Duke’s Place, formerly known as Shoemaker Row, is a street that runs northwest-southeast from Bevis Marks to Aldgate. By the end of the 18th century, it had been renamed Duke Street after the house of the Duke of Norfolk, which was built by Sir T. Audley after the priory of Holy Trinity was demolished. When the house came into the possession of the Duke through marriage, the area became known as Duke’s Place.
Duke’s Place became an early settlement for Jews after Oliver Cromwell permitted their entry into Britain in 1657. This led to the construction of the Sephardic Bevis Marks Synagogue in 1701 and the Ashkenazi Great Synagogue. The Great Synagogue was initially established in 1620 and later rebuilt in 1766 and 1790. Unfortunately, it was destroyed during an air raid on 11 May 1942. A temporary structure was erected on the site in the following year and was used until 1958 when the synagogue relocated to Adler Street in Whitechapel. The Adler Street synagogue closed in 1977.
In 1939, Duke Street was renamed Duke’s Place.
