“What has happened is unquestionably vandalism” – Dan Cruickshank
Last year, Dan Cruickshank made a survey of the historic fabric of the Old Truman Brewery to ensure that these elements would be preserved in any redevelopment of the site, which sits within the Fournier St and Brick Lane Conservation Area. The owners have responded by destroying a large area of old granite paviours and setts in the large yard east of Brick Lane that Dan identified as original, thus avoiding the possibility of any restriction upon their future development plans in this area.
The work was undertaken covertly on Thursday 28th and Friday 29th January when the yard was cordoned off by security guards while mechanical diggers removed the surface and the debris was hastily taken away on trucks.
When the Spitalfields Trust contacted Tower Hamlet Council on Thursday 28th to halt the destruction, the owners of the brewery justified their action as ‘repair.’ The enforcement officers accepted this explanation and took no action.
On Monday 1st February, when the Trust supplied photographic evidence, Planning Enforcement acknowledged that “the works appear to go beyond that which may be considered a repair.”
On Tuesday 2nd February, when the Trust formally requested the reinstatement of the historic paving, Planning Enforcement admitted that what had taken place was unlawful – “the extent of the work that has been carried out is such that there is a breach of planning control.” By this point the entire surface of the yard had gone.
The owners of the Old Truman Brewery are currently seeking planning permission to build an ugly shopping mall with four floors of corporate offices on top at the corner of Brick Lane and Woodseer St. The Spitalfields Trust are campaigning to halt this development and advocating the creation of a Planning Brief for the entire brewery site which takes into account both conservation and the needs of the local community, especially for housing.
Through their destructive action, the brewery owners have revealed themselves to be unscrupulous with no respect for history or the community. These pitiful events emphasise the importance of stopping their proposed development and the necessity of a Planning Brief for the entire brewery site that will curb their greedy profit-driven ambitions.
Please register your objection to the redevelopment if you have not yet done so. You will find instructions below.
Original granite paving dug up and removed
“The central square, now once again largely open, also retains some remarkable areas of paving… This combination of materials gives this area something of the beauty and mystery of an antique ruin, like parts of Pompeii, with the well judged and skilful laying of the setts reminiscent of a Roman tessellated pavement. The central area of the court also retains large areas of early and well laid setts, their form and location marking, to a degree, the location of lost brewery buildings. These historic and well-crafted surfaces possess great beauty.” Dan Cruickshank
Click here to read Dan Cruickshank’s Survey of the Truman Brewery
Workshop in the eastern yard of the brewery with granite setts
Joiner’s shop in the eastern yard of the brewery with granite setts
The former cooperage in the eastern yard with granite setts
The large pale grey areas in this aerial view are the granite paving that has ben removed
Will these granite surfaces marked with centuries of use by drays be dug up next?
These original granite setts from when this was once part of Wilkes St are at risk of destruction
Photographs by Dan Cruickshank
THE BLOCK ON BRICK LANE
The owners of the Old Truman Brewery want to build an ugly shopping mall with four floors of corporate offices on top at the corner of Woodseer St and Brick Lane.
- It will undermine the authentic cultural quality of Brick Lane.
- The generic architecture is too tall and too bulky, ruining the Brick Lane & Fournier St Conservation Area.
- It offers nothing to local residents whose needs are for genuinely affordable homes and workspaces.
- It is an approach that is irrelevant to a post-Covid world, with more people working from home and shopping locally or online.
- Where it meets the terraces of nineteenth century housing, the development is out of scale and causes up to 60% loss of light.
HOW TO OBJECT
Lodge an objection to the Old Truman Brewery development by writing a personal letter to Tower Hamlets Council as soon as possible.
Please write in your own words and head it OBJECTION.
Quote Planning Application PA/20/00415/A1
Anyone can object wherever they live. Members of one household can each write separately. You must include your postal address.
Send your objection by email to Patrick.Harmsworth@towerhamlets.gov.uk
Or by post to:
Planning Department,
Town Hall, Mulberry Place,
5 Clove Crescent,
London, E14 2BG