IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Shoreditch High Street, LONDON, E1 6JE

This shows the north end of Shoreditch High Street, looking northwards from the end of French Place.

When Syd Tothill, a British soldier who had been gassed during WWI, returned to civilian life in 1919 he used £117 of his invalidity pension to pay for the construction of a top quality mahogany tea stall with fine etched windows and gleaming brass fittings. Mains electricity was added in 1922, hooked up to an adjoining lamp post, and the old water churn that previously stood at the rear of the stall was superseded by a supply of water from the mains. In spite of it being referred to as “a coffee bar,” which was considered a classier description for this type of stall, Syd’s most popular beverages were, it seems, tea, cocoa and “Bovex” (a “poor man’s version of Bovril”). In the 1960s, when Calvert Avenue was resurfaced, Syd’s stall could not be moved on account of the mains connections and so kerbstones were placed around it instead. The stall still operates from Monday to Fridays. See also: https://spitalfieldslife.com/2010/05/12/syds-coffee-stall-shoreditch-high-st/

Apparently the Anglo-Saxon word “suer,” meaning stream, led to this former hamlet being named “Shoreditch”. This ‘blessing’ however, later undermined its first medieval church, leading to its demolition. Even St Leonard’s, the present church, dating from 1740 and designed by George Dance the Elder, experienced problems with flooding with the need for the ground level to be built up to counter this. The church is known as “The Actors’ Church”, on account of the number of thespians buried within its precincts, many of whom performed at “The Theatre” and “The Curtain Theatre” in Shoreditch in the post-Medieval period. In addition, James Parkinson, the Surgeon and Apothecary, who described the disease that was posthumously given his name was born (and later practised) in nearby Hoxton Square. He was a church warden here and is buried in a unmarked grave in the adjacent graveyard, now a public park.

Interesting reflections from the glass-fronted building on the left

Looking south-southeast.

Looking north-northeast.

Wells & Co. premises on Shoreditch High Street described further at this http://www.victorianweb.org/art/architecture/london/124.html

St Leonard’s Church in Shoreditch High Street was built between 1736 and 1740. The steeple at 192 feet tall is a landmark. This is the view from the entrance to the church looking out through the four-column giant Tuscan portico. The church is mentioned in the line "When I grow rich, say the bells of Shoreditch" from the nursery rhyme Oranges and Lemons.