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Tuesday 10am - 4:30pm Wednesday 10am - 4:30pm Thursday 10am - 7pm

Tower Hamlets Local History Library & Archives

Name: Tower Hamlets Local History Library & Archives
Address: 277 Bancroft Road, London, E14DQ, GB
Telephone: +442073641290
Price range: $

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Tower Hamlets Local History Library & Archives

Contact information, map and directions, contact form, opening hours, services, ratings, photos, videos and announcements from Tower Hamlets Local History Library & Archives, 277 Bancroft Road, London.

Tower Hamlets' Local History Library and Archives covers the area of the present-day London Borough of Tower Hamlets; the original East End of London which, until 1965, comprised of the Boroughs of Bethnal Green, Poplar and Stepney. If you are interested in a building in the borough, tracing your ancestors who lived here, doing a school or college project on some aspect of the borough or are just feeling nostalgic, we may well be able to help you.

02/09/2026

New Term Dates!

Join us for our monthly term-time Under 5s Stay & Play. Explore Local History collections, meet other Parents & Carer's and grab a cuppa
Our session provides toys and games for under 5s, snacks and refreshments - Drop in session Friday 4 September & 2 October, 10am-11:30am

Tower Hamlets Local History Library & Archive
277 Bancroft Road, Stepney, London E1 4DQ

25/08/2026

Join us to explore a lesser-known history of the Royal Menagerie at the Tower of London

As part of the Communities of Liberation events programme and Imagining Animals, a new commission by Historic Royal Palaces.

This event highlights the story of Edward Francis — an enslaved African in the household of Thomas Dymock, Keeper of the Lions, who attempted to liberate himself from enslavement in the 1690s and found himself on trial at the Old Bailey. His story sheds light on enslavement and resistance at the Tower of London, and the Royal Menagerie as a site of power and control.

Visit the Communities of Liberation exhibition at Tower Hamlets Local History Library and Archives on now until Saturday 17 October to discover more Black stories of resistance, resilience and liberation in Tower Hamlets.

Visit Imagining Animals at the Tower of London from 19–31 August (excluding 25 August) and experience the Tower transformed through puppetry, music and movement. Historic Royal Palaces
Booking via https://orlo.uk/fYRvS

12/08/2026

⚠️ UPDATE ⚠️

Due to high temperature and amber alert on Thursday 13 August (tomorrow), our Reading Room will be closed all day.

Our exhibitions and ground floor event room will remain open as usual.

We are really sorry for any inconvenience this will cause.

Stay well and hydrated!

22/07/2026

We are delighted to announce that after almost three years’ work, we have completed the digitisation of our East London Advertiser collection.

Using our digital microfilm reader we have created fully searchable PDFs of all issues of the East End’s most important local paper published between 1913 and 2003 (with a small gap between 1996 and 1999). This means the next time you visit our Reading Room, you’ll be able to look up a personal name, street, business, or any other term you’re interested in to see if they appear in the newspaper for a given year, without having to trawl through the issues page-by-page. Pre-1913 issues of the East London Advertiser are available to search via the British Newspaper Archive, which is free to use in all Tower Hamlets libraries and idea stores.

Newspapers are an essential source for local and local family history research, often including details of births, marriages and deaths, plus commentary on the activities of local organisations, and sporting and cultural events. For more on our newspaper holdings, check our research guide: https://orlo.uk/Sx6SV

21/07/2026

Join us for a day of celebration of West African Culture and an exploring the fascinating life of a woman called Hope. Please book using the Eventbrite Link for both the family and adult session. Please see programme below.

Bookings via our What's on Page

Family Celebration of West African Culture
11:00 am – 1:00 pm | All children and families welcome

Activities will include West African music, Storytelling, Tote-bag printing, exploring West African designs. Play area provided for under-5s

Lunchtime: 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm
Refreshments & West African Food Samples

Hope's Story (Older Audience Session)
2:00 pm – 3:30 pm | Recommended for ages 14+

A presentation by Dani C on Hope Esperança Booker,
a Gambian woman enslaved in the 1600s, with documented links to the Royal Africa Company

08/07/2026

❗ Update ❗

On Thursday 9 July 2026, due to the heatwave our Reading Room will be open 10am-1pm only. Our exhibitions and ground floor events space will remain open as usual. We are sorry for any inconvenience caused

29/06/2026

Happy Pride Month!

Victoria Park hosted a Pride Music Fest on Saturday 24 June 1995. With an estimated 60,000 people joining the two and a half mile march, from Hyde Park to the Houses of Parliament. Then off to Vicky Park from 3pm to see headline acts including Dead or Alive, Erasure, Boy George, Jimmy Somerville and Chaka Khan. Alongside music tents with DJs and performances, live acts, drag and entertainment!

Pride events of this era were often shaped by community-led initiatives, with a strong emphasis on political messaging, solidarity, accessibility and visibility

Image 1 & 2 Pride Festival Victoria Park, 1995
Image 3 Grove Road, 1995
Image 4 Newspaper Cutting, 1995
Image 5 Gay Times, 1995

25/06/2026

CREATIVE WORKSHOP

Join us for a creative workshop to re-create an East End High Street. Design your own shopfront or bring back to life a shopfront long-gone. With a chance to see the exhibition and explore more from the collections.

Tower Hamlets Local History Library & Archive | Saturday 4 July 2-4pm Drop in session no booking required

All ages welcome

Image : Mile End Road, 1989

24/06/2026

New Exhibition! Lost Shopfronts of the East End showcases the history of shops locally from the Victorian period until the 21st century.

Curator Genova recalls, “While exploring boxes of photographs from our ‘street scenes’ collection, coming across pictures of shopfronts from Mile End Road to Whitechapel High Street, I couldn’t stop reminiscing. All these shops have long gone, but vivid images of my childhood were conjured up. I thought this would probably be the same for many locals if they saw these photos too.”

The Image : (ref. P21419) shows Scotts bakery at the end of Roman Road, which later became Percy Ingle.

23/06/2026

It’s a scorcher! Our Reading Room will close tomorrow and Thursday due to heatwave and being without air conditioning. There will be no access to onsite collections.
Our exhibitions will remain open 10-5 both days.
Stay cool

Image : Millwall Recreational Ground Open Air Swimming Bath, 1925

Address

277 Bancroft Road
London
E14DQ

Opening Hours

Tuesday	10am - 4:30pm
Wednesday	10am - 4:30pm
Thursday	10am - 7pm

Telephone

+442073641290

Website

http://www.ideastore.co.uk/local-history

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