Fournier Street, formerly Church Street, is a street of 18th century houses in Spitalfields

Spitalfields

Spitalfields is a former parish in the borough of Tower Hamlets, in the East End of London, near to Liverpool Street station and Brick Lane. The area straddles Commercial Street and is home to many markets, including the historic Old Spitalfields Market, founded in the 17th century, Sunday...

, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets

London Borough of Tower Hamlets

The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London borough to the east of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It is in the eastern part of London and covers much of the traditional East End. It also includes much of the redeveloped Docklands region of London, including West India Docks...

. It runs between Commercial Street

Commercial Street (London)

Commercial Street is a road in Tower Hamlets, east London that runs north to south from Shoreditch High Street to Whitechapel High Street through the East End district of Spitalfields...

 and Brick Lane

Brick Lane

Brick Lane is a street in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, in the East End of London. It runs from Swanfield Street in the northern part of Bethnal Green, crosses Bethnal Green Road, passes through Spitalfields and is linked to Whitechapel High Street to the south by the short stretch of...

.

Fournier Street was the last to be built on the Wood-Michell estate in Spitalfields, London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

. The houses mainly date from the 1720s and together form one of the most important and best preserved collections of early Georgian

Georgian architecture

Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1720 and 1840. It is eponymous for the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I of Great Britain, George II of Great Britain, George III of the United...

 domestic town-houses in Britain. Built for French Huguenot

Huguenot

The Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France during the 16th and 17th centuries. Since the 17th century, people who formerly would have been called Huguenots have instead simply been called French Protestants, a title suggested by their German co-religionists, the...

 master silk-weavers and mercers, the houses of Fournier Street were fitted out with fine wooden panelling and elaborate joinery such as carved staircases, fireplaces and highly detailed door-cases by the master craftsmen of the day.

One of the finest examples is Howard House, No. 14 Fournier Street, a mansion house, built circa 1726 by 'carpenter and gentleman', William Taylor, for his own occupation but subsequently leased by silk weavers, 'Signeratt and Bourdillon'. It has three floors and a large garrett attic which once contained the loom. It is here that the silk for Queen Victoria's Coronation gown was woven. The unique hardwood staircase balustrade is carved to display fluted columns with Ionic capitals placed on each turn for one hundred steps. Indeed each step is expertly carved with a masterly design of hops, barley, and wild roses.

No. 23 Fournier Street is perhaps the best surviving example of a classic, single-fronted early Georgian town house of simple but elegant design. This house retains the original, typical arrangement of cellar-basement, three brick storeys and a mansard garrett with a weather boarded front and wide weaver's windows.

In current times, perhaps the most famous residents are the artists Gilbert and George

Gilbert and George

Gilbert & George are two artists who work together as a collaborative duo. Gilbert Proesch and George Passmore have become famous for their distinctive, highly formal appearance and manner and their brightly coloured graphic-style photo-based artworks.-Early life:Gilbert Proesch was...

, who have lived and worked at a house in Fournier Street for many years. The interior of the building has featured in many of their works, particularly in photographs from the 1970s, which show the building as empty, dilapidated and gloomy.

In 2011 CubeFuture gallery was opened at 33 Fournier Street by artist Gideon Cube-Sherman

At its eastern end, Fournier Street finishes with the London Jamme Masjid (Great Mosque

Mosque

A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...

), a building which was originally built as a Huguenot chapel and has at various times been used as a synagogue, Methodist church

Methodist Church of Great Britain

The Methodist Church of Great Britain is the largest Wesleyan Methodist body in the United Kingdom, with congregations across Great Britain . It is the United Kingdom's fourth largest Christian denomination, with around 300,000 members and 6,000 churches...

 and a Protestant church responding to the changing religious needs of the surrounding population over its 280 year long history. Upon a wall on the south side there is still to be seen the large sundial carved with the inscription "Umbra sumus" a quote taken from Horace

Horace

Quintus Horatius Flaccus , known in the English-speaking world as Horace, was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus.-Life:...

's odes meaning "We are shadows".

Fournier Street also has the church of Christ Church Spitalfields

Christ Church Spitalfields

Christ Church, Spitalfields is an Anglican church built between 1714 and 1729 to a design by Nicholas Hawksmoor. Situated on Commercial Street, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, on the eastern border and facing the City of London, it was one of the first of the so-called "Commissioners'...

 at its western end, designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor

Nicholas Hawksmoor

Nicholas Hawksmoor was a British architect born in Nottinghamshire, probably in East Drayton.-Life:Hawksmoor was born in Nottinghamshire in 1661, into a yeoman farming family, almost certainly in East Drayton, Nottinghamshire. On his death he was to leave property at nearby Ragnall, Dunham and a...

, a former assistant of Christopher Wren

Christopher Wren

Sir Christopher Wren FRS is one of the most highly acclaimed English architects in history.He used to be accorded responsibility for rebuilding 51 churches in the City of London after the Great Fire in 1666, including his masterpiece, St. Paul's Cathedral, on Ludgate Hill, completed in 1710...

, and built between 1714 and 1729. This Grade 1 listed building is widely considered to be the highest expression of English Baroque

English Baroque

English Baroque is a term sometimes used to refer to the developments in English architecture that were parallel to the evolution of Baroque architecture in continental Europe between the Great Fire of London and the Treaty of Utrecht ....

 architecture.

On the opposite western corner of Fournier Street is the Ten Bells

Ten Bells (public house)

The Ten Bells is a Victorian public house at the corner of Commercial Street and Fournier Street in Spitalfields in the East End of London. It is notable for its association with two victims of Jack the Ripper; Annie Chapman and Mary Kelly....

 public house. The Ten Bells is notorious for its connection with Jack the Ripper

Jack the Ripper

"Jack the Ripper" is the best-known name given to an unidentified serial killer who was active in the largely impoverished areas in and around the Whitechapel district of London in 1888. The name originated in a letter, written by someone claiming to be the murderer, that was disseminated in the...

. It is here that the two of the Ripper victims were seen close to the times of their untimely deaths. Indeed all five victims lived in proximity to the pub.

External links

• The Survey Of London - Fournier Street
• Number 11 & Eleven & A Half Fournier Street
• Fournier Street Elevations
• A Current Image of Fournier Street
• An Old Image of Fournier Street
• At Home With Gilbert & George & The Singing Lobster Video
• What The Footman Saw...Essay From The Independent
• Tracey Emin - The Howard Hughes Of Fournier Street
• 14 Fournier Street
• The Friends of Christ Church Spitalfields
• Brief article about Fournier Street
• Tower Hamlets Summer University Based at No. 24-26 Fournier Street (see the Tower Hamlets Summer University
  Tower Hamlets Summer University
  Tower Hamlets Summer University is a British charity in the Tower Hamlets area of London which offers independent learning programs for people from 11 to 25 years of age...
  
  article)
• The Way We See It - Images of Fournier Street