St Margaret’s House: Our Long History in a Short Timeline

St Margaret’s House was founded in 1889, as the Bethnal Green Ladies Committee. The idea started in 1888 when Miss Elizabeth Anson (after whom our Anson Room is named) distributed a leaflet at Oxford University asking for support for a ladies' mission. At first, St Margaret’s House was based in a large house with 15 rooms in a square built around the Museum Green, moving to its current home, 21 Old Ford Road, in 1903. Since it was built in 1753, 21 Old Ford Road had been used for many different purposes to benefit the community in the local area.

St Margaret’s House was created as part of the Settlement Movement which began in the early 1880s in response to industrialisation and the urban poverty and associated social issues it provoked. The movement’s goal was to bring the rich and poor of society together in physical proximity and social interconnectedness. ‘Settlement Houses’ were established, where volunteer middle-class ‘settlement workers’ would live in return for offering social services to the urban poor whilst simultaneously campaigning for social justice and equality. Settlement houses provided services such as daycare, English classes and healthcare to improve the lives of the local poor. Other settlement houses in East London include: Toynbee Hall, Oxford House and St Hilda’s East.

Pioneering work at St Margaret’s House included the Children's Country Holiday Fund, the Metropolitan Association for Befriending Young Servants, district and hospital visits, a needlework scheme to employ very poor women through the winter months, work helping the clergy from nearby parishes with Sunday School teaching and visiting workhouses, as well as nursing the sick, organising sick and relief funds, work for mothers and children and running clubs for girls.

1753

21 Old Ford Road was built by Anthony Natt, whose family constructed and owned a number of properties in Bethnal Green.
1815

21 Old Ford Road became home to an all-girls school run by ‘The London Society For Promoting Christianity Among the Jews’.
1840

The school was taken over by a reforming group, The Guardian Society Temporary Asylum, who opened their doors as a retreat for ‘fallen women’.
1889

St Margaret’s House was founded as a sister settlement to Oxford House and was the home of the Bethnal Green Ladies Committee.
1901

£3,600 was found by the trustees of St Margaret’s House to buy the Georgian town house, 21 Old Ford Road. They moved in on 3 February 1903 and the new house was officially opened by Princess Henry of Battenburg on 5 May. The trustees later added the Chapel.
1921

St Margaret’s House charged £2 for the training and lodging of female students.
1935

Queen Mary and the Empress of India visited St Margaret’s House, meeting members of the local community in the garden and interacting with the children from the play centre.
1940s

During World War II, five houses in Bethnal Green were destroyed by bombing. St Margaret’s House survived despite many broken windows and several near misses. An incendiary bomb fell on the Chapel roof but fortunately failed to ignite.
1960s

Throughout the 1960s and into the 70s, St Margaret’s House was home to a number of organisations. ARC, a retirement day centre functioned from the Mulberry Hall and the Children’s Country Holiday Fund took residency.
1989

St Margaret’s House celebrated its 100 year anniversary. A street party was held for all the residents of the Settlement.
1995

The first community shops opened at 23, 27 and 29 Old Ford Road: arts and crafts shops run by charities that used office space on the settlement. In 2006, the first Somali community shop in England was opened at 27 Old Ford Road.
1997

The Gallery Cafe opened. The cafe hosted continuous art exhibitions from local creatives for everyone who entered to see.
2001

St Margaret’s House bought buildings 15 and 17 Old Ford Road, expanding the settlement and offering more office space to local community organisations.
2007

The Bangladeshi Parents and Carers Association took residency in the Mulberry Hall. They still use this space to this day and in 2024 won an award for the best Day Centre Experience.
2011

The Create Place opened at 29 Old Ford Road: a bustling arts hub for community projects. In 2012, the Yoganest opened - now known as The Canvas - at 27 Old Ford Road: our wellbeing studio.
2023

In April 2023, St Margaret’s House gained Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation status. We continue to be an arts and wellbeing hub for the Tower Hamlets community.