The beastly East

Charles Saumarez Smith

AS A LONG-TERM RESIDENT of East London, I was overjoyed by the publication of the handsome two volumes of the Survey of London on Whitechapel last June. But it has taken me time to digest how much it tells one about the history of Whitechapel through its microcosmic survey of patterns of architectural change. Oddly, it tells one almost as much about the history of the last ten years as it does about earlier centuries, because in documenting what has been happening, for example, to the streets round Aldgate and, in particular, in Aldgate itself, it conscientiously describes who is responsible for the redevelopment of each of the monster new buildings which have been constructed over the last ten years, thereby obliterating what little was left of random, higgledy-piggledy back…

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The Critic (Digital) - 1 Issue, February 2023

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