The Citrus Trees Of Spitalfields
Meet me on Easter Monday on the steps of St Paul’s for a tour of sightseeing and storytelling, rambling through the alleys and byways of the Square Mile in search of the wonders and the wickedness of the City of London.
Princelet St
In these last long months at end of winter my spirits have been consistently lifted by the sight of citrus trees flourishing, heavy with fruit in the back streets and yards to the east of Brick Lane. On cold days when the clouds hung low over the city, the sight of these evergreen specimens gave me hope.
Spitalfields has always been renowned for fruit trees. In the seventeenth century, Leonard Gurle ran a tree nursery – including 11,600 plum, cherry and pear trees, as well as nectarines – that extended from Brick Lane to Whitechapel and supplied soft fruit trees to Charles II, while Thomas Fairchild in The City Gardener, 1722, notes that the area around Bishopsgate lends itself to the cultivation of pears and plums. A piece of horticultural history which still echoes in the name of Blossom St in Norton Folgate today.
Yet centuries of the social change and recent global warming have brought citrus trees to Spitalfields today. Just as the Huguenots are believed to have brought auriculas in the eighteenth century, three hundred years later Bengali people have cultivated shatkora, a Sylheti fruit similar to grapefruit but with very thick skin used in savoury dishes. Additionally, I have found tangerines in Flower & Dean Walk and oranges and lemons in Chicksand St.
Take a pilgrimage for yourself to visit the citrus trees of Spitalfields. Remarkably, none are growing in full sunlight although most are in sheltered spots. Be inspired by the abundant life and resilience of nature, even here in the heart of the city.
Princelet St
Tangerines in Flower & Dean Walk
Deal St
Deal St
Hanbury St
Oranges and lemons in Chicksand St
Albert Cottages
I like these photos.
They give us readers hope .
Thank you Gentle Author .
Andy
Oranges & lemons, Say the bells of St.Clements… goes the London church bells rhyme. Perhaps it’s inspirational origins has a connection to these exact trees growing wild in the olden times, where bells would ring out across the city..
I had to check it wasn’t April 1st! I had NO idea that citrus fruit grew in the East End – wonderful!
If we want trees – and I’m sure we all do, expecially in the city – why on earth would you not have trees that do a bit of work for their living?
I think it is marvellous that these trees are there, and I hope that more are being planted, as we speak. Why not? There is no downside – let’s have lots..
What a wonderful read, and of course the delightful pictures too. I had no idea of the strong history relating to fruit trees, despite some of the road names, so yet again surprised that never a day goes by when I don’t learn something new. Disgraceful ignorance on my part! Especially with the childhood songs and games we played relating to ‘Oranges and Lemons, say the bells of St Clements’….
Last Tuesday (17.03.2026) , after a nice talk to a young man at «the town house» in Spitalfield, and after pint of Guinness in the Ten Bells, I walked around for a bit. I walked around Flower and Dean Walk and noticed some of the citrus trees that you have take pictures of. Very nice and thank you very much . Always someting interesting. And very nice photos. Best Tom
All those trees are well-inside the London “Heat Island” & most, if not all, appear to be sheltered by walls & building to cold N & E winds.
Just the same, impressive.
My own Lime tree is inside a SW facing greenhouse & is currently loaded
Awesome nature, always giving back. Wonderful to see this in a city environment, especially in a temperate climate. A gift!