63-613: East Smithfield is a small locality in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets , east London , and also a short street, a part of the A1203 road . Once broader in scope, the name came to apply to the part of the ancient parish of St Botolph without Aldgate that was outside of the City of London . The old Royal Mint and the eastern part of St Katherine's Docks are located in the district. The street runs eastward from Tower Hill, with
126-635: A bath-house and laundry in Glasshouse Yard. This cost a single penny for bathing or washing, and by June 1847 was receiving 4,284 people a year. This led to an Act of Parliament to encourage other municipalities to build their own, and the model spread quickly throughout the East End . Timbs noted that "... so strong was the love of cleanliness thus encouraged that women often toiled to wash their own and their children's clothing, who had been compelled to sell their hair to purchase food to satisfy
189-493: A concentration of poor people and immigrants throughout the area. These problems were exacerbated by the construction of St Katharine Docks (1827) and the central London railway termini (1840–1875) with many displaced people moving into the area following the clearance of former slums and rookeries . Over the course of a century, the East End became synonymous with poverty, overcrowding, disease and criminality. The area
252-515: A decline in work in the docks, and the closure of many traditional industries. The Abercrombie Plan for London (1944) began an exodus from London towards the new towns . This decline began to reverse with the establishment of the London Docklands Development Corporation bringing new industries and housing to the brownfield sites along the river. Also contributing was new immigration from Asia beginning in
315-651: A religion and 6.9% did not state their religious views. The following table shows the religious identity of residents residing in Tower Hamlets according to the 2001, 2011 and the 2021 censuses. There are 21 active churches, affiliated with the Church of England , which include Christ Church of Spitalfields , St Paul's Church of Shadwell and St Dunstan's of Stepney ; and there are also churches of many other Christian denominations. There are more than 40 mosques and Islamic centres in Tower Hamlets. The most famous
378-509: A top-end estate agency recommends that 'extreme luxury' and ultra-modern residential properties are to be found at Canary Riverside, West India Quay, Pan Peninsula and Neo Bankside. Tower Hamlets is the earliest borough where the first skyscrapers were built and since 2014 it saw the completion of over seventy skyscrapers, more than any other place in the UK The End Child Poverty coalition published that Tower Hamlets has
441-590: A whole (both the Portsoken and East Smithfield areas) is recorded as having a population of at least 25 people identified as "blackamoors." They appear to have arrived as a result of the war with Spain , being freed from Spanish slave ships, or slavery in Spanish colonies, by English warships. These free black Londoners, some of whom had mixed African and Spanish ancestry, often found work as sailors or interpreters. Many were servants and one appears to have worked at
504-565: Is a borough in London , England. Situated on the north bank of the River Thames and immediately east of the City of London , the borough spans much of the traditional East End of London and includes much of the regenerated London Docklands area. The 2019 mid-year population for the borough is estimated at 324,745. Some of the tallest buildings in London occupy Canary Wharf , one of
567-580: Is also a major centre of hipster subculture. The earliest reference to the name "Tower Hamlets" was in 1554, when the Council of the Tower of London ordered a muster of "men of the hamlets which owe their service to the tower". This covered a wider area than the present-day borough, and its military relationship with the Tower is thought to have been several centuries earlier than the 1554 record. In 1605,
630-563: Is intended to become the new Chinese Embassy. In 1828, the entirety of Katharine's district, as well as southern East Smithfield were swept away to allow the construction of St Katharine Docks . Around 11,000 people were evicted and had to find new homes. The nearest Docklands Light Railway station is Tower Gateway . The nearest London Underground station is Tower Hill on the District and Circle lines . London Borough of Tower Hamlets The London Borough of Tower Hamlets
