51°31′19″N0°4′18″W / 51.52194°N 0.07167°W /51.52194; -0.07167
Brick Lane (Bengali:ব্রিক লেন,romanized: Brik Len) is a street in theEast End of London, in theborough of Tower Hamlets. It runs from Swanfield Street inBethnal Green in the north, crosses the Bethnal Green Road before reaching the busiest, most commercially active part which runs throughSpitalfields, or along its eastern edge. Brick Lane's southern end is connected toWhitechapel High Street by a short extension calledOsborn Street.
Today, it is the heart of the country'sBangladeshi community with the vicinity known to some asBanglatown.[1] It is notable for itscurry restaurants. The area surrounding Brick Lane and Spitalfields was branded as Banglatown in 1997, and the electoral ward of Spitalfields was changed to Banglatown & Spitalfields in 2002.
The street was formerly known as Whitechapel Lane, and wound through fields. It derives its current name from brick and tile manufacture started in the 15th century, which used the localbrick earth deposits.[2] The street featured in the 16th-centuryWoodcut map of London as a partially developed crossroad leading north from the city's most easterly edge, and by the 17th century was being developed northwards from the Barres (nowWhitechapel High Street) as a result of expanding population.[3]
Brewing came to Brick Lane before 1680, with water drawn from deep wells.[4] One brewer was Joseph Truman, first recorded in 1683. His family, particularlyBenjamin Truman, went on to establish the sizeableBlack Eagle Brewery on Brick Lane.[5] TheBrick Lane Market first developed in the 17th century for fruit and vegetables sold outside the City.
Successive waves of immigrants settled in the area. In the 17th century, FrenchHuguenots expanded into the area for housing; the master weavers were based inSpitalfields.[6] Starting with the Huguenots, the area became a centre for weaving, tailoring and the developing clothing industry. It continued to attract immigrants, who provided semi-skilled and unskilled labour.
In the 19th century,Irish people[7] andAshkenazi Jews immigrated to the area.[8] Jewish immigration continued into the early 20th century.
The Sunday market, like those onPetticoat Lane and nearbyColumbia Road, dates from a dispensation given by the government to the Jewish community in the 19th century. At the time, owing to the Christian observance of Sunday rest, no Sunday markets were open. Located at the junction ofCheshire Street and Sclater Street, the market sellsbric-a-brac as well as fruit, vegetables and many other items.
In 2015 it was identified by police as the focal point of a trade in stolenbicycles and bicycle parts, many taken from people employed in theCity of London who had used "cycle to work" schemes. Alongside seven arrests, the police also warned purchasers that buying bicycles or parts in deals "too good to be true" could make them guilty ofhandling stolen goods.[9] Near the junction withHanbury Street are two indoor markets; Upmarket and Backyard Market. The Brick Lane Farmers' Market opened in 2010, intended to be held every Sunday in nearby Bacon Street;[10] it has now closed.[11]
In the later 20th century,Bengali Muslims (specifically theSylhetis) comprised the major group of immigrants and gradually dominated the demography in the area.[12] Many Bengali immigrants to Brick Lane were from the north-eastern region ofSylhet, of which became part ofBangladesh. These settlers helped shape Bangladeshi migration to Britain; many families fromBeanibazar,Jagannathpur andBishwanath tend to live in the Brick Lane area though they spread around the London city.[13]
In 1742,La Neuve Eglise, a Huguenot chapel, was built on the corner of Brick Lane andFournier Street. By 1809, it was used by Wesleyan missionaries as The Jews' Chapel, where they promotedChristianity to the expandingJewish population. It was adapted as aMethodist chapel in 1819 for Protestant residents. (John Wesley had preached his first "covenant sermon" at the nearbyBlack Eagle Street Chapel).
Reflecting the changing demographics of the area, in 1898, the building was consecrated as theMachzike HaDath, or Spitalfields GreatSynagogue. After decades of change in the area, with Jews moving out and Bangladeshis moving in, in 1976 it was adapted again as the London Jamme Masjid (Great London Mosque) to serve the expandingBangladeshi community.[14] The building isGrade II* listed.[15]
In the 20th century the Brick Lane area was important in the second wave of development ofAnglo-Indian cuisine, as families from countries such as Bangladesh (mainly theGreater Sylhet region) migrated to London to look for work. Somecurry houses of Brick Lane do not sellalcoholic beverages, for most are owned byMuslims. According toEasyJet Traveller magazine,[16] the top three curry houses on Brick Lane in 2021 are Aladin, Sheba and City Spice.
