London Borough of Tower Hamlets, United Kingdom

Malplaquet House

London Borough of Tower Hamlets, United Kingdom

Exterior only

Visible from the street; the inside is private.

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Heritage registerHistoric England listing↗

Malplaquet House is a Grade II listed Georgian house at 137–139 Mile End Road in Stepney, London. Built in 1742 by Thomas Andrews as one of three townhouses, only two survive today. The four-storey structure was first occupied by a wealthy Jewish widow, then famously altered by brewer Harry Charrington from 1794 to 1833, whose family's brewery operated nearby on Mile End Road. The house takes its name from the Battle of Malplaquet (1709), though whether this honour came from the original widow's merchant husband dealing in war salvage or from a later resident, military surgeon Edward Lee, remains unclear. Over the nineteenth century, the house accommodated various businesses—a bookmaker, printer, and the Union of Stepney Ratepayers (1910–1975)—each leaving structural marks through subdivision and additions. Damaged in the London Blitz, it was repaired from 1951 onwards, with architect Richard Seifert designing new shopfronts. Threatened by Docklands development in the 1990s, the Spitalfields Trust intervened to prevent demolition, eventually selling the house in 1998.