[7][8] During the Black Death in 1349 the site became a plague cemetery known as the Churchyard of the Holy Trinity, and three mass burial trenches and 14 grave rows were dug alongside a small chapel.

[14] In 1894, Alfred de Rothchild, 1st Lord Rothschild acquired a plot of freehold land in Cartwright Street from the Metropolitan Board of Works on the understanding it would be kept for at least eighty years 'Artisans Dwellings' to accommodate 100 workmen at the refinery.

[15] Operations continued through the first and second world wars until the 1960s when the refinery was no longer viable and in 1965 the copper foil plant was sold to Brush Clevite followed two years later by the sale of the entire business to Engelhard Industries Limited.

[21] After the Mint vacated the Murray House building on the site it was used as commercial offices by Barclays Global Investors[22] which paid £5 million rent annually,[19] and was later sublet to Deloitte and Old Mutual until the tenancy expired at the end of 2014.

Quantum, places money offshore for high net worth individuals, shares go to a trust for some of the Soros family, and to a Guernsey company linked to Richard Katz and his wife.

The judge held that the long leaseholder was prevented from doing so by the terms of the lease and found in favour of the freeholder who had obtained planning permission to redevelop Royal Mint Court.

[62] In 2018, residents of homes on the land now owned by the PRC wrote to UK government ministers to express their concerns about the original sale by the Crown Estate and to ask for legal and diplomatic assistance to communicate with their new superior landlord.

[63] This included an appeal to Jeremy Hunt, then Foreign Secretary, for his help, claiming that the local government, Delancey and the Chinese Ambassador had not communicated with people living on the land.

They said, "These actions and omissions by the UK Government and Tower Hamlets give grounds to suspect that public officials are failing to respect and protect the human rights of individuals who reside in Leasehold homes at St Mary Graces Court.

[69][70][71] In the same article, Dave Lake, chairman of the Royal Mint Court Residents Association[72] (RMCRA) who has lived on the site since 1990 said, "all of a sudden, the estate has been bought by the Chinese and the CCP are our freeholders".

[citation needed] The letter also raised concern that a Crown Estate document included a comment that "An exhaustive campaign by our appointed agents, BH2, initially failed to identify a purchaser for this asset."

Oral evidence given to the committee included details about the Crown Estates strategy of selling its social housing assets to invest in shopping centres and the relationship with Hercules Unit Trust (HUT), a property fund led by British Land.

[74] When Mr Bright gave evidence, HUT run by British Land had to renegotiate the billions of pounds of securitised debt due for repayment or risk default owing to breaches of loan-to-value covenants.

[citation needed] The letter of complaint to the Crown Estate requested they refer the matter to the police or Serious Fraud Office for independent investigation as some of those suspected of wrongdoing were still their advisors or in their employment.

[77] In 2019, Corporate Watch published an article about the relationship that Delancey and the Ritblat family has with institutions, donations to political organisations and their use of joint ventures and companies that are incorporated in the British Virgin Islands and other offshore jurisdictions which makes it difficult to identify the ultimate beneficial owner of an entity.

[81] On 14 February 2019, The Rt Hon the Lord McFall of Alcluith wrote to Jim Fitzpatrick MP highlighting the conclusions of the Treasury Select Committee that he chaired in March 2010 prior to completion of the sale of Royal Mint Court in June 2010.

[82] In February 2010, Roger Bright, CEO of the Crown Estate faced a grilling from the Treasury Select Committee about the planned mass sell-off of social housing in London and decision to invest in out of town shopping centres.

[86] On 7 February 2021, The Sunday Times revealed that Sir Edward Lister, a close advisor to Boris Johnson, helped the Chinese Government to negotiate the purchase of Royal Mint Court from Delancey.

The article stated that Lister had acted on behalf of the UK Government – while being paid by both the property company representing Beijing and the developer that sold the 5.4 acre freehold site to them for £255m.

When Boris Johnson was Foreign Secretary, he appointed Lister (who later became Lord Udny-Lister) to lead talks with the Chinese Government over its proposed purchase of Royal Mint Court.

[87] The story was covered by other news outlets and included a photograph of Edward Lister shaking hands with Chinese Ambassador Liu Xiaoming at a meeting in London in July 2018.

[88] The reported role of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and Lister in the negotiations about the Chinese Embassy's purchase of Royal Mint Court appears at odds with a statement made by Mark Field MP.

In a letter dated 28 September 2018 that he wrote to Jim Fitzpatrick MP about the original sale of the site in which Field stated, "I can confirm that this was a commercial deal between the two parties and did not include the UK Government".

"[89] In May 2021, further news emerged alleging that Lord Lister advised on planning law at the same time as being employed by two major property development firms including Delancey which purchased Royal Mint Court from the Crown Estate and sold it to the People's Republic of China.

In addition to the buildings, there are two listed structures within the site's forecourt: a 19th-century entrance lodge built by Robert Smirke and a set of cast iron lamps on stone white plinths.

Members of the Royal Mint Court Residents Association (RMCRA) and councillors appeared on television news to express concern that the plans would receive approval.

[107] CNN reported RMRCA chairman David Lake was so fearful that he had written to King Charles asking for residents' homes on the Chinese-owned land to be bought back by the Crown Estate.

[112] [113] Fearing the Tower Hamlets decision could be overruled by the Mayor of London or the UK government, the chairman of the RMCRA launched an appeal on a crowdfunding website to raise funds for professional legal advice for his residents.

[114] On 4 February 2021, representatives of the London embassy of the People's Republic of China and project team hosted a webinar for local residents on the latest designs for change of use to the Royal Mint Court site.

[115] The website included images for the embassy at Royal Mint Court and how these compared with previously consented plans for a retail, leisure and commercial development with considerable public realm.