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Start at Aldgate Station (notAldgate East) turn right (west)towards the City of London.

Begin the walk at an East Endsite with early links to Bengalisettlers. St BotolphsChurch, Aldgate (1), whichis dedicated to the patron saintof travellers, has stood heresince the reign of William theConqueror. The current churchwas built between 1741 and1744 by George Dance. Churcharchives mention the burial ofa converted Indian Christian (who may have been aBengali) James, Indian servant of James Duppa Brewerhere in 1618.

If you stand in front of the Church, Jewry Street isdiagonally to your right across Aldgate High Street,running southwards. East India House (Lloyds Insurancebuilding) is round the corner, in Leadenhall Street, runningwestwards.

The Merchant Navy WarMemorial by Tower Hill listsseafarers killed in WorldWars I and II. It includessome of the 6,000 Indianseamen who died, (manywith Bengali names Miah,Latif, Uddin, Choudhury,

Ali) working as stokers,greasers, coal trimmers andfiremen in the engine rooms,and cooks in the galleys.

IntroductionToday approximately 300,000 Bengalis live in Britain, most ofwhom originate from Bangladesh, from the region of Sylhet i nthe north east of the country. Other Bengalis come from WestBengal in India.

Tower Hamlets has a long traditi on of welcoming immigrantpopulations from all over the world including Huguenots inthe 18th century and Jews in the 19th century. Now one thirdof the population in Tower Hamlets is Bengali, thelargest Bengali community in the UK.

HowevermanypeopleareoftennotawarethatBengalipeoplehavelivedin Londonfornearly400years.EarlyBengaliresidentsleftfewsignsor buildingstomarktheirpresencebutsomecluesstillremain.In1616forexampletheMayorofLondonattendedStDionisChurchintheCityforthebaptismofPeter,anEastIndianfromtheBay ofBengal,whohadarrivedin 1614andwhoseChristiannamewas

chosenbyJamesI.

The thriving streets of the modern East End ofLondon offer a fascinating insight into the BritishBengali communitys significant contribution to

contemporary UKculture, from musicand food, to politicsand architecture.

Banglatown and theBengali East End

Walk 3

Starting point St. Botolphs, Aldgate

Finishing point Trumans Brewery

Estimate time 1.5 hours

Across Aldgate High Street isJewry Street (2). Mr andMrs Roger set up an Ayahs home and job centre on thecorner of India Street in the 1890s where nannies fromBengal, Burma and China could have lodgings, seekwork and arrange passage home.

On the right is Lloyds Insurance building, designed byRichard Rogers, with its twin rooftop blue cranes (bluelights at night), which towers above Leadenhall Street.It is on the site ofEast India House (3), the EastIndia Companys headquarters from 1722 to 1873 afterwhich time Lloyds took it over.

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4

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8 1

13

14

15

16

20

21

2

3

1 St Botolphs Church

2 Jewry Street

3 East India House

4 Cutler Street

5 13 Sandys Row

6 Wentworth Street

7 Calcutta House

8 Toynbee Hall

9 Altab Ali Arch

10Altab Ali Park

11 Shahid Minar,Martyrs Monument

12 Tagore

13 Sonali Bank

14 Brick Lane

15 Janomot

16 Caf Naz

17 Christ Church School

18 Bangladesh Welfare

Association

19 London Jamme Masjid

20 Kobi Nazrul Centre

21 Black Eagle

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Exit the park via the Altab AliArch, cross the road and walk upOsborn Street leading to BrickLane.

Find a wide selection of Bengali/Asian music, films, newspapersand magazines in the area. VisitGeet Ghar (Osborn Street), andSangeeta, Mira and Music Housein Brick Lane and Eastern Co-operative and others in HanburyStreet. The vibrant music pouring

onto the streets mingles with recordings of religious prayerfurther down Brick Lane creating a vibrant atmosphere.

Note the Sonali Bank (13) on your left, where Brick Lanebegins, is used by Bengali workers to send remittances totheir families in Bangladesh Also found here are travelagents offering flights to Dhaka, Sylhet andto Makkah (Mecca) for the Hajj, the mostimportant Muslim pilgrimage.

