19 Princelet Street, Spitalfields

A friend told me about this unusual project in East London. 19 Princelet Street in Spitalfields, close to Brick Lane and Liverpool Street is a house built in 1719 that has had a remarkable history. It was firstly rented by a Huguenot family of refugees, then after a period of prosperity the area began to decline. The building was converted into lodgings for silk weavers, who created large windows on the upper floors to allow them to work longer hours. Irish immigrants used it as a lodging house in the nineteenth century and then in 1869 a Jewish Friendly Society took the lease and built a synagogue in the garden to serve the growing community of immigrant jews from eastern Europe. A caretaker lived in one of the flats, and other rooms were rented out. In the C20th the Jewish congregation began to dwindle, and the last wedding was held in the 1970s. The building became derelict, although one reclusive lodger continued to rent the top floor, although he walked out one day leaving his 'home' untouched for a decade or so. A charity rescued the building, but it is still in danger. It is now trying to raise £3m to preserve it. For a few days a year it is open to visitors, when I came out today there was a queue reaching to the corner of the street. It is next open on Sunday 27th May.

Find out more at http://19princeletstreet.org.uk