Visit Shoreditch Places

Welcome to Visit Shoreditch Places
The Walkfo guide to things to do & explore in Shoreditch

  

Shoreditch Places Overview: History, Culture & Facts about Shoreditch

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Shoreditch history

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Origins

Shoreditch High Street and Kingsland Road are a small sector of the Roman Ermine Street and modern A10. Known also as the Old North Road, it was a major coaching route to the north, exiting the City at Bishopsgate. It was the site of a house of canonesses, the Augustinian Holywell Priory from the 12th century until its dissolution in 1539.

Shakespeare and the Elizabethan theatre

In 1574 the City authorities banned the building of playhouses in the City of London area, consequently theatres were built in the suburbs. The first of these came in 1576, when James Burbage built the first playhouse in England, known as “The Theatre”, on the site of the Priory. William Shakespeare lived nearby in a property overlooking St Helen’s churchyard in the Bishopsgate Within area of the City. Romeo and Juliet was first performed here, gaining “Curtain plaudits”

17th and 18th centuries

During the 17th century, wealthy traders and French Huguenot silkweavers moved to the area. Shoreditch was also the locus of the furniture industry. These industries declined in the late 19th century.

Victorian entertainments

In the 19th and early 20th centuries, Shoreditch was a centre of entertainment to rival the West End. The National Standard Theatre was one of the largest theatres in London. Charlie Chaplin is recorded as performing here, in his early days, before he achieved fame in America.

WW1 – Shoreditch Pals

The Mayor and Borough of Shoreditch raised the 20th (Shoreditch) Battalion, Middlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge’s Own) The unit was attached to 118th Brigade, part of 39th Division. The Middlesex regiment the battalion belonged to, was nicknamed the “Die-hards”

Pre War

Syd’s coffee stall was established in Calvert Avenue, Shoreditch in 1919 and operated continuously until 2019. Gainsborough Studios were located in a former power station, in Poole Street, by the Regents Canal. The film studios operated there from 1924 until it declined and closed in 1951.

WW2 Bombing

Shoreditch was heavily bombed during World War II, with around 495 of its residents killed. The area was hit by at least 279 high explosive bombs, 6 parachute mines, 7 V-1 ‘doodlebugs’, 2 V-2 rockets and many thousands of 1 kg incendiary devices.

Decline

A south-west to north-east tube line called the Chelsea-Hackney line was proposed in 1970 by the then London Transport Board’s London Rail Study. It would have had a new tube station near Shoreditch Church if it was built.

Contemporary

Formerly a predominantly working-class area, since around 1996 Shoreditch has become a popular and fashionable part of London, particularly associated with the creative industries. Often conflated with its neighbouring sub-district of Hoxton, the area has been subject to considerable gentrification, with accompanying rises in land and property prices. Former industrial buildings have been converted to offices and flats, while Curtain Road and Old Street are notable for their clubs and pubs which offer a variety of venues to rival those of the West End. Art galleries, bars, restaurants, media businesses and the building of the Hackney Community College campus are features of this transformation. In the mid-1960s, the main streets of Shoreditch (Old Street, Shoreditch High Street and Curtain Road, Great Eastern Street) were formed into a mile-long one-way system, which became associated with traffic congestion, poor conditions for walking and cycling, high speeds, high collision rates, and delays for bus services. The gyratory system came to be seen as “the main factor holding back the cultural regeneration of South Shoreditch” and “a block to economic recovery”. Following a lengthy campaign, the then newly formed Transport for London agreed to revert most of the streets to two-way working, a project which was completed in late 2002. In 2005, funding was announced for the East London Line Extension, to extend the existing tube line from Whitechapel tube station bypassing Shoreditch tube station, and to create a new station named Shoreditch High Street closer to central Shoreditch. This is now served by London Overground services on part of the site of the old Bishopsgate Goods Yard, which was demolished in 2004. The station was built on a viaduct and is fully enclosed in a concrete box structure. This is so future building works on the remainder of the Bishopsgate site can be undertaken keeping the station operational. Tower Hamlets Council made proposals to transfer the Boundary Estate to a housing association and upgrade the accommodation in 2006. A full refurbishment of one of the blocks, Iffley House was carried out by Sprunt Architects to demonstrate how this might be achieved but the proposal was rejected by a ballot of tenants in November of that year. More recently, during the second “dot-com” boom, both the area and Old Street have become popular with London-based web technology companies who base their head offices around the East London Tech City district. These include Last.fm, Dopplr, Songkick, SocialGO and 7digital. These companies have tended to gravitate towards Old Street Roundabout, giving rise to the term “Silicon Roundabout” to describe the area, as used by Prime Minister David Cameron in a speech in November 2010. As a result, the name of Shoreditch has become synonymous with the concept of contemporary “hipsterfication” of regenerated urban areas. As a pioneer among similar transformations across the UK, various phrases have been coined, from “Shoreditchification” to “Very Shoreditch”. In 2014, the Boundary Estate and the nearby area came under the East Shoreditch Neighbourhood Forum. Forum status ceased to have effect on 5 February 2019 but the Neighbourhood Area designation is unaffected by the expiry. The Stag’s Head public house was Grade II listed in 2015 by Historic England. South Shoreditch has undergone an enormous transformation. Several five- or six-storey buildings have been knocked down in the area of Shoreditch that borders the City of London. In their place will be erected a variety of very tall buildings, mirroring the architectural styles in the City. The developments will result in more residential units being available for sale in Shoreditch than were produced by the Olympics athletes’ village. One landmark development is the Principal Tower in Worship Street, designed by the architects Foster and Partners, and next to it is Principal Place, also designed by Foster and Partners. In July 2014, it was reported that the internet retailer Amazon.com was close to signing a lease to move its UK headquarters there. The project had been on hold since January 2012, when the anchor tenant, the law firm CMS Cameron McKenna pulled out. Soon after, the developer Hammerson sold its interest in the scheme to Brookfield. There has been some consideration of creating an interchange with the Central line between Liverpool Street and Bethnal Green at Shoreditch High Street, where the line runs almost underneath the station. However, this could not be seriously contemplated before the completion of the Crossrail 1 project, owing to extreme crowding on the Central line during peak hours. London Overground began running 24-hour trains on Friday and Saturday nights between Dalston Junction and New Cross Gate which called at Shoreditch High Street from 15 December 2017. but bypasses Whitechapel and continues on to Shadwell due to ongoing construction work for Crossrail (Elizabeth line) until 2019. Two Huguenot workers’ houses on Club Row on the corner of Redchurch Street, which developers had wished to knock down, were saved from demolition. They were deemed of special historic interest, giving the houses protection from destruction from 2019.