693-1011: Is the East London Mosque , one of the first mosques in Britain allowed to broadcast the adhan , and one of the biggest Islamic centres in Europe . The Maryam Centre, a part of the mosque, is the biggest Islamic centre for women in Europe. Opened in 2013, it features a main prayer hall, ameliorated funeral services, education facilities, a fitness centre and support services. The East London Mosque has been visited by several notable people, including Prince Charles , Boris Johnson , many foreign government officials and world-renowned imams and Muslim scholars. Other notable mosques are Brick Lane Mosque , Darul Ummah Masjid, Esha Atul Islam Mosque, Markazi Masjid, Stepney Shahjalal Mosque and Poplar Central Mosque. Other notable religious buildings include
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#1732764872360756-521: The West End . every cove that put in his appearance was quite welcome, colour or country considered no obstacle...the group motley indeed; Lascars , blacks, jack tars , coalheavers, dustmen, women of colour, old and young, and a sprinkling of the remnants of once fine girls, &c. were all jigging together In 1844, "An Association for promoting Cleanliness among the Poor" was established, and they built
819-856: The Fieldgate Street Great Synagogue , the Congregation of Jacob Synagogue, the London Buddhist Centre , the Hindu Pragati Sangha Temple, and the Gurdwara Sikh Sangat. The Great Synagogue of London , which was destroyed during the Second World War, is located just outside the borough's boundaries, in the City . The borough hosts the world headquarters of many global financial businesses, employing some of
882-553: The Lieutenant of the Tower was given the right to muster the militia and the area east of the tower came to be a distinct military unit, officially called Tower Hamlets (or the Tower Division) . The Hamlets of the Tower paid taxes for the militia in 1646. The London Borough of Tower Hamlets forms the core of the East End. The population of the area grew enormously in the 19th century, leading to extreme overcrowding and
945-540: The London County Council . Aerial bombing in World War II devastated much of the East End, with its docks, railways and industry forming a continual target. In the separate boroughs making up today's Tower Hamlets a total of 2,221 civilians were killed and 7,472 were injured, with 46,482 houses destroyed and 47,574 damaged. This led to some dispersal of the population to outlying suburbs. New housing
1008-724: The Thames Barrier , further east, has reduced that risk. Regent's Canal enters the borough from Hackney to meet the River Thames at Limehouse Basin . A stretch of the Hertford Union Canal leads from the Regent's canal, at a basin in the north of Mile End , to join the River Lea at Old Ford . A further canal, Limehouse Cut , London's oldest, leads from locks at Bromley-by-Bow to Limehouse Basin. Most of
1071-722: The Tower Division (also known as the Tower Hamlets) , under the leadership of the Lord-Lieutenant of the Tower Hamlets (the post was always filled by the Constable of the Tower of London) . The role of the Tower Division ended when East Smithfield became part of the new County of London in 1889. The County of London was replaced by Greater London in 1965. Between 1347 and 1351, the Black Death struck
1134-652: The Whitechapel Bell Foundry . The parish records from that time also reveal the presence of French, Dutch and Indian residents as well as at least one Persian and one East Indian (Bengali). The continuation of the black presence is illustrated from a court record from 1787, which noted that constables trying to make an arrest at the Shovel public house in East Smithfield, were ejected by the landlord and more than forty black drinkers. Around 1821
1197-553: The 1970s. According to the 2001 UK Census the population of the borough is approximately 196,106. According to the ONS estimate, the population is 237,900, as of 2010. Crime in the borough increased by 3.5% from 2009 to 2010, according to figures from the Metropolitan Police , having decreased by 24% between 2003/04 and 2007/08. Tower Hamlets has one of the smallest White British populations of any local authority in
1260-525: The City. Two cemeteries were opened in East Smithfield to take the dead from London. During the epidemic, 200 bodies a day were buried, in mass graves, stacked five deep. In 2007, a study led by the University of Albany , NY exhumed and examined 490 skeletons – finding that the disease afflicted disproportionately the already weak and malnourished. By 1236 Jews were settled in the area for protection by
