In the Old Nichol, some families lived, ate, slept and worked in the same room.
The district lay around the boundary of Bethnal Green and Shoreditch in London’s East End. Its streets and courts were densely packed, and by the late 19th century it had become known for severe overcrowding and poor housing.
Work was often carried out inside the home. Social reformer Clementina Black investigated home workers in the area and recorded matchbox making among the trades she found. Women and children could spend long hours making boxes for very little money.
Victorian accounts also gave the Old Nichol a reputation for crime and disorder. Some of those descriptions were exaggerated, but the poor condition of much of the housing and the level of poverty in the area were well recorded.
Charles Booth’s investigations into London poverty during the 1880s included this part of the East End. His work showed just how concentrated poverty had become in some London neighbourhoods.
The London County Council was created in 1889. The following year it proposed the Boundary Street improvement scheme, covering about six hectares and involving the displacement of 5,719 people.
A revised scheme was approved in 1893 and demolition began. Hundreds of houses were eventually cleared.
The Boundary Estate was built on the site. Red-brick blocks surrounded the raised garden at Arnold Circus, with wider streets running out from the centre. The redevelopment was completed by the end of 1900.
Former Old Nichol residents were not necessarily moved into the new buildings. The rents were too high for many of them, so they were forced to find cheaper rooms elsewhere in the East End. Some moved into areas where overcrowding was already common.
By 1900, the streets of the Old Nichol had largely disappeared under a completely different development. For the people who had lived there, however, demolition did not necessarily mean better housing.
Had you heard of the Old Nichol before?
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