East End Facts

FACTS

1.  It was rich in royal hunting grounds, palaces and small port settlements

2. In the 17^th century it became the home of many Huguenot refugees who fled from persecution in France.

3. Reputation for extreme poverty, gang rule, violence and crime. There were pockets of richer housing but most residents were struggling to get by.

4. murdering spree of Jack the Ripper, who terrorised the East End and who became probably the most notorious serial killer the country has ever known. 

5. It took until the end of the Second World War to completely eradicate the slum housing and improve living conditions.  Much of the area was destroyed by German bombing raids. The East End’s concentration of key manufacturing industries and its docks made this one of London’s biggest targets in the war.