Great Eastern Street and The Griffin, Shoreditch

Rear of Great Eastern Street buildings

5 Ravey Street

The Griffin

On behalf of Seven Capital, The Historic Environment Consultancy carried out an extensive analysis of the historic buildings and archaeology in advance of the construction of a hotel located between Great Eastern Street, Ravey Street and Leonard Street in the South Shoreditch conservation area of London.

The site was occupied by 61 & 63 Great Eastern Street - a pair of late Victorian warehouses / factories in a dangerously unstable condition, 5 Ravey Street - a small 19th century three-storey building, and The Griffin, a Grade II listed late Victorian public house situated on the corner of Leonard Street and Ravey Street.

There were also two open areas of land, one on Leonard Street, to the rear of the buildings, was used as a car park, whilst the other, on the corner of Ravey Street and Great Eastern Street, was occupied by the initial phases of construction of an abandoned development.

Car park

The corner plot

As part of the development, The Griffin has been extensively repaired and the historic facade has been restored. The upper floors are being converted into apartments, whereas the ground floor will remain a licensed premises.

The Griffin following external restoration

No. 5 Ravey Street, situated to the north of The Griffin, was demolished, as were the unsafe rear parts of the Great Eastern Street buildings. The facades of the Great Eastern Street buildings were retained, to be incorporated into the new hotel.

View into 61 Great Eastern Street

Rear of facade following demolition work

The Historic Environment Consultancy arranged archaeological fieldwork in the open areas of the site prior to the construction of the hotel building. This comprised several phases of work taking place between 2013 and 2015. The fieldwork was largely carried out by John Moore Heritage Services, and the desk-based assessment was carried out by Archaeological Solutions.