Continue onto Brick Lane (14) an areaof London that has derived its name from the 17th centurywhen, particularly after the Great Fire of 1666, London claywas dug up here in deep pits in the fields, to be fired insmoky kilns. Heavy carts ferried bricks along the ruttedlane to Whitechapel. The famous architect, Christopher

Wren was noted to have saidBrick Lane was unpassable bycoach, adjoining to dirty landsof mean habitations.

Mina Thakurs Brick Lane Arch,dates from 1997 and like BrickLanes lamp posts, is adornedwith the crimson and greencolours of the Bangladesh flag.Also note that street names aretranslated into Bengali script.

A number of shops still sellfabrics, linings, buttons,machinery and other materialfor the clothing industry,particularly for themanufacture of womensdresses and outerwear.Womens garments sold by top

retailing chains are still made round here, often as subcontracts in small workshops employing 5 to 8 men or aspiecework by Bengali women working at home. At theother end of the Brick Lane is evidence of the nowdeclining leather industry.

Located at 26 Brick Lane is the Modern SareeCentre. The saree (sari) dates back 5000 years andis worn by millions of women in Bangladesh andIndia. A saree is 59 yards of cotton or silk,sometimes printed with simple patterns and

sometimes interwoven or embroidered in silver, gold andother thread, worth hundreds of pounds. Usually wrappedaround the body over a short blouse and petticoat, it is aversatile garment that can be a loose flowing gown, a veilto cover the hair, tucked up as shorts for working in paddyfields, a cradle to carry baby or apurse. When it is completelyworn out and torn, Bengaligrannies use saree thread tomakeKantha hangings and quiltsin amazing cross stitch patterns.

Bengalimenoftenwearthe longPunjabi shirtandpyjama,especiallyduringfestivalsandfor weddings.InBangladeshmanyweara lungi(sarong).BengaliMuslimmenandboysoftenweara tupi (skullcap)whichcomesinmanyshapes,designsand colours,particularlywhengoingto mosque.

On your right in Chicksand Streetare the offices ofJanomot (15) ,Londons longest running Bengaliweekly newspaper, first published

Further informationThe AuthorThisbookletwascompiledandwrittenbyDanJones,a youthworkerinTowerHamletsfrom1967,now workingforAmnestyInternational.Itwas largelybasedonresearchbyDanieleLamarcheofShadinataTrust,andby JoSkinner,ChrisLloydandAnsarAhmedUllahofTowerHamletsCouncil.

ReferencesAcrossSevenSeasand ThirteenRivers,CarolineAdams (THAPBooks1987 ); AsiansinBritain 400yearsof History,RozinaVisram(PlutoPress2002); Indiansin Britain,RozinaVisram(Batsford1987); TheRootsof SubcontinentalCooking, YousufChoudhury(RinaPress2002);BengalisinEast Londonacommunityin themakingfor 500Years,DanieleLamarche,(ShadinataTrust 2003); LondonsEast End LifeandTraditions,JaneCox(Weidenfeldand Nicolson1994)

Further InformationShadinata Trust, London Metropolitan University,Unit 1, 59-63 Whitechapel High Street, London E1 7PFTel 07956 890689 Email admin@shadinata.o rg.ukWeb www.shadinata.org.uk

Bangladesh Welfare Association39 Fournier Street, London E1 6QETel 020 7247 2105 Fax 020 7247 7960

London Jamme Masjid (Brick Lane Mosque)59 Brick Lane London, E1 6QLTel 020 7247 6052

Places to go, things to doTo find out more about Spitalfields andshopping in Tower Hamlets visitwww.spitalfields.org.uk orwww.towerhamlets.gov.uk/data/discover

EatingGive your taste buds a treat in the manyretaurants.Brick Lane Restaurantswww.bricklanerestaurants.com

ShoppingFor a definitive guide to the more unusual andunique shops in the area, pick up a copy ofthe Quirky Shopping Guide or downloadit from www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/data/discover/downloads/QuirkyGuide.pdf De

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