Save Brick Lane Campaign Launches on Princelet Street

Save Brick Lane is a campaign aimed at stopping a development proposal from the Old Truman Brewery. Launching on the steps of an old Hugenot townhouse on Princelet Street. The aim is to raise awareness of the development. One which could have a massive impact on the character of the area.

Led by Dan Cruickshank and the Spitalfields Trust, they have long been at the heart of the areas protection. For years they have battled against planners. As a result the trust can claim to have preserved much of the area from destruction.

Developments in the East End

Not all campaigns have been successful. Areas around Norton Folgate and the Spitalfields Fruit and Wool exchange have already recently been gutted. Any semblance of historic value simply swept away in a blind ambition to capitalise on it’s land value. The results so far are disappointing. The Fruit and Wool exchange had is facia preserved. Inside however much of the new office and retail space lays empty and unloved.

The development from the Old Truman Brewery looks to place a shopping mall at the heart of the Brick Lane area. Covering four floors, the intention is to place corporate offices on top. The Truman Brewery itself has long been at the heart of the area. It was in many ways responsible for the growth of Spitalfields and Brick Lane. Certainly it’s sad to see them at the heart of what could have an irreversible impact on the area.

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Exhibition at 25 Princelet Street

As part of the campaign launch, the inside of 25 Princelet Street has been given over to an exhibition. Curated by the Gentle Author, it features photographs from Phil Maxwell. He has been capturing the area through the lens for over 30 years. A specially commissioned model from Sebastian Harding of the Truman complex and a diorama of Brick Lane from the Bishopsgate Institute can also be seen.

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The real star of the show though is the interior of 25 Princelet Street itself. Opportunities to go inside some of these beautiful old townhouses are rare. Inside is as near to an authentic representation of Huguenot London as you are likely to find. Undeveloped and pretty much untouched you immediately get the feeling of stepping back in time. Remarkably the timbers seem to have a thick layer of charring on them. It indicates that either there was a fire sometime in the distant past or that the timbers themselves were salvaged from a fire. One exciting possibility is that there may be a link to the Great Fire of London. The house was built only approximately 40 years afterwards. Could some of this charred timber have been taken from the ruins of the city and reused?

The exhibition can be visited at 25 Princelet Street, Spitalfields, E1 6QH. It opens from noon – 6pm on Saturday 12th December and runs until Sunday 20th December 2020.

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