Explore the East India Company in modern London
The name East India Company, uttered in London, likely conjures thoughts of the vast fortunes carted across the oceans by long-ago fleets. But one might not expect much to remain here from that era. Still, reminders of its historic holdings are intact, and remarkably repurposed, in modern London.
Photo: The British East India Company's warehouses today (left, Ashley Winchester) and as it was in 1836 (right, Frederick Nash watercolour via Collage the London Picture Archive).
Devonshire Square, or DSQ, is a mixed-use commercial and residential development that hosts a range of businesses and amenities including a choir, language school and several restaurants. An expansive glass-ceilinged courtyard offers all-weather access to shopping and dining in the complex while preserving the feel of a wealthy warehouse of old.
The East India Company had a presence here from 1768, when the company bought land on New Street to hold goods brought from Bengal, according to DSQ’s history of the area. The company expanded its warren of warehouses through 1820, then sold it in the 1830s following the loss of its trade monopoly to China. The location was sold again to the Port of London Authority in 1909, where it housed, until the 1950s, London’s tea stores and later casks of wine and spirits.
Today, the Devonshire Square complex hosts a variety of events, including recurring London Fashion Week runway shows curated by Oxford Fashion Studio; a world food market; and several concerts throughout the year.
The gateway to the old East India Company complex, and the imposing walls of the warehouses themselves, remain much as they were depicted in an 1836 illustration by watercolourist Frederick Nash, and are immediately recognizable from the end of Cutler Street. Although the architecture of the central building has changed, notable features, including a clock tower and arches, are still visible.
