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St George's Estate


The past: Wellclose and Prince's Squares
The architectural writer Ian Nairn said in 1966 of all the things done to London in this century, the soft-spoken this-is-good-for-you castration of the East End is the saddest.  He was referring to the demolition of historic housing in the name of slum clearance and social progress, on which opinion remains divided. Some of the 18th century housing in Spitalfields was saved, and has contributed to the regeneration (and gentrification) of that area; at the same time, the remaining Georgian houses of Wellclose and Prince's Squares were totally obliterated to make way for a new council estate. Why was this, and was it a mistake?

There were attempts to preserve some of the historic buildings in these squares that had survived the Blitz, and the environment in which they were set. The borough architect surveyed them, and recommended that some of them were not beyond restoration and could be re-used, and several were rehabilitated - for instance, 33-35 Prince's Square, in 1945. The London County Council's 1949 Survey of London produced measured drawings of some of the houses in the squares, but this was never published, and their attention turned to bomb-damaged housing in the West End. The tide was turning, and dangerous structures notices were served. In 1959 a memo from the the LCC valuer stated that, although a number of buildings were Grade II listed, the area was a slum. The squares were earmarked for total demolition, and 76 families were rehoused on compulsory puchase orders (at a cost of £93,000). There was an air of resignation, and the death blow came in 1961, when a public enquiry was held and the Minister rejected all objections, deeming the area past preserving. No doubt Fr Joe Williamson's high-profile campaigns, linking vice and poor housing in his parish, was a factor, for good or ill.

Spitalfields was a bit more affluent, and less vice-ridden, and public momentum got going in time to preserve some of its heritage. It's interesting to speculate how life in this area might be different had our two squares been preserved. Prince's Square has gone for good, but there are still sufficient vestiges of the layout of Wellclose Square (now a conservation area, including Wilton's Music Hall) for local groups to press for imaginative developments, particularly along its south side, untouched by the estate, that would recover something of what has been lost.                                                      

The present: New Brutalism

When the site to the west of the church was cleared, a new estate was built by the London County Council between 1963 and 1970. It has been described as a tough example of the council's post-war 'mixed development' . This refers, not to present-day notions of mixed types of ownership (council-rented / 'affordable' / commercial - this came later), but a pattern, partly inspired by government policies, of providing social housing with a mix of low, medium and high rise accommodation, rather than the uniform deck access blocks of previous generations. 'Mixed development' was a product of the 1950s but by the late 1960s was going out of favour. See further Judith Lever Home Sweet Home (Greater London Council 1976).

At the St George's estate, this was done in a confident brutalist composition, using contrasting textures of dark brick, pebbly-faced concrete and white boarding. It was one of the first London estates to include garaging, below raised terraces fronting a small park leading down to The Highway.
Shearsmith House is named for Elizabeth Reynolds, a domestic servant and then second wife of Richard Shearsmith, a peruke [wig] maker in whose house at Coldbath Fields, Clerkenwell Emanuel Swedenborg died. Johann Brockmer was a Moravian at whose house in Salisbury Court near their Fetter Lane chapel Swedenborg had also stayed. Hatton House is presumably named for Swedenborg's New Church or 'temple' in Cross Street, Hatton Garden. Richard Hindmarsh, organiser of this church, gave his name to Hindmarsh Close; Solander Gardens is named for the Swedish botanist Daniel Solander.

The future: infill development
In recent years EastendHomes have taken over the management of the estate. Before Stock Transfer, they gave residents an undertaking that they could fund essential repair and refurbishment work, and that 'cross-subsidy' - money raised from any new homes built on estates - would only be needed to pay for general environmental improvements such as lighting and landscaping.

However, the current cross-subsidy scheme, approved in principle by Tower Hamlets Council in 2008, is in fact designed to fund the ongoing internal refurbishment programme, as well as external renovation of the whole site. The free-standing stairwells between the Noble Court and Brockmer House blocks have been demolished, and at nine points around the site 193 additional dwellings (54 social rented and 139 market units) are being created by Telford Homes, in nine towers up to nine storeys high (including one fronting The Highway), plus 4 townhouses and a community centre.

The advantage - apart from financing restoration in a tight economic climate - is that it will serve to widen the social mix of the estate. The disadvantage is that the estate is already densely-populated, and a 40% increase in the number of housing units will put severe pressure on local infrastructures. Although consultations have taken place, some residents feel that they have little voice in the detail of the process, and that promises are being broken. Further details of the planning application can be seen here, and the St George's Estate Residents Portal provides updates on the work.

Here are some photomontages of what it might look like when all is done and dusted - from Cable Street looking west (Crown & Dolphin on the left) and east; from the corner of The Highway and Cannon Street Road (a new 9-storey block), from the north-western corner of the estate and internal routes.






In 2012 work on constructing the new towers was completed and internal work began. The open space opposite the main church entrance, pictured right, has been turned into the works yard. It was in fact accessible neither from Brockmer House nor from the road. Although it falls just outside the Conservation Area, the 2009 report had hoped that it could become a public open space, linked to traffic calming measures in Cannon Street Road - we wait to see....

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