Lost London.

1912

This haunting photograph captures a narrow cobbled street in Spitalfields, East London, in the year 1912. Children play barefoot while adults linger outside shops and homes, going about their day in one of London’s most densely populated working-class districts. The scene is framed by rows of Victorian buildings, many of which have since vanished under modern redevelopment.

🏙️ Historical Note
Spitalfields, once a haven for Huguenot silk weavers, was by the early 20th century a melting pot of immigrant communities—Irish, Jewish, and others—living in crowded tenements. In 1912, social reformers like Charles Booth were still mapping London’s poverty, with Spitalfields marked as one of the poorest areas. That same year, George Lansbury, a local MP, was campaigning for better housing conditions in the East End.

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