21/02/2024
Some great pictures of the hustle and bustle in and around the Old Petticoat Lane market.
Petticoat lane is synonymous with the street market that takes place in the area every Sunday. It was known as Petticoat Lane as far back as 1608, probably named for the old clothes tat were sold there, before changing its name to Middlesex Street in the early years of the 19th Century.
The market was first known as Hogs Lane in the Tudor Times, which spans around the years 1485-1608. This is due to its initial rural sale of goods such as pigs and other livestock. As the years went by, this rural nature changed as cottages surfaced by the city walls in the 1590s.
It wasn’t until the early 1600s where the ‘Petticoat Lane’ name was coined, named after the street it was on. By this time, the area became a commercial district where second-hand clothes and bric-à-brac (miscellaneous objects and ornaments of little value) goods were sold and exchanged.
One theory is that the name of the market comes from a tale that referred to petticoats as a lady’s undergarments. It was claimed that “they would steal your petticoat at one end of the market and sell it back to you at the other,” reflecting the bustling nature of the market.
The market’s name officially changed to Middlesex Street in the 1830s as the Victorians were displeased with the reference the term ‘petticoat’ had to undergarments. At the time, Christianity was very prevalent within social and political life. As a result, the term was perceived to be too racy and required change.
It was not officially recognised as a market until an Act of Parliament in 1936 – only five centuries later, no big deal.
After this period, the market’s ventures turned back to good fortune. At the beginning of the 1970s, the new wave of immigration from India and East Asia helped the market continue to prosper and grow into the shopping hub and attraction it is today.
Petticoat Lane Market continues to attract many visitors today. Having become one of the East End’s historical treasures, it attracts tourists from all over the world.
You can see the market areas on our Jack the Ripper tour that takes place every night at 7.30pm - www.theJacktherippertour.com
