My neck of the woods - then & nowI know you can get apps that do this sort of thing, but I thought it might be fun to show a few pictures of the Shoreditch and Hoxton area, which are covered in the 'My neck of the woods' walk, as they were 'then' and as the same place looks 'now' in 2011. Quite simple really. If you know the area, it might be quite interesting. Then again, it might not. This is Shoreditch Town Hall, originally built in 1865.  Shoreditch Town Hall - 1905  This is the north end of Hoxton Square in 1921. The square was originally developed in the 1680's. St Monica's Catholic Church on the left is still there ... as you can see.  Hoxton Square - 1921  Just up the road is Hoxton Street, which was home to the Britannia Theatre, built in 1841 and could seat 3000 people. It was frequented by Charles Dickens (amongst many others), but unfortunately WWII got the better of it. The photo below was taken in about 1936, by which time it was being used as a cinema. It's now a block of flats opposite the Macbeth pub.  Britannia Theatre - 1936  Curtain Road was once home to The Theatre, which was where William Shakespeare strutted his stuff before his troupe 'The Lord Chamberlain's Men' dismantled the theatre, took it across on the Thames, re-erected on Bankside and called it The Globe. This is Curtain Road in about 1900.  Curtain Rd - 1900  Pitfield Street is named after Charles Pitfield, who bought a large moated mansion house nearby in 1648. It runs down the side of Hoxton Square and runs from Old Street pretty much up to the Regent's Canal and also joins up with New North Road. The photo below was taken in about 1905 and shows the library and what used to be the baths to the left. The baths were demolished after the war, and the library now houses the Courtyard Theatre.  Pitfield Street - 1905  Archive photos courtesy of L.B Hackney's Archive Department.
40 Comments
Love the photos x Diana Furness
27/2/2012 03:36:17 am
Dr Roger Sharland
28/11/2012 09:12:52 pm
Sir Charles Pitfield (1599 - 1680) is my 9th great grandfather so thank you for pointing out a photograph of a street named after him! 28/11/2012 09:39:46 pm
Wowzers. How fascinating. If you happen to have any other info about him, I'd be delighted to find out. Many thanks. Jonnie 19/8/2015 08:55:56 pm
I am a Pitfield who has spent 40 years researching the Pitfield name. Although Sir Charles Pitfield did indeed own an estate in Hoxton, Pitfield Street was not named after him but predates his time. An Inquisition Post Mortem of Thomas Hewer taken in 1625 who owned land in the area refers to
Elizabeth lucraft
5/2/2017 04:04:24 pm
All my family come from Shoreditch - Styman Street - Hoxton, Pittfield and lived all around that area from 1870 to 1960.
John Lucraft
31/12/2020 08:44:56 am
I'm researching my family; my mother was an Elizabeth Dorothy Lucraft 1919-1986, as was her mother an Elizabeth (Nee Allen) . 1898-1971 who both lived at 40 Styman Street.
Brian Phillips
26/1/2025 12:29:00 pm
I remember Styman Street, we lived adjacent to your street in Chart Street in the mid 1950's..Happy days.!
Brian Phillips
26/1/2025 12:36:59 pm
Later in the late 60's I lived in Burtt House Fanshaw Street,been trying to get in touch with my old friends who lived in the same flats their names are Brian Norton, John Gullis and Steven Medhurst who lived in Hoxton Street can anyone help..?
BRIAN PHILLIPS
26/1/2025 12:53:12 pm
I've been trying to get in touch with some old friends from the late 60's who also lived in Burtt House Fanshaw Street, Brian Norton John Gullis and Steven Medhurst who lived in Hoxton Street..can anybody help.?
Annie
18/3/2017 12:44:37 am
Thank you for taking the time and effort required to share the information and photo's. Charles Pitfield was my 8th Great Grandfather. Best Wishes,
Bob green
22/3/2017 12:51:13 pm
Used to go in Charlie wrights ,anyone remember Charlie wrights ?.
Alan Cakebread
14/5/2018 07:46:02 am
Charlie Wright's is now the International bar and club, completely different now, Charlie Wright was the publican there, back in the good old days
Mark Unstead
27/10/2019 12:06:06 am
Me too Robert, if you’re the bloke I know. Could spend a whole weekend in there in the 80s.
Barry S Britzman
5/4/2017 12:48:40 am
Thank you, a very interesting site. I was looking for info on Old Hoxton, in particular Ashford Street where my grandparents Herman Ernst Britzman and his wife Annie Caroline McBride lived circa 1900. Their first born child Elsie Britzman b 1899 d 1899. is the first born of that name in UK records.
Bowl Of Chalk
22/5/2017 02:13:39 pm
Hello Barry,
Lindsey
22/8/2019 05:38:38 pm
Hi Barry, I also googled Ashford Street where my grandparents lived. I am a New Zealander researching about the times they lived in. It was a small cul-de-sac, have you found any photo's between 1910-1920 ?
Paul
5/3/2021 10:14:07 pm
Below is a link direct to Ashford St on Booth's Poverty Map. I lived very close by as a child in the 50's, but by then the street itself had been demolished, after the war, and replaced with the Royal Oak Court council estate which remains on the site today. The slider at the bottom of the LSE map allows you to go back and forth between then-and-now images.
Paul
5/3/2021 11:11:59 pm
I lived in Royal Oak Court as a child in the 1950s, and it was said by locals that the several large mounds in the grassy areas at the side of Pitfield St (near the horse trough, and roundabout!) were plague pits, dating from the time of the bubonic plague , and these gave rise to the name of the street. The website below seems to confirm this account.
