Spitalfields

Spitalfields is a neighborhood in East London that covers several small streets lined with shops, restaurants, and market halls between Bishopsgate and Brick Lane. The area stretches north to Commercial Street and shows a mix of Georgian townhouses, brick warehouses, and modern glass buildings added in recent decades.

The name comes from a medieval hospital and priory founded in 1197 that once stood on this site and was dissolved in the 16th century. Huguenot weavers settled in the houses around Fournier Street after 1685 and brought their silk-making skills, which shaped the neighborhood until the 19th century.

The local shops carry Bengali names and sell fabrics, spices, and clothing brought by the Bangladeshi community that settled here from the 1970s onward. Visitors see mosques standing beside Victorian buildings and can sample food from different cultures at the Sunday street markets that have shaped this part of London for centuries.

Visitors reach the area through Liverpool Street station, which lies a few walking minutes to the west and connects to underground and mainline trains. Most shops and markets open daily, with street stalls busiest on weekends when extra vendors turn up.

In one of the old weaver houses, the rooms remain unchanged since the 18th century, with candles, beds, and tables arranged as if the residents just left. The upper-floor windows are larger than usual because weavers sat at their looms there and needed plenty of daylight to work.