The Great London Mosque on Brick Lane.

Repro ID: H5979

Description: The Jamme Masjid or Great London Mosque on the corner of Brick Lane and Fournier Street. This building is a perfect illustration of the East End's role as the point of entry for immigrant groups. It was originally founded as a church for Hugenots - French protestants who fled to London to avoid persecution at home. The chapel was later used by Methodists. In the late 19th century, when Whitechapel became the centre of the Jewish East End, it became the Machzike Adass, also known as the Spitalfields Great Synagogue. With the dispersal of the Jewish community and a new influx of Bengali immigrants, it became the Jamme Masjid or Great London Mosque in 1976.

Creator: Andrew Holt

Credit line: National Maritime Museum