey warehouses were originally arranged around a yard opening into Leman Street and were probably built for the railway ...
Browsing the Map
If you're not sure about how to get started, we've made a short video to give you a quick overview.
Explore Whitechapel
Not sure where to begin? Click on a theme to start uncovering Whitechapel's past. Sites are being tagged if they connect with certain overlapping aspects of Whitechapel's history, according to the thematic categories identified here.
