Editing Hoxton (section)

===Victorian era and 20th century===
[[File:Hoxton Hall.JPG|thumb|right|upright|[[Hoxton Hall]], still an active community resource]]
In the [[Victorian era]] the railways made travelling to distant suburbs easier, and this combined with infill building and industrialisation to drive away the wealthier classes, leaving Hoxton a concentration of the poor with many slums. The area became a centre for the furniture trade.{{citation needed|date=January 2024}}

In the 1860s Hoxton Square became home to the [[Augustinians|Augustinian]] [[Priory]], school and [[St Monica's Church, Hoxton|Church of St Monica]] (architect: [[E. W. Pugin]]) built 1864-66 and the first Augustinian House in England since the [[English Reformation|Reformation]] era.<ref>'[http://taking-stock.org.uk/Home/Dioceses/Archdiocese-of-Westminster/Hoxton-St-Monica-s-Priory Hoxton - St Monica's Priory] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181005020024/http://taking-stock.org.uk/Home/Dioceses/Archdiocese-of-Westminster/Hoxton-St-Monica-s-Priory |date=5 October 2018 }}' in ''Taking Stock: Catholic Churches of England and Wales'', online resource, accessed 28 December 2016</ref>

[[Charles Booth (philanthropist)|Charles Booth]] in ''Life and Labour of the People in London'' of 1902 gave the following description:
{{blockquote|The character of the whole locality is working-class. Poverty is everywhere, with a considerable admixture of the very poor and vicious&nbsp;... Large numbers have been and are still being displaced by the encroachment of warehouses and factories&nbsp;... Hoxton is known for its costers and Curtain criminals, for its furniture trade&nbsp;... No servants are kept except in the main Road shopping streets and in a few remaining middle class squares in the west.{{citation needed|date=January 2024}}}}

[[File:Britannia plaque.JPG|thumb|upright=1.2|left|LBH plaque commemorating the Britannia Theatre, now attached to modern flats]]
In Hoxton Street, a [[blue plaque|plaque]] marks the location of the [[Britannia Theatre]]. This evolved from the former Pimlico tea gardens, a tavern and a saloon, into a 3,000-seat theatre, designed by Finch Hill. Together with the nearby [[Toy Theatre|Pollock's Toy Museum]], it was destroyed in Second World War bombing. [[Hoxton Hall]], also in Hoxton Street, which survives as a community centre, began life in 1863 as a "saloon style" [[music hall]]. It remains largely in its original form, as for many years it was used as a [[Quaker]] meeting house. There was also the 1870 Varieties Music Hall (by [[Charles J. Phipps|C. J. Phipps]]) in nearby Pitfield Street, this became a cinema in 1910, closing in 1941. In 2018 construction started on a refurbished cinema (operated by Curzon Cinemas) keeping the style of the original facade but expanding vertically to include residential properties. Planning permission for the refurbishment took a considerable time due to local opposition to the design. The cinema plans to open in 2019.{{clarify|date=June 2020}}

The [[National Centre for Circus Arts]] is based in the former [[vestry]] of St Leonard Shoreditch Electric Light Station, just to the north of Hoxton Market. Inside, the "Generating Chamber" and "Combustion Chamber" provide facilities for circus training and production. The building was constructed by the Vestry in 1895 to burn local rubbish and generate electricity. It also provided steam to heat the public baths. This replaced an earlier facility providing gas-light, located in [[Shoreditch]].

[[Gainsborough Studios]] were located in a former power station, in Poole Street, by the [[Regents Canal]]. [[Alfred Hitchcock]], [[Michael Balcon]], [[Ivor Novello]] and [[Gracie Fields]] all worked at the studios, and films including ''[[The Lady Vanishes (1938 film)|The Lady Vanishes]]'' and  ''[[The Wicked Lady]]'' were shot there. The studios operated there from 1924 to 1951,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.hackney.gov.uk/servapps/visit/data/vi_vill4.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080102230509/http://www.hackney.gov.uk/servapps/visit/data/vi_vill4.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=2 January 2008|title=Hackney Live – Visiting Hackney – Shoreditch and Hoxton Shoreditch and Hoxton|date=2 January 2008}}</ref> and were demolished in 2002, replaced by a modern apartment block, also named Gainsborough Studios.

The [[Stag's Head, Hoxton]] was built in 1936 for [[Truman's Brewery]], and designed by their in-house architect [[A. E. Sewell]].<ref name=HistoricEngland>{{NHLE|desc=The Stag's Head public house, Hoxton|num=1427212|access-date=30 August 2015}}</ref>

With a new-found popularity, large parts of Hoxton have been [[gentrification|gentrified]]. This has inevitably aroused hostility among some local residents, who believe they are being priced out of the area. Some parts of Hoxton, however, remain deprived, with council housing dominating the landscape.