The Albert Square matriarch, Peggy Mitchell, once told her former husband’s brother (with whom she was romantically involved) “I’m old East End. Proper. You don’t mess with me”. Seemingly, what she meant by being “old East End” was that she was to be feared, rather than approached by in-laws for sexual encounters.
This toughness is typical of the East End, an area which has a history like maybe no other region in London. In this column I intend to look at the relationship between the East End of old and new, looking at the changes and the stalwarts in landscape, residents and culture, focussing on one street or district in each article.
Vol. 4: Hoxton – Creativity and Community
Hoxton
Just north of the square mile lies Hoxton, a district almost unidentifiable from its brother Shoreditch and a cultural jewel in the east end crown. Hoxton is, and seemingly always has been, a melting pot of activity, life and vibrancy.
Hoxton Square, for instance, is anything but square. Since the turn of the century it has been a particularly popular food and drink spot, with The Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen being a principal venue, and it was, until very recently, also a chieftain of the arts in the East End, being home to the White Cube Gallery (the Hoxton site closed in 2012). In years gone by, the square – one of London’s oldest – was home to industrial units and factories, acting as a centre for workers and as a stark representation of London’s past.
Hoxton as a whole is symbolic of the East End of old and new, being both a centre of considerable creative pertinence and a true hub of community. It holds true East End values, then, and its past as a somewhat no-go area, combined with its present as a mainly unaffordable area reflect the East End’s villainous history and gentrified current life fittingly.
From playing a part in Guy Fawkes’s gunpowder plot to being a district full of almshouses and madhouses, from being an industrial rough house to being a hipster power house, Hoxton has a compelling story and its old and new ways are intriguing and truly absorbing. Hoxton is and always has been the East End zeitgeist’s home and is a genuinely fascinating district of this part of London.
Creativity
Hoxton is the centre of the 21st century East End renaissance. Having had the White Cube gallery through the years 2000-2012 and displayed pieces from the modern British art elite (Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin) as well as having been at the centre of the regeneration of the area – which bought with it both the dazzling and disquieting aspects of such projects – it has been a haven for hipsters since the turn of the century.
Its past, however, also has various creative aspects, be they obvious or subtle. Indeed, Hoxton’s Gainsborough Studios (active through the years 1924 – 1951) had seen the likes of Alfred Hitchcock and Ivor Novello work within their chambers. It was also home to the famous Britannia Theatre, a popular theatre and music hall venue and the Hoxton Hall, which is now a community centre, but was also a music hall in its older incarnation.
Herein we see why one can look no further than Hoxton as a reflection of the East End. What, I ask, could be more East End than a place which has had Alfred Hitchcock conduct his cinema in it and was home to a music hall referenced by Chas ‘n’ Dave? (The Britannia is mentioned in their song ‘Harry was a Champion’).
Other creative aspects appear throughout the ‘istory of ‘oxton, but perhaps the most artful appeared in 1605. According to legend a letter arrived on 26th October at the lap of William Parker, Lord Monteagle, a Hoxton resident, advising him not to attend parliament of November 5th as there would be a “terrible blow” at the houses on that date. Indeed, Guy Fawkes’s plan was a wonderfully creative plan to smash the bastards to smithereens, but given that this letter is believed by some to have been a creation of Parker himself, it gives Hoxton a fine standing in one of British history’s most captivating events and alluring narratives.
Hoxton is and always has been at the core of creativity in the East End and most definitely has one of its most remarkable stories, one that even Charles Dickens himself could not have come up with.
Community
If creativity is integral to Hoxton’s metaphoric mind, then its heart must be community. Traditionally it has always been a working class ward of London, full of the characters and life that such districts have, and nowhere is the sense of community more held than in the East End of London with its Pearly Kings and Queens, pubs and personalities.
Hoxton was hit badly by the Blitz and the spirit and solidarity of the people of the East End was alive and kicking in the district during that most troubling of times. Equally so, its industrial past in the imperial age as well as its council estates of the last 50 or so years have maintained its sense of community with vigour. Hoxton, in that case, has always been a place full of those true East Enders that one reads about and romanticises.
In the modern day, Hoxton, as mentioned above, has become home to a new community: the 21st century art and media community. It has become a playground for artists, writers, musicians, fashionistas and hipsters of all kinds and this new community, juxtaposed with its traditional, tough residents give Hoxton a poly-dimensional quality in terms of its inhabitants. Hoxton today is a mixture of nationalities and rationalities, a blend of classicists and narcissists and is a truly modern confection whose roots keep its feet on the ground (or at least try to).
The communities of Hoxton are maybe a by-product of its creativity, or maybe it is the other way round. Social class, race, creed, gender and orientation are inconsequential in Hoxton, for if you are not different to everybody else around you then you are not in Hoxton.
An Aristotelian Aphorism
Aristotle once said that “the most perfect political community is one in which the middle class is in control and outnumbers both of the others”. In Hoxton we can see that now it is probably a truism that Aristotle’s dream society exists here, however, for much of this ward’s existence it has been in control of the upper class and dominated by the working class.
We can say, then, that whilst the Greek philosopher’s ideal system is a debatable one, it is working nicely in Hoxton. That this means that the Kevs and Sharons now have to co-exist with the predominate Harrys and Olivias, all the while also having to deal with the odd Giles or Ruby I must say is no bad thing. There are equally various Hardips and Delroys and Woyzecks and Tariqs and one would hopefully never complain about this. Hoxton is the nucleus of the East End and thus must function unprovocatively – thankfully it is doing so.
