Museum of Immigration and Diversity

The Museum of Immigration and Diversity occupies a Grade II* listed house at 19 Princelet Street in Spitalfields, east London. Built in 1719 for Huguenot silk merchant Peter Abraham Ogier, the building later became a synagogue in 1869. After serving its congregation for decades, the building fell into disuse as the community moved away in the 1970s. A charity called The Spitalfields Centre took over in 1983 to preserve the structure and create a museum. Because of its delicate condition, visits are now limited to prebooked groups only. The museum explores the waves of immigration that shaped Spitalfields. It focuses on the Huguenots who fled France in the 17th century and the Jewish community that worshipped here from 1869. English Heritage has provided £30,000 for urgent repairs, and the building remains on the Buildings at Risk Register. The Spitalfields Centre continues to campaign for wider public access in future. Inside, visitors find the original rooms preserved with historic fixtures and fittings. The synagogue space on the ground floor still shows its religious layout and furnishings. Upstairs, smaller chambers display documents and photographs from past residents. The building’s fragile state means tours are guided and limited in size. Despite this, the site remains a quiet witness to centuries of migration and cultural change.