Elder Street
The building of Elder Street probably began in
1722. It was constructed on an entirely undeveloped line: in the ’New Church’ plans of
1711–12 buildings are shown on the north side of
Folgate Street occupying the site of the future
southern end of Elder Street. It was described in
May 1724 as a street ’intended to be called Elder
Street’. (ref. 155) Part of the northern end of the street
was demolished for the formation of Commercial
Street.
Most of the early eighteenth-century houses in
Elder Street are single-fronted and paired, the
fronts showing straight joints and, occasionally,
surface breaks where the pairs adjoin. The
accommodation is generally contained in a basement, three storeys, and a roof garret, and most of
the houses were originally only one room deep.
The plan generally adopted is very simple, that
of No. 17 being fairly typical of the rest. The
front door opens to a small staircase hall, separated
from the ground-floor room by a slightly canted
post-and-panel partition. The stair begins with a
straight flight and continues with winders round a
central newel. Each upper floor has one L-shaped
room with windows front and back. Thus the
maximum floor space was provided for living or
working accommodation. While the fronts are
well designed and often embellished with handsome doorcases, the interiors are seldom interesting.
The inhabitants were probably less wealthy
than those of Spital Square. In the 1740's and
1750's a number of the residents were presented
before the manorial court for keeping hogs. (ref. 128)
No. 16 Elder Street
Formerly No. 11 Elder Street
The site of Nos. 14–22 (even) was leased for
sixty-one years, together with the south side of
Fleur-de-lis Street, in May 1724 by Sir Isaac
Tillard to Thomas Bunce of Spitalfields, plasterer,
who was concerned in the building of
houses on the east side of the street. In July the
lease was assigned by Bunce, as a mortgage, to a
Spitalfields weaver, the site being then described
as waste ground. (ref. 156) The date of erection of the
original five houses is not known. Only No. 16
(Plate 73a) survives in anything like its original
condition. It is a four-storeyed weavers' house,
one room deep, with living accommodation on the
ground and first floors, and two large workrooms
over. The front is of simple utilitarian character,
faced with stock brick, now stained red, with
bandcourses marking the first- and second-floor
levels, and finishing with a narrow stone coping.
The stucco-faced ground storey contains the
doorway, framed by a simple doorcase and placed
on the left of two windows. The second storey
has three windows which, like those below, are of
normal proportions with segmental-arched heads.
The third and fourth storeys each have two
segmental-headed weavers' windows, that on the
left having five lights and that on the right having
four.
No. 18 has a narrow front originally continuing
that of No. 16 but now entirely faced with stucco
and of no interest.
In 1812 and 1836 No. 16 was occupied by
John Sholl, silk manufacturer. (ref. 103)
Nos. 24–36 (even) Elder Street
Formerly Nos. 7–1 (consec.) Elder Street
Nos. 24 and 26 were built under a sixty-one-year building lease granted in July 1722 by Sir
Isaac Tillard to Edward Osborne and John
Burges. Osborne and Burges were described as
citizens and joiners of London, but Burges, who
occupied No. 26, was in fact a calender. In 1744
he was a trustee for the Norton Folgate court
house. The site was surrounded by a wall ’built
by the said Sir Isaac Tillard for that purpose’ and
abutted north, south and east on vacant ground of
Tillard's. In February 1722/3 the lease and two
houses were assigned by Osborne and Burges as
a mortgage to John Ham, a dyer. (ref. 157) They con
tain a basement, three storeys, and a mansard
garret, and share a simply designed front. The
ground storey of No. 24 is largely taken up by a
carriage entry, on the left of which is the house
doorway. This storey is stucco-faced and finished
with a simple cornice. The upper part of the
front is of plum-coloured stocks, finished with a
narrow stone coping. Each storey has three
evenly spaced windows, with stone sills and segmental arches of red brick. The exposed flush
frames and top sashes are also segmental-headed.
The narrow front of No. 26 (Plate 62c) has only
two windows in each upper storey, and in the
ground storey one window and a doorway against
the left party wall. The tall and narrow doorcase
of wood consists of a straight-headed architrave
flanked by plain narrow jambs with shaped
brackets supporting a corniced hood.