Hilda Gallagher
24/2/2024 08:44:02 am
I was 90 on February 22 and in my gifts were old pictures of Ashford street .I was born there and remained till slum clearance in 1949
Peter Hindley
4/8/2017 11:12:41 am
I am research the date of the LGOC horse depot in Buttesland St. I think it is about 1897? The Eastern Motor Wagon Company (steam lorries) followed it around 1911. At information would be most welcome
Shannon Edwards
7/8/2020 08:03:37 am
Hi Peter, I am currently compiling a dissertation on working horse stables, I want to used 66 Buttesland Street as a case study. I wondered if you would share the statement you sent to Historic England when you were seeking listed status for the stables? 7/8/2020 09:18:10 am
Hello Shannon. Thanks for getting in touch, but that wasn't me I'm afraid. Sorry about that. I hope you find the right person.
susan wooden
9/4/2019 08:12:58 am
any picture on houses in Minton street Hoxton before they were demolished, I was born there and a lot of my family lived in the same house for decades,
Lee
29/8/2019 01:36:29 pm
I have enjoyed your knowledge and photos very much.
Sylvia Belcher
29/3/2020 10:53:27 am
Your old photographs have fascinated me; my parents born in the area. My father: 1911 at 204 Hoxton Street, then moving to 35 Essex Street. Education: Redvers Street School until 1925 – Geo. W. Cocks (Headmaster.) My mother: 1913 at 9 Reliance Square, New Inn Yard, then moving to 22 Aske Street, then 43 Falkirk Street. Education: The Hoxton House School until 1927 – Miss L.S. Gawtress (Head Teacher.) Pitfield Street was their local baths (what a beautiful building) where my mother also learnt to swim and high dive. They were married at St. Leonards in 1937.
Steve Holloway
12/8/2021 06:12:17 am
Hi Sylvia
Maureen Halliday
22/3/2021 01:57:02 am
Enjoyed reading comments about Shoreditch, wish there were more. 9/4/2021 06:19:08 am
Where has Essex Street Hoxton gone? My grandmother's sister and husband lived at No 32 in 1911 but I can't find it
Hazel
25/6/2021 02:53:51 am
I'm trying to find a map which shows Redvers Street (off Kingsland Road) originally went through to Hoxton Street (then Hoxton High Street) by the side of The Macbeth pub. Can anyone help, please?
Patricia Wooler
11/8/2021 02:47:13 pm
My dad was born in Shoreditch in 1910....i wish I knew exactly where.... His surname was Ebdon.. His Dad was Oliver and his mum was Rose... A long shot but does anyone know of the Surname please...? Enjoyed looking at these photos....
Pauline Harrington
5/9/2021 10:58:25 pm
Hello my mother was born in hoxton ,her maiden name was Mary Elliott , does anybody now or remember the family ? They lived in Charles square which I've been told was bombed in the wartime ww2 many thanks ,my mother is 99 years old .
Bill Allison
14/10/2021 09:07:13 am
Was Haberdashers Walk renamed Pitfield Street or as a continuation of Pitfield Street. When? and Why?
LARA COTTERELL
8/2/2022 07:42:03 am
Hi. Great site. Would you have any pre-war photo's of Poole Street Hoxton, or pre-war clinger ct and Hobbs close. Would be grateful for any info.
Pat Meadows
3/9/2022 07:57:43 am
I am desperately trying to find out the name of a street that crossed Gopsall Street N1. You crossed Gopsall St and accessed Hoxton Market. I grew up there and recall a Bombed Church that was possibly where my Siblings and I may have been Christened. I'm aware there was also a Church St.Annes in Hoxton St. that is still there? The family home 1944 was next to a factory where mannequins where made? on Gopsall St. We went to Whitmore Primary School and moved when I was due to go to Crondall St school? I'm trying to trace family history aware the area was bombed in the Blitz. would be so grateful if any one can name the street where the Church ruins were.
Lina Walter
28/11/2022 12:53:27 pm
Hello.Please do you have any pictures of 203 to 223 Hoxton St. It's the Junction of Hoxton St with what is now Purcell St N1.It used to be James St. I think it may have been bombed in the war. It's was the site of Iceland, now a building site. Thank you so much.
Penny Nichol
17/11/2023 10:43:45 am
My Father, George Albert Jackson, was born in Upper John Street in 1905 and was one of 7 siblings. None of the Jacksons remain alive and I would so love to have any information about their life in Hoxton. At the same time a solider called Harold Hibbert lived at 6 Upper John St and wrote copious postcards from the front between 1914 to 1918 (I have them all) to my aunt Rose Maidment (nee Jackson). Harold married Annie Buck in 1906 and they had a daughter Doris Isabel in 1908. Annie died in 1914 and I wonder what happened to Doris. Did my Paternal Grandmother bring her up? Was that why Harold kept in regular contact with the family?
Jeff Cotton
23/3/2024 05:07:13 am
The entrance to the baths was to the right of the library in Pitfield Street. The baths themselves were around the back - you could see the tiles up the walls of the car park that they became.
Brian Phillips
26/1/2025 11:56:30 am
Me and now my wife used to drink in Charlie wright's when we first started going out together every Friday evening, sadly the pub is no longer there.
Len chapman
7/2/2025 07:24:24 am
Fantastic archive.i lived in new north road opposite st johns church then moved in 1967 to royal oak court pitfield street.more pictures please
Neville Ware
20/9/2025 04:56:46 pm
Late to the party on this, but nice work! My grandfather lived on the north side of Hoxton Square in 1901 in Stanley Houses (Model Dwellings), now the site of the school, I believe. It could be one of the buildings in your 1921 photo, but I don't know when it was demolished. I would love more information about Stanley Houses, but it is hard to find. Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
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