Bengalis in the United Kingdom settled in big cities with industrial employment. In London, many settled in the East End. For centuries the East End has been the first port of call for many immigrants working in the docks and shipping fromChittagong port inBengal (theBritish Empire in India was founded and based in Bengal). Their regular stopover paved the way for food outlets to be opened; these catered at first for an all-male workforce, for family migration and settlement took place some decades later. Humble beginnings such as this gave rise to Brick Lane as the famous curry capital of the UK (alongsideBirmingham'sBalti Triangle).
Designed by Meena Thakor, the ornamental Brick Lane Arch was erected in 1997 near Osborn Street to mark the entrance to Brick Lane and to 'Banglatown'. Like Brick Lane's lamp posts, the arch displays the red and green colours of the Bangladesh flag.[17] Having contributed so significantly to the area, the Bengali community campaigned to get the arch installed to celebrate Bengali culture in Brick Lane.[18]
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More recently the area has also broadened to being an art and fashion student area, with exhibition space. Each year most of the fine art and fashion courses[From where?] exhibit their work near Brick Lane.
Since the late 1990s, Brick Lane has been the site of several of the city'snight clubs, notably 93 Feet East and The Vibe Bar, both built on the site of TheOld Truman Brewery, once the industrial centre of the area, and now an office and entertainment complex. In 1999, it was the scene of abombing that injured 13 people.
Brick Lane has a regular display of graffiti, which features artists such asBanksy,Stik,ROA,D*Face,Ben Eine andOmar Hassan.[19] The street has been used in music videos, including "Glory Days" byJust Jack, "All These Things That I've Done" byThe Killers, and "Überlin" byR.E.M.[20] In 2023, some Chinese students painted the political slogan of theChinese Communist Party, "Core Socialist Values", in Chinese, sparking significant controversy.[21][22]
Large swathes of Brick Lane and its surrounding areas were once owned by theOsborne (later Osborn after 1720) family, Baronets, of Chicksands in the County of Bedford. The family's holdings survived until at least the 1970s. The family's history continues to be reflected by the naming of streets in the area around Brick Lane, including:
Nearby buildings of interest includeChrist Church, Spitalfields, the Jamme Masjid orGreat London Mosque on the corner of Fournier Street (the building represents a history of successive communities of immigrants in East End), andThe Rag Factory on Heneage Street (once home toTurner Prize nomineesTracey Emin andGary Hume, now a thriving arts space).
The nearestLondon Underground stations areAldgate East andLiverpool Street. A campaign was launched in 2006 to change the name of Aldgate East station to "Brick Lane",[24] but received no official support.
The nearestLondon Overground station isShoreditch High Street station. This line runs on part of the formerEast London Line which has now been converted to London Overground. At the junction with Pedley Street existed the formerShoreditch Underground station terminus, which closed in 2006 due to the construction of theEast London Line extension, and replaced by the aforementioned Shoreditch High Street. Remnants of the station can be seen from overground trains entering and leavingLiverpool Street station.
The street is the location forMonica Ali's bookBrick Lane, published in 2003, and the film of thesame name of 2007 starringTannishtha Chatterjee. The novel provoked a controversy with some of the local South Asian community because of a perceived negative portrayal of them. Parts of the Bengali community were particularly opposed to plans by Ruby Films to film parts of the movie based on the novel in the Brick Lane area and formed the "Campaign Against Monica Ali's Film Brick Lane". Consequently, the producers of the film used different locations for certain scenes, such as that depicting Brick Lane Market. Despite this, the director of the film,Sarah Gavron, attests on the DVD commentary of the film that genuine footage of Brick Lane does appear in the finished movie. Activists toldThe Guardian they intended to burn copies of Ali's book during a rally to be held on 30 July 2006, but the demonstration passed without incident.[25]
Other notable books on the area areSalaam Brick Lane byTarquin Hall,[26]On Brick Lane (2007) byRachel Lichtenstein andAn Acre of Barren Ground by Jeremy Gavron.[27] A large collection of photographs of the characters and salespeople who worked on the markets in Brick Lane were taken by Fran May between 1976 and 1978, whilst she was a student of photography at theRoyal College of Art.[28]
The street was used for several filming locations for the third season of the BBC television seriesLuther (2013).[citation needed]
