As its name suggests, Brick Lane gets its name from the local manufacture of bricks. By the early 18th Century it was a long well-paved street frequented by carts fetching bricks into Whitechapel from brick kilns. The other industry in the area was beer, which was brewed in the Truman Black Eagle Brewery, founded in 1669. The brewery building still remains today, now converted to designers/artists' studios, workshops and bars. Brick Lane Market developed in the 18th century when farmers sold livestock and produce outside the City boundary.

Today, Brick Lane is now the centre of London's Bangladeshi community and best known for a whole line of fantastic Bengali restaurants. Of interest is the London Jamme Masjid, a mosque on the corner of Fournier Street and Brick Lane. It was built in 1744 as a Huguenot church, purchased by Wesleyans, sold to a Jewish immigrant society in 1897, after which it became a synagogue.

The market is open on Sundays only, from early morning until about 14.00 – allow plenty of time to see it all as the market stretches into Cheshire Street and Sclater Street. Expect to find anything from furniture to fruits, kitchenware to kitsch and odd boots to bangles.

To get there, take the District (green) line to Aldgate East, turn left out of the station and left again into Brick Lane. Or alternatively, it is less than a 10 minute walk from Liverpool Street tube or train station.