Shoreditch toponymy

Early spellings of the name include Soredich (c.1148), Soresdic (1183–4), Sordig (1204), Schoresdich (1220–21), and other variants. Toponymists are generally agreed that the name derives from Old English “scoradīc”, i.e. “shore-ditch”

Shoreditch geography / climate

Shoreditch covers a wide area, but its historic heart lies south of Old Street. The districts of Hoxton and Haggerston have been historically part of the area since the medieval period. However, perceptions have blurred in recent years.

You can visit Shoreditch places with Walkfo Shoreditch to hear history at Shoreditch’s places whilst walking around using the free digital tour app. Walkfo Shoreditch has 2143 places to visit in our interactive Shoreditch map, with amazing history, culture & travel facts you can explore the same way you would at a museum or art gallery with information audio headset. With Walkfo, you can travel by foot, bike or bus throughout Shoreditch, being in the moment, without digital distraction or limits to a specific walking route. Our historic audio walks, National Trust interactive audio experiences, digital tour guides for English Heritage locations are available at Shoreditch places, with a AI tour guide to help you get the best from a visit to Shoreditch & the surrounding areas.

“Curated content for millions of locations across the UK, with 2143 audio facts unique to Shoreditch places in an interactive Shoreditch map you can explore.”

Walkfo: Visit Shoreditch Places Map
2143 tourist, history, culture & geography spots

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Shoreditch historic spots	Shoreditch tourist destinations	Shoreditch plaques	Shoreditch geographic features
Walkfo Shoreditch tourism map key: places to see & visit like National Trust sites, Blue Plaques, English Heritage locations & top tourist destinations in Shoreditch

  

Best Shoreditch places to visit

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Shoreditch has places to explore by foot, bike or bus. Below are a selection of the varied Shoreditch’s destinations you can visit with additional content available at the Walkfo Shoreditch’s information audio spots:

Mandela Way T-34 Tank The Mandela Way T-34 Tank, nicknamed Stompie, is a decommissioned Soviet-built tank . It is now permanently located on the corner of Mandela Way and Page’s Walk in Bermondsey, London .

Miloco Studios Miloco Studios are a group of recording studios based in London, England . Miloco studios are based in the city of London and London .

Bermondsey Square Bermondsey Square is on Tower Bridge Road in south London . It was the site of the 11th century Bermondsey Abbey . The earliest medieval remains found are a Norman church from around 1080 .

St John Horsleydown St John Horsleydown was built for the Commission for Building Fifty New Churches to the designs of Nicholas Hawksmoor and John James in 1726–1733 . It was noted for its distinctive spire in the form of a tapering column .

Southwark Park Southwark Park is located in Rotherhithe, in central South East London . It first opened in 1869 by the Metropolitan Board of Works as one of its first parks . It takes its name from being in what was the old Parliamentary constituency of Southwark .

Potters Fields Park Potters Fields Park is a small public park situated in the London Borough of Southwark . The park is located south-west of Tower Bridge and south-east of City Hall, London .

King’s Stairs Gardens King’s Stairs Gardens is a riverside park in Bermondsey, London . It is bordered to the north by the River Thames and to the south by Jamaica Road (A200)

More London More London is a development on the south bank of the River Thames, immediately south-west of Tower Bridge . It is owned by the Kuwaiti sovereign wealth fund, which owns More London . The development is part of an area known as London Bridge City .

The View from The Shard The View from The Shard is a tourist attraction based in London’s tallest building . The attraction offers visitors views from the skyscraper with two viewing platforms inside the building .

The Institute of Optometry Institute of Optometry is a centre for optometry in south London . It was established in 1922 as the London Refraction Hospital, London .

Visit Shoreditch plaques