Because of industry, and a boom in the furniture and rag trades, Shoreditch (and the areas close by - including Brick Lane and Spitalfields) became popular with Jewish immigrants, Having arrived in England with few resources, or even penniless, they moved in droves to the area, taking on low-paid jobs in cabinet-making, tailoring and labouring at the docks. As a result, they needed a place to pray, which accounts for the construction of the Sandys Row synagogue (still active today).