An interactive map of archives, museums, data sets, websites and research centres for those curious about East London.
Barking & Dagenham Council
Local council websites provide a range of relevant and up-to-date collections: data, planning developments, local news, etc.
Barter Archive
A community-led archive constructed by artist Pat Wingshan Wong in collaboration with the fishmongers at the Billingsgate Fish Market at Canary Wharf, London. Pat's illustrations of market workers are 'exchanged' for their memories and memorabilia and the website records these transactions.
Barts Charity
A charity dedicated to supporting improvements to healthcare and transformative research for local health benefit. Research partnerships with Queen Mary University of London, the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry (FMD) and the School of Health and Psychological Sciences at City, University of London.
Bethnal Green LDN
A local community newspaper for Bethnal Green in East London (part of 'The Slice' family).
Bishopsgate Institute
London archive specialising in histories of radical politics and LGBTQ life in London. Many special collections relating specifically to East London including 'On the Docks: An Oral History of London Dock Workers'.
Centre for Studies of Home
An interdisciplinary research hub between Queen Mary University of London and the Museum of the Home, combining expertise and exchanging knowledge across the two institutions since 2011. Engaging diverse audiences with new ways of thinking about home.
Charles Booth's London
Digital maps based on those produced by Charles Booth in the late 19th century. The police notebooks he collected are also available and mapped geographically.
Chingford Historical Society
Regular talks, heritage walks and a collection of materials relating to Chingford and the surrounding area.
Community Links
Community Links is a hub tackling health and social inequality in East London and beyond.
Discovery Data Service
An open-source repository of NHS health data for South East, North East and North West London. The Discovery Data Service (DDS) allows for free use of the software for modification, distribution, patent use, private use and commercial use.
East London Lines
Eastlondonlines is an independent local news website serving the diverse communities of four London boroughs: Lewisham, Tower Hamlets, Hackney and Croydon. It is produced by journalism students at Goldsmiths, University of London, guided by the experienced journalists who teach them.
East London Research Network
Interdisciplinary research group based at Queen Mary, University of London. Aiming to foster partnerships between researchers working on East London and to facilitate community engagement.
East London Theatre Archives
A database of East London Theatre ephemera provided by UEL and V&A Theatre Collections.
East London Women's Museum
The East End Women's Museum seeks to record, research, share and celebrate the stories of East London women past and present. Some original oral history collections as well as themed online galleries. Also see 'Women's Museum' for the project's current museum home.
Four Corners Gallery
A photography gallery that has a range of collections and community projects relating to East London, including the Bengali Photography Archive.
Green Space Initiative for Greater London
London's environmental records centre: 'We mobilise, curate and share data that underpin our knowledge of London's natural environment. We enable our stakeholders to make informed decisions in policy and practice.'
Guildhall Library
The City of London Corporation's Library of London History. Collections include buisness history, parish records and maps.
Hackney Citizen
Independant, free fortnightly newspaper established in 2010. Digital archive from 2022.
Hackney Council
Local council websites provide a range of relevant and up-to-date collections: data, planning developments, local news, etc.
Hackney Museum
Regular temporary exhibitions on site. The museum also hosts a range of themed collections online, including 'Caribbean Hackney,' 'Jewish Hackney,' and 'London 2012.'
Havering Council
Local council websites provide a range of relevant and up-to-date collections: data, planning developments, local news, etc.
Havering Local Studies Library
Local archives and library for Havering, held at Romford Central Library.
Hidden Histories Archive (formerly East London People's Archive)
Formerly the East London People's Archive, this collection contains 4,000 oral histories and 35,000 photographs, as well as video materials. These documents have been collected by Eastside Community Heritage since 1999 through extensive outreach work. The histories they contain reflect the lives of people living in East London through the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
House of Annetta
A space for public research, education, arts, and social transformation. Over the past two years the house has been used by hundreds of different groups, individuals and networks for gathering, eating, talking, exhibiting, listening and making
Ian Visits
A popular London website focused on a range of topics, but mainly architecture, transport, history and things to do around the city. 'The more obscure the better.'
Jewish East End Memory Map
A digital resource for exploring sites of Jewish memory in East London, including oral history clips, pictures and historic documents. The project is a collaboration between the artist and writer Rachel Lichtenstein and Dr Duncan Hay, Professor Laura Vaughan, and Peter Guillery.
