Most of the flats were 2 rooms. It would appear 4 of the blocks had one flat on each of its 4 floors with 3 rooms, making 16, 3 rooms flats in total. Just think of this and think of up to a dozen people living together in just those 2 rooms. I have heard they had 2 communal toilets on each landing and separate a washing room, which had 3 basins in it for washing. There was also a copper in the washroom which was heated by a wood fire to make hot water for washing clothes. I also have been told that the flats had a cast iron range in them which was the centre of activity. The living/dining room/kitchen was also sometimes a bedroom. It also contained a coal cupboard for the range. A room may well be divided by a curtain or a blanket to provide a little privacy between the different beds, mainly so the head of the house and his wife could get on with the business of creating more children to ultimately support the family.

Typical layout of property in the area c 1960 supplied by Michael Tyrrell. This is actually from Dunstans Buildings in Cable Street

I have been offered the layout above as typical of the flats. I have heard from Shirley Etchells that their Kitchen and living room (in 1960) contained a gas cooker, a small larder with a roll down door, a Formica table, with fold away flaps. a small 3-piece suite, a tv and a coffee table. It had a fitted carpet. I guess it must have been quite a tight fit! In her mother’s flat in 1944 there was a cast iron range which her mother kept black leaded. These had all been taken out by the time Shirley got married. The toilets were outside and at night you had to be careful of dossers sleeping in them. Each of the two toilets was used by two families and they were kept locked because of the dosser problem I’ve already mentioned.

I am pretty sure they were like this from when they were built. I know the flats had staircase access as opposed to balcony access. I have also heard that they were yellow brick buildings with a white glazed wall at one end. I am not sure why this would be so, other than an architectural feature. If they are the same as the nearby Great Eastern Buildings (which I think they were) then they “consist of long blocks, two rooms deep and four storeys high, (placed at a right angle to Quaker Street) with the fronts facing each other across an open-ended court. Each block is divided into three sections, with four tenements on each floor, and all the storeys were originally similar in arrangement. Every group of four tenements was allotted two water-closets and one scullery, leading off the staircase landing.
“The elevations are of yellow stocks with bands of red brick just above the sills of the windows, which have segmental arches of red brick. Giant pilasters, also of red brick, are placed at each end of the front and flank the tall openings that light and ventilate the three staircases.” (From: ‘The estate of Sir Charles Wheler and the Wilkes family’, Survey of London: volume 27: Spitalfields and Mile End New Town Great Eastern Buildings (1957), pp. 108-115. for full text click here).

I have a block plan from Derek Gray that might be of interest:

I have heard that in 1917 they were Council flats. However from my research I think this to be extremely unlikely. It is not thought at any time they were owned by the Council. I would love any more information on the owners of the buildings, who were the landlords, what the rent was etc. All this will add to the picture if people can offer any help?

When they were built they would have been very light and airy. They were a great place to live and this style of model housing was known as “philanthropic housing”. Much was built in the late Victorian era as a slum clearance plan. However not everyone was happy to go into them. They had gated access and the gates were locked at night. This was to reduce the time people had to go drinking and so reduce drunkenness. In Arthur Morrison’s book “Child of the Jago” written at the time, he gives mention to the new buildings and says some people preferred to live in the old slums rather than go into the new housing. People liked the security of the slum; the ability to hide if chased by the police and the fact that the police wouldn’t go in anyway! The new buildings were very different.