It was first established in 1743 as a Protestant chapel ("La Neuve Eglise", i.e. "the New Church") by London's Huguenot community.[8] These were refugees who had left France after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, to escape persecution by the Catholics. Many Huguenots settled in Spitalfields, bringing with them their silk-weaving and textile skills.