Fournier Street, formerly Church Street, is a street of 18th-century houses in

Spitalfields Spitalfields is a district in the East End of London and within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The area is formed around Commercial Street (on the A1202 London Inner Ring Road) and includes the locale around Brick Lane, Christ Church, ...

in the

East End The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have uni ...

of London. It is in the

London Borough of Tower Hamlets The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London boroughs, London borough covering much of the traditional East End of London, East End. It was formed in 1965 from the merger of the former Metropolitan boroughs of the County of London, metropol ...

and runs between Commercial Street and

Brick Lane Brick Lane (Bengali: ব্রিক লেন) is a street in the East End of London, in the borough of Tower Hamlets. It runs from Swanfield Street in Bethnal Green in the north, crosses the Bethnal Green Road before reaching the busiest ...

. The street is named after a man of Huguenot extraction, George Fournier.

History

Fournier Street was the last to be built on the Wood-Michell estate in Spitalfields, London. It was developed in response to the settlement of a significant community of wealthy French

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...

s around Spitalfields, many of whom brought silk-weaving skills from Nantes, Lyons and other cities. Thus, although initially intended as domestic dwellings, many were immediately occupied by the silk industry. LB Tower Hamlets Fournier Street Conservation Area Appraisal The houses mainly date from the 1720s and together they form one of the most important and best preserved collections of early

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

domestic town-houses in Britain. Fournier Street was designed to be both well appointed and of a higher standard than previous residential developments in the local area and consequently the houses were purchased and leased by the 'master' silk-weavers and silk mercers. These buildings are notable for their fine wooden panelling and elaborate joinery such as carved staircases, fireplaces and highly detailed door-cases which were constructed by the craftsmen of the day. Silk-weaving activities occupied the uppermost floors to gain the best light for the looms – hence the development of the unusual highly glazed lofts in these houses. The ground floor rooms commonly served as elaborate showrooms for the finished products. One of the finest examples is Howard House, No. 14 Fournier Street, a mansion house, built circa 1726 by 'carpenter and gentleman', William Taylor, for his own occupation but subsequently leased by silk weavers, 'Signeratt and Bourdillon'.http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=50172#s3 The Survey Of London – Fournier Street Section 3 It has three floors and a large garret attic which once contained the loom. It is here that the silk for Queen Victoria's Coronation gown was woven. The unique hardwood staircase balustrade is carved to display fluted columns with Ionic capitals placed on each turn for one hundred steps. Indeed, each step is expertly carved with a masterly design of hops, barley, and wild roses. No. 23 Fournier Street is perhaps the best surviving example of a classic, single-fronted early Georgian town house of simple but elegant design. This house retains the original, typical arrangement of cellar-basement, three brick storeys and a mansard garrett with a weather boarded front and wide weaver's windows. On the opposite western corner of Fournier Street is the Ten Bells public house. The Ten Bells is notorious for its connection with

Jack the Ripper Jack the Ripper was an unidentified serial killer active in and around the impoverished Whitechapel district of London, England, in the autumn of 1888. In both criminal case files and the contemporaneous journalistic accounts, the killer wa ...

during the 1880s. It is here that the two of the Ripper victims were seen close to the times of their untimely deaths. Indeed, all five victims lived in proximity to the pub.

Religious groups

Following the terminal decline of London's silk weaving industry at the end of the Georgian period, both Fournier Street and

became established as the heart of the Jewish East End. Although there had been a small Jewish community in the East End for some time, a large number of Jews from Eastern Europe and Russia moved to Spitalfields in the 19th century and founded a thriving community. Many new schools, cultural activities and businesses were created, including the Jews Free School and the Jewish Chronicle newspaper (the oldest Jewish English language weekly in the world). FournierStreetMosque

In 1898 the Methodist Church at the eastern extremity of Fournier Street was converted into the Maz'ik Adath Synagogue. This building had been constructed as a Huguenot Chapel ('La Neuve Eglise') in 1743–4, had also served as a

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

church and would later be converted during the 1970s to become the London Jamme Masjid (Great Mosque) as the area then evolved to become the present day heart of the Bengali community. This building's changing use in responding to the changing religious needs of the surrounding population over its 280-year-long history is symbolic of Spitalfields' role in immigration and in providing 'refuge'. Upon a wall on the south side there is still to be seen the large sundial carved with the inscription "Umbra sumus" a quote taken from

Horace Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 – 27 November 8 BC), known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). The rhetorician Quintilian regarded his ' ...

's odes meaning "We are shadows". A recent addition to the building is the 29-metre-high, 1.2-metre-wide 'minaret-like structure' erected on the corner of Fournier street and Brick lane in December 2009. This sculpture forms the centrepiece of the Brick Lane Cultural Trail project The lower part of the tower is formed by a number of mounted stainless steel drums covered with a geometric "Flower of Life" pattern. Coloured lighting is concealed within the structure and it is illuminated at night. The uppermost 8 metres are composed of a stainless steel pole topped with an illuminated half crescent moon. Christ Church Spitalfields 02

Fournier Street also has the church of Christ Church Spitalfields at its western extremity, designed by

Nicholas Hawksmoor Nicholas Hawksmoor (probably 1661 – 25 March 1736) was an English architect. He was a leading figure of the English Baroque style of architecture in the late-seventeenth and early-eighteenth centuries. Hawksmoor worked alongside the principa ...

, a former assistant of

Christopher Wren Sir Christopher Wren PRS FRS (; – ) was one of the most highly acclaimed English architects in history, as well as an anatomist, astronomer, geometer, and mathematician-physicist. He was accorded responsibility for rebuilding 52 churches ...

, and built between 1714 and 1729. This Grade 1

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

is widely considered to be the highest expression of

English Baroque English Baroque is a term used to refer to modes of English architecture that paralleled Baroque architecture in continental Europe between the Great Fire of London (1666) and roughly 1720, when the flamboyant and dramatic qualities of Baroque ...

architecture. The foundations were laid in 1714, and construction of the walls took place over the following years, although the upper stages of the tower and spire were not built until the late 1720s, and the church was finally consecrated on 5 July 1729.

Present day

In current times, perhaps the most famous residents are the artists

Gilbert and George Gilbert Prousch, sometimes referred to as Gilbert Proesch (born 17 September 1943 in San Martin de Tor, Italy), and George Passmore (born 8 January 1942 in Plymouth, United Kingdom), are two artists who work together as the collaborative art du ...

, who have lived and worked at their house in Fournier Street for many years. The interior of the building has featured in many of their works, particularly in photographs from the 1970s, which show the building as empty, dilapidated and gloomy.Gilbert & George: the complete pictures, 1971–1985, Carter Ratcliff , 9780950969329

Transport

The nearest

London Underground stations The London Underground is a metro system in the United Kingdom that serves Greater London and the home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire. Its first section opened in 1863, making it the oldest underground metro system in the ...

are Liverpool Street and Aldgate East. The nearest

London Overground London Overground (also known simply as the Overground) is a Urban rail in the United Kingdom, suburban rail network serving London and its environs. Established in 2007 to take over Silverlink Metro routes, (via archive.org). it now serves a ...

station is

Shoreditch High Street station Shoreditch High Street is a London Overground station located on Bethnal Green Road in Shoreditch in East London. It is served by the East London Line between and with services running either to , or , , West Croydon, , and is in Travelcard ...

References

External links