Vyner Street is a

cobblestone Cobblestone is a natural building material based on Cobble (geology), cobble-sized stones, and is used for Road surface, pavement roads, streets, and buildings. Sett (paving), Setts, also called ''Belgian blocks'', are often referred to as " ...

canal-side walkway in

Bethnal Green Bethnal Green is an area in London, England, and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in east London and part of the East End of London, East End. The area emerged from the small settlement which developed around the common la ...

in the East End of

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It was once called John Street in the 1830s. The street is known for its street art and for its galleries.

History

The warehouse buildings rose from the

Regents Canal Regent's Canal is a canal across an area just north of central London, England. It provides a link from the Paddington Arm of the Grand Union Canal, north-west of Paddington Basin in the west, to the Limehouse Basin and the River Thames in eas ...

without a towpath to interrupt development, giving direct access to the canal. On Wadeson Street, a row of Victorian workshops were built in what was a historically

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

area. This became very overcrowded with 572 inhabitants living in 125 houses by the 1930s. The stretch was then redeveloped with warehouses and factories by 1937. Vyner Street had been transformed into a hub of the

East London East London is the part of London, England, east of the ancient City of London and north of the River Thames as it begins to widen. East London developed as London Docklands, London's docklands and the primary industrial centre. The expansion of ...

art scene by 2005. The Wilkinson Gallery opened on Cambridge Heath Road in 1998 and moved into Vyner Street in 2007. The gallery became known as one of the first in London to have exhibitions by major female artists such as

Joan Jonas Joan Jonas (born July 13, 1936) is an American visual artist and a pioneer of video and performance art, "a central figure in the performance art movement of the late 1960s".Dara Birnbaum Dara Nan Birnbaum (October 29, 1946 – May 2, 2025) was an American video and installation artist based in New York City. Birnbaum entered the nascent field of video art in the mid-to-late 1970s, challenging the gendered biases of the period ...

, and Laurie Simmons. From 2005 to 2008 the EEL promoted and organised the Vyner Street Festival with the Victory Pub. This was a two-day family festival featuring local bands, artists and market traders with a different theme each year, with the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

Red Arrows The Red Arrows, officially known as the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, is the aerobatics display team of the Royal Air Force (RAF) based at RAF Waddington. The team was formed in late 1964 as an all-Royal Air Force team, replacing several un ...

performing an impromptu flyover in 2008. By 2012, many local residents and workers had moved out due to the effects of the

Great Recession The Great Recession was a period of market decline in economies around the world that occurred from late 2007 to mid-2009.

and the impact of the

2012 Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. A documentary film titled ''Vyner Street'' was released in the same year as a short observational piece chronicling the two different worlds living side by side in the same street. By 2017, Amanda and Anthony Wilkinson said they were dissolving their partnership for personal reasons and thus closing Wilkinson Gallery. Nevertheless, commercial galleries were starting to make a return, with the Stuart Shave Modern Art reopening in October 2017 and the Tungsten Gallery opening in January 2018. Fourthspace are working on a new studio and apartment building on Vyner Street for artists

Michael Landy Michael Landy (born 1963) is one of the Young British Artists (YBAs). He is best known for the performance piece installation '' Break Down'' (2001), in which he destroyed all his possessions, and for the ''Art Bin'' project (2010) at the ...

and

Gillian Wearing Gillian Wearing CBE, RA (born 10 December 1963) is an English conceptual artist, one of the Young British Artists, and winner of the 1997 Turner Prize. In 2007 Wearing was elected as lifetime member of the Royal Academy of Arts in London. H ...

. Finnish designer Heikki Salonen announced a new menswear label called Vyner Street in the same year.

Geography

Vyner Street is part of the wider Regents Canal Conservation Area, established in 2008. To the south of Vyner Street is Wadeson Street, which contains a row of three-storey Victorian workshops mostly converted to residential use. Both types contribute to the character of the area.

Transport

London Buses London Buses is the subsidiary of Transport for London (TfL) that manages most bus services in London, England. It was formed following the Greater London Authority Act 1999 that transferred control of London Regional Transport (LRT) bus s ...

routes operate on or in Vyner Street but some do call on nearby Cambridge Heath Road and Mare Street. These include the 26, 48, 55,

106 106 may refer to: * 106 (number), the number * AD 106, a year in the 2nd century AD * 106 BC, a year in the 2nd century BC * 106 (emergency telephone number), an Australian emergency number * 106 (MBTA bus), a route of the Massachusetts Bay Transpor ...

254 Year 254 ( CCLIV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Valerianus and Gallienus (or, less frequently, year 1007 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 254 for th ...

388 Year 388 ( CCCLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Augustus without colleague (or, less frequently, year 1141 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 3 ...

, D6 and night buses

N26 N26 Bank SE, doing business as N26, and formerly named Papayer GmbH, and Number26 GmbH'','' is a multinational German fintech and neobank company based in Berlin that offers a variety of financial services to individuals and businesses. N26 was ...

, N55 and N253. The D6 terminates near Ash Grove since 2014.

References

{{LB Tower Hamlets Streets in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets Bethnal Green Geography of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets Tourist attractions in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets Art gallery districts Arts in London Tourist attractions in London