Layers of London
A free online resource that uses maps and user-generated content to blend history, geography and digital technology. The archive is searchable via themes such as 'Health and Welfare,' 'Politics and Government,' or 'Imagined and Future London.'
Leyton History Society
The local history society for the Leyton & Leytonstone area of East London.
Local History Image Library
An online image library created by Tower Hamlets archives.
London Air
London Air is the website of the London Air Quality Network (LAQN). It provides both live and historic data on air pollution and quality across the city.
London Data Store
A free and open data-sharing portal where anyone can access data relating to the capital. The site, administered by the Mayor's office, 'provides over a thousand datasets to help you understand the city and develop solutions to London's problems.'
London Museum
Vast collections of material items, images and oral histories. Many curated collections relating specifically to East London (e.g. the Suffragettes, Silvertown Explosion).The new London Museum will open in 2026.
London Museum Docklands
A museum telling the story of London through its docklands. Including the London, Sugar, and Slavery gallery
London's Cost of Living Tracker
Run by Trust for London, the cost of living tracker shows how different groups in London have been (and continue to be) affected by the cost of living crisis since 2020.
London's Poverty Profile
A collection of datasets and reports compiled by the charity Trust for London, providing insights and evidence relating to disparities of income and cost of living in contemporary London. Displayed in an accessible way and searchable via 'Topic', 'Borough' or 'Population.'
London's Poverty Profile
A collection of datasets and reports compiled by the charity Trust for London, providing insights and evidence relating to disparities of income and cost of living in contemporary London. Displayed in an accessible way and searchable via 'Topic', 'Borough' or 'Population.'
London's Screen Archives
An online collection of London film and film clips drawn from 70 participating institutions: local and borough archives, museums, galleries, public sector bodies, community groups, and national charities. The website allows you to search via borough (168 films of Tower Hamlets - 27 of which are available online).
Magic Me
A charity combatting ageism and age-related inequalities, based in Bethnal Green. Regular partnerships with research institutions and an online collection of resources and previous projects.
Making East London (Oral History collection)
Interviews collected between 2017 and 2019 as part of a collaborative project on the cultural heritage of East London run by UCL Special Collections and Newham Local Authority Archives.
Mapping London
A curated collection of London Maps compiled by Oliver O'Brien, Dept of Geography, UCL. Including maps of trees, tubes, Indian restaurants, and electric car charging points (historic and contemporary).
Metropolitan Maps Collection (at the London Metropolitan Archives)
A new collection brought together at the LMA in 2018 that aims to catalogue maps of London and make them accessible.
Museum of Enfield (Enfield archives)
A collection of around 20,000 objects relating to the places, people and businesses of Enfield.
Museum of the Home
The Museum of the Home's Collections Library offers unrivalled access to the Museum's collection. It is a space for academic researchers, students and curious visitors. Curated collections are available online, although the Collections Library and study room ared closed due to staff shortage until July 2024.
Newham Archives and Local Studies Library
Newham's local authority archive includes local newspapers, local authority reports, and the Tate and Lyle archives.
Newham Council
Local council websites provide a range of relevant and up-to-date collections: data, planning developments, local news, etc.
Newham Voices
A local community news organisation estalbished in the wake of COVID-19. Publishing 'stories created by local volunteer contributors, overseen by a dedicated, experienced editorial team.'
Nunnery Gallery (Bow Arts)
Gallery and community arts space in Bow, founded in 1994. Regualr events, exhibitions and community projects celebrating the culture of east London.
Port and River Archive (Port of London Authority Archive)
Administrative records, publications, films and photographs relating to the Thames. The archive also includes the institutional records of the Port of London Authority.
Prosperity Board London (Prosperity in East London, 2021-2031)
The longitudinal study of household prosperity in east London observes how households in 15 post-industrial neighbourhoods in east London self-report their prosperity over the decade 2021-2031.
Queen Mary Archives and Special Collections
East London Special collections including the 'People's Palace Archive' and 'Women at Queen Mary' online exhibition.
Ragged School Museum
The museum was founded to make the history of the Ragged Schools and the broader social history of the Victorian East End accessible to all. Within the original buildings, an authentic Victorian Classroom has been set up where each year some 16,000 children experience a school lesson as it would have been taught more than 100 years ago.
Redbridge Central Library and Heritage Centre
Redbridge Heritage Centre holds the local authority archives as well as a collection of books on the history of the London Borough of Redbridge and neighbouring Essex.
