A half mile further east is the Columbia Road Flower Market in Bethnal Green.

Petticoat Lane market is listed as a tourist attraction on VisitLondon.com, the official visitor guide for London.

[6] This was also where the Spanish ambassador had his house, and the area attracted many Spaniards from the reign of James I. Peticote Lane was severely affected by the Great Plague of 1665; the rich fled, and London lost a fifth of its population.

The severe damage inflicted throughout the East End during the Blitz and later bombing in World War II served to disperse the Jewish communities to new areas.

Beginning in the 1970s, a new wave of immigration from India and east Asia restored the area's vitality - centred on nearby Brick Lane.

As recently as the 1930s, police cars and fire engines were driven down The Lane, with alarm bells ringing, to disrupt the market.

Some, selling crockery, would pile an entire setting onto a large plate, and then send the lot, high into the air.

The market remains busy and vibrant, reflecting both its immigrant history and its continuing popularity with locals and tourists.