Brick Lane Masjid

Brick Lane Mosque stands in the East End of London, on the corner of Fournier Street in the Borough of Tower Hamlets. The building began as a Protestant chapel for Huguenot refugees in 1743. It later became a Wesleyan chapel, then a Methodist chapel, before serving as a synagogue from 1891. The structure reflects the waves of immigration that shaped Spitalfields. Two adjacent buildings are Grade II and Grade II* listed. The mosque now serves the British Bangladeshi community. The mosque is worth visiting for its layered history and cultural significance. It was once led by Abraham Isaac Kook, who became the first Ashkenazi chief rabbi of British Mandatory Palestine. The building accommodated 140 000 Jewish refugees who fled pogroms in Russia and Central Europe. Today it holds up to 3 200 worshippers and delivers sermons in English, Arabic and Bengali. It follows Sunni traditions and maintains close links with the Bangladesh Welfare Association. Visitors find a place of worship that still carries traces of its past. The former synagogue’s interior retains some of its original features. The top floors host Arabic and mother-tongue classes for children. The mosque stands among textile factories and markets that once employed the area’s immigrant workers. Its location in Brick Lane places it at the heart of London’s curry trade and creative scene.