Redbridge Council
Local council websites provide a range of relevant and up-to-date collections: data, planning developments, local news, etc.
Roman Road London
Roman Road LDN is an independent news and culture publication for Bow and its surrounding areas of Mile End, Globe Town, Fish Island and Hackney Wick in East London (part of 'The Slice' family).
Spitalfields Life
A daily blog run by 'The Gentle Author' focusing on the social and cultural history of East London. Including a searchable back catalogue of blog pieces that include oral history interviews and photography collections.
Swadhinata Trust
The Swadhinata Trust is a London-based secular Bengali community group that works to promote Bengali history and heritage amongst young people. The website offers links to publications and reports on Bengali history as well as an online picture archive.
The City Centre
A network of communication and activity at Queen Mary University of London that aims to promote and develop collaborative, cross-disciplinary work on city lived and connections.
The East End Archive at the London Metropolitan University
The East End Archive at London Met's School of Art, Architecture and Design is an online digital resource intended for artists, designers, academics and researchers from a cross-section of disciplines. It focuses on artists and photographers whose practice is concerned with the East End of London and its diaspora, where the East End is understood 'as both a geographic location and an intangible space, a perpetually shifting frontier within the urban sprawl of London that is part real and part imagined.'
The East London History Society
The East London History Society, (founded 1952) exists to further interest in the history of East London, namely the London Boroughs of Tower Hamlets, Hackney and Newham. The Society publishes two or three newsletters a year and organizes a program of talks.
The East London Mosque Archives
Collections documenting the history of one of the UK's oldest mosques, with records dating back to its founding in 1910. The archive also holds a breadth of material on the wider Muslim community of East London.
The East of London Family History Society
The East of London Family History Society's aim is to promote and encourage the public and private study of family history, genealogy, cultural heritage, heraldry and local history with particular reference to the eastern area of Greater London (founded 1978). They publish a regular online journal ('Cockney Ancestor').
The Slice
The Slice is a family of five news and culture publications for the borough of Tower Hamlets in East London. It includes four online titles, each covering the four main districts of the borough as well as an overarching print magazine that covers the whole borough.
Tower Hamlets Council
Local council websites provide a range of relevant and up-to-date collections: data, planning developments, local news, etc.
Tower Hamlets Local History Library and Archives
Tower Hamlets Local History Library and Archives holds 'outstanding and unique resources for the study of the history of London's East End.' The archive includes original archival documents, books, pamphlets, periodicals, maps, photographs and films.
Trust For London
Trust for London is a charity that tackles poverty and inequality. They fund and publish original research that is available on their website (eg. 'Good Food Local - the London report (2024' ; 'Behind Closed Doors: Experiences of Latin American Domestic Workers in the UK' 2023).
UCL East
UCL's new East London Campus is located in the Olympic Park. It has research labs, libraries and public spaces.
University of East London Archive
The university library holds numerous special collections relating to East London, including records of the British Olympic Association (covering London's hosting of the Olympics in 1908, 1948, and 2012).
V&A East Storehouse
Publicly accessible museum store holding 250,000 objects, 350,000 library books and 1,000 archives (opening in 2025). Home to the V&A East Youth Collective programme, working with local youth communities from across East London.
Barking and Dagenham Local Archives and Study Centre
Barking and Dagenham's local Archives are located in the Visitor Centre of Valence House, a manor house and museum. The archives contain Oral history collections and Parish Records as well as specific archives for local businesses.
Waltham Forest Council
Local council websites provide a range of relevant and up-to-date collections: data, planning developments, local news, etc.
Waltham Forest Echo
The Echo was established in 2014 as an independent community newspaper for the London borough of Waltham Forest. It aims to to promote the work of local community organisations and voluntary groups, as well as provide a platform for local people to contribute and raise important issues.
Waltham Forest Family History Society
The Waltham Forest Family History Society was founded in 1978 to bring together and encourage people with an interest in family history and genealogy. We are a small but friendly society that caters for all those with South West Essex ancestry who might live at a distance, and for those who live locally but whose ancestors came from elsewhere.
Waltham Forest Oral History Workshop
London's longest-runnning oral history group (since 1983). Themed audio clips and PDF downloads of their books are available online.
Women's Museum
An iteration of the East End Women's Museum project. Now renamed and being organised through Barking and Dagenham council.