The Story Behind the Project
This project is created by
Amir Dotan,
a local historian and heritage advocate who has been researching, documenting and sharing the history of
Stoke Newington since 2012. Amir moved to Stoke Newington in 2002, and over the years his long-standing
interest in history, combined with a professional background in user experience design, has shaped an
approach that makes local history accessible, visual and engaging.
How the Project Began
What began as an attempt to answer a simple question, “what used to be here?”, has grown into a long-term
record of Stoke Newington Church Street’s commercial life. Drawing on archive research, historical street
directories, photography and ongoing fieldwork, the project traces the history of every shop on the street
from 1847 to the present day.
What the Research Became
At its core is
a property survey built from 24 street directories
and continually updated as businesses change. Over time, that research has expanded into a series of
connected projects:
a timeline-based book,
annual street-wide shopfront photography,
shop window history plaques,
visual reconstructions of past shopfronts,
and
analysis of the balance between independent businesses and chains.
Together, these strands aim to document, preserve and share the story of Church Street in ways that are
useful, visual and easy to explore. They show not only how individual premises have changed, but how the
street reflects wider shifts in local life, commerce and community. Recent analysis has also reinforced
what makes Church Street distinctive today: it remains overwhelmingly independent, with around 90% of
businesses falling outside the definition of a chain.
The project is also shaped by regular conversations with shopkeepers, local residents and others who want
to understand the story of a particular premises or the wider evolution of the street. That practical,
place-based curiosity has helped turn the research into something that is not only archival, but actively
useful in the present.