No. 26 was occupied in 1763 by Miles Burkitt,
worsted stuff weaver, and a trustee under the
Local Act of 1759. (ref. 158)
Nos. 28 and 30 (Plate 62b, 62c) were built by
November 1724 and were granted in February
1724/5 by a sixty-one-year building lease from
Sir Isaac Tillard to Isaac Dupree of Bethnal
Green, weaver. The site was then described as
abutting north on the house in Burges's occupation
and south on vacant ground let to William Goswell
and as having two newly built messuages lately
erected on it. (ref. 159) In April 1725 Dupree assigned
the lease and houses to a Shoreditch silk thrower as
a mortgage to secure £210 and also assigned him
two insurance policies for £250 which he had
taken out on the two empty houses in November
1724. (ref. 160) An Isaac Dupree of Spitalfields undertook in 1745 to raise a body of twelve of his
workmen to resist the Young Pretender. (ref. 64) The
similarity of the doorcase of No. 30 to those
formerly at Nos. 30–32 Spital Square suggests
that William Goswell may have been associated
with the construction of these two houses.
Figure 22:
Nos. 28 and 30 Elder Street, 1724, ground-floor plan
Nos. 28 and 30 are tall and narrow-fronted
houses, originally only one room deep although
No. 30 has an old weather-boarded extension at
the back (figs. 22, 23). Each house contains a
basement and four storeys. The shared front has a
stuccoed ground storey, the face above being of
plum-coloured stocks with red brick jambs and
segmental arches to the window openings of the
three upper storeys. These openings, containing
exposed flush frames and top sashes with segmental heads, form two evenly spaced groups, two
to No. 28 and three to No. 30. The top-storey
face has been rebuilt with the window frames recessed. The wooden doorcase of No. 28 is a
smaller and simpler version of those at Nos. 9 and
13 opposite, but No. 30 has perhaps the finest
doorcase in this street (Plate 80a, 80b). It consists of
a rusticated arch with moulded imposts and a male
mask keyblock, flanked by Ionic three-quarter
columns supporting an entablature and triangular
pediment. The doorcases at Nos. 30–32 Spital
Square, now demolished, were of similar design
but here the arch-headed door has eight panels,
and the steps are bounded by good wrought iron
railings surmounted by scrolls.
Figure 23:
Elder Street, backs of houses an the west side
The interior of No. 30 is cramped and awkwardly planned, with rooms of irregular shape and
an insignificant staircase winding round central
newels. It was, however, finished in fine style,
the ground-floor room having fielded panels in
cyma-moulded framing, with a box-cornice enriched with carving. This room once contained a
remarkable chimneypiece of marble (Plate 102b),
the lower part being of conventional early eighteenth-century pattern with wide flat jambs,
narrow imposts, and a Baroque shaped lintel with
a fluted keystone. Above were two fielded
oblong panels, separated by three reeded consoles
supporting a broken triangular pediment and,
above the middle console, a shaped pedestal bearing a Baroque cartouche of arms surmounted by
a casque. This was flanked by acanthus flourishes
with pendants of fruits and flowers falling along
the inclined cornices of the pediment. The dexter
half of the arms appears to be that of the Tizard
family, but the reason for its presence at No. 30 is
not known.
The site of Nos. 32–36 (even) and of Nos.
23–27 (odd) Folgate Street, forming the western
corner of the two streets, was granted, together
with the six houses lately built on it, by a sixty-one-year building lease from Sir Isaac Tillard to
William Goswell in May 1725. (ref. 161) But the site
of at least No. 32 had been leased to Goswell as
early as November 1724. (ref. 162) In July Goswell
assigned the lease and premises, as a mortgage to
secure £1,000, to Oakey, Fuller and Sudbury and
in December this mortgage was assigned to Alexander Garrett. (ref. 163) In November 1726
Goswell surrendered his lease of May 1725
and received in return a lease for fifty-nine
and a half years of Nos. 32 and 34 Elder Street
and also a similar lease of No. 36 Elder Street and
No. 27 Folgate Street. In December he assigned
these leases also, as a mortgage for £400 each, to
Oakey, Fuller and Sudbury. In March 1736
both these mortgages were assigned to a White
chapel printer. (ref. 164) The lease of May 1725 had
been witnessed by Francis Goswell, bricklayer, of
Blossom Street, where William Goswell had his
carpenter's yard.
Nos. 32, 34 and 36 (Plate 62a, 62c) have uniform
fronts but differ in width and depth, the first two
being single-fronted and two rooms deep, whereas
No. 36 is double-fronted and one room deep.
