Raine’s House statues

Raine's House was built in 1719 as a charity school by Henry Raine (1679 - 1738), a successful brewer and philanthropist. The building has a baroque front with giant pilasters, and a stone plaque over the door that reads: "Come in & learn your duty to God & man 1719". After the school relocated in the late 19th century, the building was used as offices for various organisations including the Guardians of St George in the East and later the Wapping Tenants Association. The building is currently under restoration by Tower Hamlets Council as a community hub.

Two niches in the front elevation were originally occupied by bluecoat figures of a boy and a girl, but they and other original objects from the school were removed when the school moved, and the originals are still preserved inside glass cases at the Raine Foundation School in Bethnal Green. The niches at Raine House are now filled by fibreglass casts, commissioned by the GLC in 1983. The condition of the paint surface was poor and flaking. HOLT supported the repainting of the statues using paint analysis from the original statues in order to replicate the correct colours and they were reinstated in early 2021.