For more than 300 years, spitalfields has survived myriad changes in london's east end. But as urban renewal changes the dynamic of this area, so to will it alter this historic institution.

Through centuries of British history, persecuted refugees and racial outcasts found a haven in London's East End. In the 18th century, it was Huguenot silk weavers driven out of France; in the 19th century, it was Jews fleeing pogroms in eastern Europe; in the 20th century, it was Bangladeshi immigrants. Check out the mosque in Brick Lane: Originally a Huguenot church, it became a synagogue in the 19th century, then was converted to a mosque for Bangladeshi Muslims in the mid–20th century. Each group brought their own flavor to the neighborhood; each, in turn, moved out of these crowded, unfashionable streets as soon as they could.

A focal point since the 17th century was the Spitalfields meat and produce market, held at first in an open field, which was replaced by a handsome covered market building in 1875. By then, however, the old merchant dwellings surrounding the market had been sliced up into crowded, dilapi-dated slums, huddled around narrow lanes and alleys. This was the grimy side of Dickensian London, where criminals like Fagin and Bill Sykes dealt in thievery and prostitution—the haunt of Jack the Ripper in 1888 (he's said to have met some of his victims at the Ten Bells pub on Commercial St.).

In the 1960s, well-meaning preservationists focused on saving those old merchant terraces from the wrecking ball. Of course, as one after another of those Georgian relics were refurbished, squatters were evacuated and house prices skyrocketed. And trendy rehabs haven't been the only face of urban renewal around Spitalfields—large modern office blocks have sprouted on the western edge, spilling over from the City of London. The produce market was moved out to Leyton in 1991. Although landmark status saved the remaining third of the old Spitalfields Market building from demolition, it was soon converted to an upscale retail mall for crafts, antiques, and organic and gourmet foods. Other street markets in the area include the Brick Lane Market (fruit and vegetables, clothes, and household goods); the Sunday-only Petticoat Lane Market (bargain-priced clothing and leather goods), and Columbia Road Market (potted plants and garden items), but their customer base is dwindling.

It's not as if anybody wanted to revive the Victorian squalor of the district, but to some, the smartness of the "new" Spitalfields seems a betrayal of the East End's colorful past. Case in point: the baroque Nicholas Hawksmoor gem, Christ Church Spitalfields, which has been turned into a posh concert venue on Fournier Street between Brick Lane and Commercial Street. Yes, the buildings have been preserved—but if the vitality of the East End lives on anywhere, it's in the string of curry restaurants along Brick Lane.

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