Each house contains a basement and three storeys,
No. 36 having the later addition of a garret
storey. The front of No. 32 has three windows in
each upper storey; No. 34 has four, but those over
the doorway are blind; and No. 36 has five
evenly spaced and a sixth that might, at one time,
have belonged to No. 34. The segmental arches
and jambs of the window openings are of red
brick, which continues down the front to form
apron panels of the plum-coloured stocks with
which the fronts are generally faced. The exposed
flush frames have segmental heads and the top
sashes generally follow this form. The front
finishes with a narrow stone coping and the
original roofs are of tile. The arch-headed door-way of No. 32 has a simple stucco surround,
probably early nineteenth century, with moulded
imposts, keyblock, and a cornice-head. No. 34
has a late eighteenth-century doorcase of wood,
with plain pilasters and entablature, and a cornice
surmounted by a flat triangular pediment. More
interesting is the charming late eighteenth-century doorcase of No. 36, also of wood (Plate
81d). The six-panelled door is recessed in an
arched opening, the reveals and soffit being
panelled to match the door. The moulded archivolt rises from fluted imposts, continued as a
transom below the radial fanlight of iron with
lead enrichments. Flanking the arched opening
are engaged three-quarter columns, standing on
square pedestals and having plain shafts and
modified Tower-of-the-Winds capitals. They
support entablature blocks, each adorned with a
triglyph, and a dentilled cornice that is returned to
form an open pediment.
No. 36 was occupied in 1812 and 1821 by
George Woolrich, silk manufacturer and a trustee
under the Local Act of 1810. (ref. 165) <The painter Mark Gertler (d.1939) lived at No. 32.>
Nos. 1 and 3 Elder Street
No. 3 was formerly No. 13 Elder Street
Demolished
The building of the east side south of Fleur-de-lis Street proceeded southward after the completion of Nos. 24–36 (even) on the west side.
In July 1725 Sir Isaac Tillard granted to
Thomas Bunce, plasterer, elsewhere described as
of Thrall Street, Spitalfields, a lease of a piece of
waste ground forming the site of Nos. 1 and 3 and
of the two houses adjacent eastward on the south
side of Fleur-de-lis Street. (ref. 166) In September 1726
the lease and property, still described as waste
ground, were assigned by Bunce as a mortgage for
£400 for the Spitalfields weaver to whom Bunce
had in July 1724 made a mortgage assignment of
his ground on the south-west corner of Elder
Street and Fleur-de-lis Street (see above). In
July 1731, when another mortgage assignment of
the lease was made, five messuages were said to
have been built on the site by Bunce.
Nos. 5–23 (odd) Elder Street
Formerly Nos. 14–22 (consec.) Elder Street
Nos. 5 and 7 (Plate 63a) were built under a
sixty-one-year lease granted in July 1725 by Sir
Isaac Tillard to Thomas Bunce. (ref. 167) Bunce made
two mortgage assignments of this lease to a
Spitalfields weaver in February 1725/6 for £250
and in February 1727/8 for £337 10s. (ref. 168) The
houses had been built by March 1726/7. (ref. 169)
They are paired houses, containing a basement,
three storeys and a roof garret. The shared front
is of simple design, built of brown stocks with red
brick dressings to the jambs and flat arches of the
windows in the first two storeys. These have
double-hung sashes in exposed flush frames and
are grouped two to each house on either side of the
paired doorways, which are now devoid of ornament, and the one blind window over. The top
storey of each house is differently treated, No. 7
having three normal windows, one being blind,
whereas No. 5 has a wide segmental-arched
weavers' window alongside a rectangular blind
window.
Nos. 9, 11 and 13 (Plate 63a) were originally
built as two houses which were divided into three probably in the early nineteenth century, the
centre house, now No. 11, including part of each
of the former pair of houses with a doorway in the
more southerly house of the pair. (fn. a) In July 1725
the site was described as waste ground. (ref. 167) Two
brick messuages were said to have been built on
the site by Thomas Brown (or Browne), citizen
and pavior of London, when he was leased the
site by William Tillard on 10 March 1726/7. (ref. 169)
Brown made a mortgage assignment of the lease
and houses for £200 to a Hoxton cooper in the
same year. (ref. 170) Thomas Bunce was a witness of
this assignment and was probably associated with
the building of the houses.
The two original large houses each had a basement, three storeys, and a roof garret. The
shared front is of plum-coloured stocks, simply
finished with a stone coping. Red brick is used
for the jambs and segmental arches of the window
openings, which contain double-hung sashes in
exposed flush frames, those of the northern house
having segmental heads. The northern house
has five windows evenly spaced in each upper
storey, and the southern has four. Nos. 9 and 13
have wooden doorcases of Doric design, with
rusticated pilasters and triglyphed entablatures,
very similar to those in Spital Square and Folgate
Street. The ground storey, between the two
Doric doorcases, is faced with stucco and contains the simple arch-headed doorway to No. 11.
