56 Artillery Lane | |
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General information | |
Location | Spitalfields |
Town or city | London, E1 |
Country | United Kingdom |
Coordinates | 51°31′05″N 0°04′37″W / 51.518149°N 0.076879°W |
Current tenants | Raven Row |
Renovated | 1756 |
Design and construction | |
Architect(s) | Sir Robert Taylor |
56 Artillery Lane is an 18th-century Grade I listed building in Spitalfields, London. [a] The building is situated in the Artillery Passage, and was merged with the now Grade II listed building 58 Artillery Lane after the Second World War; their combined shop front is one of the oldest in London, and the combined building is used by Raven Row as a free art exhibition centre. [1]
It is not known exactly when the first house at 56 Artillery Lane was built, although a house appears at the location on a map of 1677. The original name of the building was 3 Raven Row. During the early 18th century, deed documents show that the building was owned by a mercer named Mathew Hebart and later a weaver named Thomas Wilkes. [2] The building was rebuilt between 1750 and 1756, in order to accommodate Huguenot silk merchants Nicholas Jourdain and Francis Rybot who wanted to use the building as a silk shop; it is believed that Sir Robert Taylor was the architect. The 1756 building, including its shop front, still exists today, making it one of the oldest shop fronts in London. [2] [3] [4] [5] In the 19th and early 20th centuries, the building was used as a grocery shop. [6]: 6
After the Second World War, 56 and 58 Artillery Lane were merged into a single office building, and 56 Artillery Lane became a Grade I listed building in 1950. [7] [8] In 1972, the building was refurbished after a major fire. [7] In 2006, an excavation of 56 and 58 Artillery Lane took place, [6]: 13 and the buildings were later sold to Alex Sainsbury, heir to the Sainsbury's food chain, who converted them into the Raven Row free art exhibition space. [7] [3]