Whitechapel Road

Whitechapel Road is a major arterial road in Whitechapel, Tower Hamlets, in the East End of London. It is named after a small chapel of ease dedicated to St Mary and connects Whitechapel High Street to the west with Mile End Road to the east. The road is part of the historic Roman road from London to Colchester, now the A11.

The road had become built up by the 19th century and is now a main shopping district in the Whitechapel area. Along the road, there is an established market, Whitechapel station and the Royal London Hospital. It remains an important road and is marked with bus lanes, with limited parking.

Several ethnic minority communities have centred on Whitechapel Road. The road was a focal point of the Jewish Community from the 1850s to the 1930s, with many Jewish shops and market stalls. Towards the latter part of the 20th century, the street became an established settlement of the British Bangladeshi community, who now sell a range of authentic Asian food and clothes in the market and on shop fronts. Altab Ali Park sits on the site of the original church at the western end of Whitechapel Road, and is a memorial to an Asian worker who suffered a fatal racial attack in 1978.