Huguenot Footsteps: Spitalfields

Event information

Many of the Huguenots (French Protestants) who left France after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685 were weavers - over the years 25,000 settled in Spitalfields. They brought their skills (known as “the Mysteries of the Strangers”), new techniques, new ideas and the incomparable French style. The master weavers lived in large, elegant houses whilst the journeymen weavers lived in small houses north of Spitalfields and Bethnal Green. You will hear about the silk industry, famous pattern designers, fashions, the weaving process and much more. Notably we will pass Anna Maria Garthwaite’s house and the hear the compelling story of this remarkable woman who died over 250 years ago.