
Photo: James Perry, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Wilton's Music Hall is the oldest Grand Music Hall in the world. Built in 1858 it has had a long and colourful history. Wilton's has been the haunt of Victorian sailors (and their ladies), become a Mission, survived two world wars, being a rag warehouse, being forgotten, becoming derelict and has ended up as a theatre once more. It is now a performance space offering entertainment of as wide a variety as puppetry to poetry and has launched a capital appeal to save it from crumbling.
Wilton's Music Hall is a Grade II* listed building, built as a music hall and now run as a multi-arts performance space in Graces Alley, off Cable Street in the Shadwell area of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is one of very few surviving music halls of the East End of London and retains many original features.
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A small museum is set in a Victorian house near the infamous Battle of Cable Street. There are 5 floors including the basement, each dedicated to several aspects of famous murders starting with a recreation of Mitre Square on the first floor, Jack the Ripper's sitting room on the second floor, the police station on the third, a victim's bedroom on the fourth and the mortuary in the basement. There is also a walking tour. Book tickets online to save money, there is also a Halloween special deal.
Whitechapel has been a champion of Modern Art since 1901, and has held exhibitions of greats such as Picasso, Pollock and Frida Kahlo and supported British Artists such as Gilbert & George and Lucian Freud. The space continues to hold regular new exhibitions with additional linked events on Thursday evenings. There is a cafe and a small art bookshop. Free entry. There are excellent facilities for disabled people (visual, hearing and physical).
If you feel adventurous then spend a sunny Sunday afternoon walking the north bank of the River Thames to Tower Bridge in the City of London.
The restoration of the nave was completed in September 2004, and this church is still a striking building designed by Sir Nicholas Hawksmoor with a particularly tall, pointed spire. Hawksmoor's design was significantly altered in the 19th century, and present continuing restoration is intended to restore it to Hawksmoor's original vision. Christ Church was built as part of the 50 Churches for London project.
A tour of the constantly changing street art around this part of the East End. Saturday times may vary.
Built as a townhouse belonging to a wealthy Huguenot merchant family in the 18th century, the late artist Dennis Severs has returned its interior to how it might have looked in those early days. But this is no mere museum; there are no exhibits or glass cases. Instead, Dennis Severs' House offers a completely immersive journey into the past with each room appearing, feeling and smelling as if its occupant had just left. A must for history lovers.