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 will grow in content gradually until the end of 2018, a collaborative work in progress made up of the Survey’s own research alongside material that you and everyone else contributes.
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
Royal Albert Buildings
Royal Mint Green | Robert Ward | Dec. 9, 2018
It was 1968 and I wanted a cheap flat to rent. One day I wandered into Cartwright street, just behind the Royal Mint on Tower Hill. It runs north from the high brick wall of St Katharine's Dock to Royal Mint street and the old railway viaduct that now carries the DLR. Lined with bomb sites and tenement blocks ...
Old Tower Hill School
Demazenod House | danny | Dec. 1, 2018
One of the upper floors inside the original Tower Hill School building. This school was occupied until the school moved ...
Catholic Education Tower Hill School Chamber Street
The construction of the Royal Mint Estate
Royal Mint Estate | danny | Dec. 1, 2018
Photo taken looking north in John Fisher Street as construction of the Royal Mint Estate gets underway circa 1980.
John Fisher Street Royal Mint EstateBrowsing 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.