No. 13 was occupied in 1812–13 by John
Wallen (see page 58), and in 1836 and 1851 was
used as a girls' school. (ref. 165)
Nos. 15 and 17 were built as a pair, obviously
by the same builder, and were erected under sixty-one-year building leases of the same date (28 June
1727) from William Tillard. The lease of No.
15 was, however, granted to Thomas Brown and
that of No. 17 to Thomas Bunce who was
probably chiefly responsible for the erection of the
two houses and thus may well have been responsible also for the actual erection of the other two
houses, now Nos. 9–13 (odd), leased to Brown. (ref. 171)
Each house contains a basement and four
storeys, the heights of which are rather less than
those of Nos. 9, 11 and 13, with its doorway on
the left of the two ground-storey windows. In
each upper storey there are three evenly spaced
windows, those above the doorways being blind
except that in the top storey of No. 15. The frontage is of plum-coloured brick, with red brick
segmental arches to the window openings, which
contain double-hung sashes in exposed flush
frames. No. 15 has a very fine Doric doorcase of
wood (Plate 79c, 79d), the pilasters having plain
shafts (originally fluted) and enriched capitals, and
the entablature having an enriched frieze of floral
metopes between the triglyphs. Above the six-panelled door is a later fanlight of iron with lead
enrichments. No. 17 has an early nineteenth-century doorcase of simple design in wood, with
narrow pilasters supporting an entablature, its
frieze ornamented with plain lozenges.
No. 17 was occupied in 1741 and 1763 by
John Payton, shag weaver, a trustee for the Norton
Folgate court house in 1744, who undertook
in 1745 to raise a body of forty-seven of his workmen to resist the Young Pretender. (ref. 172)
Nos. 19 and 21 (Plate 63b) were built under a
sixty-one-year building lease granted on the same
day as those of Nos. 15–17 (28 June 1727) by
William Tillard to Jonathan Beaumont, citizen
and mason, who had received the building lease of
the houses on the eastern corner of Folgate Street
and Spital Square. Beaumont covenanted to
build two houses which were erected by July
1730. By March 1735/6 they had been assigned
to the same Whitechapel printer who received an
assignment of Nos. 32–36 (even) in March
1736/7. (ref. 173)
They are paired houses, with a basement, three
storeys, and a roof garret. The plans are mirrored
so that the houses share chimney-stacks, and the
doorways are placed left and right of the two
ground-storey windows. Each upper storey has
three evenly spaced windows, those centred over
the doorways being blind, except for that in the
third storey of No. 21. The front is faced with
plum-coloured stocks and bounded by slightly
projecting pilaster-strips. The window openings
have stone sills resting on plain consoles, and
segmental arches of red brick with fluted keystones. The exposed flush frames and top sashes
are also segmental-headed. The arch-headed
doorway of No. 19 has a plain stucco surround
finished with a simple cornice, but No. 21 has
a wooden doorcase consisting of an architrave,
frieze with tablet, and cornice.
No. 23 (Plate 63b) was built, together with the
corner house, No. 29 Folgate Street and No. 31
in that street, under a sixty-one-year building
lease granted by William Tillard to William
Goswell on the same day as the building leases of
Nos. 15–21 (ref. 174) (28 June 1727). In June 1728
Goswell made a mortgage assignment of the lease
and houses to a Shoreditch gingerbread maker. (ref. 175)
Figure 24:
No. 23 Elder Street and No. 29 Folgate Street, 1727, plans
No. 23 is a wide-fronted house, only one room
deep, with a basement, three storeys, and a roof
garret (fig. 24). The front was originally uniform
with that of No. 29 Folgate Street, but now has an
elaborate face of early nineteenth-century stucco.
The ground storey is divided into four bays, three
being framed by pilasters with plain shafts and
palmette capitals, supporting a simple entablature.
The right-hand bay contains the house doorway,
and each of the others a window, all with seg
mental-headed architraves. Beneath each window
sill is a fret-ornamented panel. The entablature
breaks slightly forward over the rusticated pilasters
that frame the left-hand bay, containing a secondary doorway with a moulded panel over. The
second-storey face is channelled into courses, and
the third storey is plain. Each contains four
evenly spaced windows, the right-hand one being
blind, uniformly framed by segmental-headed
architraves which rise, in the second storey from
a blocking-course, and in the third storey from a
moulded stringcourse. The front finishes with a
cornice and plain parapet. The house retains its
early eighteenth-century character inside. The ground- and first-floor rooms are lined with plain
panelling, and the ground-floor room contains a
shelved and semi-domed china cupboard.