Green Street Upton Park
How a boundary road between East Ham and West Ham became one of London's busiest streets for South Asian food, fabric and jewellery.
By the Ledger desk2 min read
Photo: Oxyman / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.5
Green Street is a busy shopping street in Upton Park and one of London's best-known centres for South Asian goods, with Queen's Market beside Upton Park station on the District and Hammersmith & City lines.
A South Asian high street with a long history
Green Street is best experienced as a diverse retail road. It runs along the old boundary between East Ham and West Ham, and its shops specialise in food, jewellery and fabrics, much of it for families with ties to India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Clothes and fabric shops sit side by side with jewellers, grocers and takeaways.
The street's character has changed with each generation. From about 1900 to the 1960s it had a strong Jewish trading community, and by 1960 most of it had moved on. One of the first Asian shops opened in the early 1960s, and later arrivals from India, Pakistan and Kenya turned the street into a hub for fashion and jewellery.
Queen's Market and the station
At its core, Queen's Market on Green Street, E13 9BA, sits next to Upton Park station. Newham Council runs it and lists fresh fruit and vegetables, fish, seafood and meat, alongside clothing, costume jewellery, footwear, fabrics, bags and haberdashery. Its stalls serve African, African-Caribbean and South Asian shoppers.
The market is open Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, 9am to 6pm, with a separate Sunday market from 10am to 4pm. Many bus routes stop nearby, including the 5, 25, 58, 86, 104 and 325. Check the market's Newham Council page before a visit, as days and hours can change.
Football heritage and festival days
Green Street is also a local football heritage location. The Boleyn Ground, home of West Ham United for 112 years, stood at the Upton Park end of the street. The club played its last match there on 10 May 2016 before moving to the London Stadium in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, and the ground was demolished to make way for a housing development called Upton Gardens.
Good planning keeps your Green Street visit on track. Market days mean a denser crowd. Around Eid, Newham Council has warned of spontaneous street gatherings in and around Green Street, while the shops selling specialist South Asian goods stay open as usual, so check council notices before travelling on festival days.
For a practical trip, take the District line or Hammersmith & City line to Upton Park station, start at Queen's Market and walk the length of the street. Comfortable shoes help on crowded pavements, and it pays to be organised about what you want to buy before you arrive.
General information, checked against the sources below at the time of writing. Rules, rates and deadlines change, often each April; confirm with GOV.UK, the council or the organisation concerned before you rely on them. For advice on your own case, Citizens Advice is free.
