STEEPED IN HISTORY

Some of our very favourite shops are also in buildings with great stories. Here, with the help of writer Emma J Page, we share some of the top tales

- JO BAILEY

TOWN HOUSE – ANTIQUES SHOP & GALLERY IN A HISTORIC HOME

With an offering that is too varied to sum up, Fiona Atkins’ store was named after its setting instead of its contents. The renovated Georgian townhouse is one of several on Fournier Street, originally home to the Huguenot silk weavers who settled in the area in the 18th century. When antiques dealer Fiona bought the place, the roof was propped up, interior panelling boarded over and its 20th-century wooden frontage was disintegrating. She commissioned a new ground-floor facade for the 300-year-old building, based on a drawing by William Pain, whose shopfront designs she had found published in a 1799 book.

5 Fournier Street, London E1 6QE

ALEX EAGLE STUDIO – ONCE A JEWELLERY WORKSHOP