1323-472: The East End. This brought the attentions of social reformers during the mid-18th century and led to the formation of unions and workers associations at the end of the century. The radicalism of the East End contributed to the formation of the Labour Party and demands for the enfranchisement of women . Official attempts to address the overcrowded housing began at the beginning of the 20th century under
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#17327648723601386-600: The Labour Party. For the 2019 general election , the borough was split into two constituencies : Due to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies , the subsequent general election will see Tower Hamlets elect MPs in three constituencies. These are; The data below were taken between 1971 and 2000 at the weather station in Greenwich , around 1 mile (1.6 km) south of the borough's former town hall, at Mulberry Place : By 1891, Tower Hamlets – roughly
1449-624: The Metropolitan Board of Works' area was made the County of London . From 1856 until 1900 the lower tier of local government within the metropolis comprised various parish vestries and district boards . In 1900 the lower tier was reorganised into metropolitan boroughs , including the Metropolitan Borough of Bethnal Green , the Metropolitan Borough of Poplar and the Metropolitan Borough of Stepney . The modern borough
1512-513: The Portsoken. Portsoken later lost its southern, riverside, section and the term East Smithfield was subsequently applied only to the part taken out of the Portsoken. {{{annotations}}} Later, Edward the Confessor confirmed the liberties upon the heirs, and these were again confirmed in the reign of William Rufus . By 1115, during the reign of Henry I , the entire soke , or liberty ,
1575-645: The Precinct of St Katharine. A further monastic house was the Abbey of St Mary Graces (or Eastminster) , but this seems not to have had an administrative unit associated with it. From 1855, the whole area of the former East Smithfield was reunited under the administration of the Whitechapel District . The area was part of the historic (or ancient) county of Middlesex , but military and most (or all) civil county functions were managed more locally, by
1638-400: The Tower garrison — until their expulsion in 1290. It's not entirely clear if the settled in East Smithfield, St Katharine's or both. In common with the neighbouring St Katharine's Precinct , the parish has had a diverse population since the medieval period. This pattern of diversity continued, during the late 16th and early 17th centuries the parish of St Botolph without Aldgate as
1701-479: The United Kingdom. No ethnic group forms a majority of the population; a plurality of residents are white (45%), a little over two thirds of whom are White British. 32% of residents are Bangladeshi , which is the largest ethnic minority group in the borough, with Asians as a whole forming 41% of the population. A smaller proportion are of Black African and Caribbean descent (7%), with Somalis representing
1764-640: The Whitechapel District Board of Works. The parishes (and number of district board members elected) were: The 1855 legislation included the "District of Tower" as part of the Whitechapel District. The Great Tower Hill Act 1869 interpretation of this was Old Tower Without , including within it Great Tower Hill . Under the Metropolis Management Act 1855 any parish that exceeded 2,000 ratepayers
1827-585: The ancient civil parish of Stepney – was already one of the most populated areas in London. Throughout the nineteenth century, the local population increased by an average of 20% every ten years. The building of the docks intensified land use and caused the last marshy areas in the south of the parish to be drained for housing and industry. In the north of the borough, employment was principally in weaving, small household industries like boot and furniture making and new industrial enterprises like Bryant and May . The availability of cheap labour drew in many employers. To
1890-558: The area from Tudor times . The area attracted large numbers of rural people looking for employment. Successive waves of foreign immigration began with Huguenot refugees creating a new extramural suburb in Spitalfields in the 17th century. They were followed by Irish weavers, Ashkenazi Jews and, in the 20th century, Bangladeshis . Many of these immigrants worked in the clothing industry. The abundance of semi- and unskilled labour led to low wages and poor conditions throughout
1953-508: The area of the modern borough, which owed military service to the Tower of London . The local authority is Tower Hamlets London Borough Council . In 2017, a joint study by Trust for London and New Policy Institute found Tower Hamlets to be the 2nd most deprived London borough (after Barking and Dagenham ) based on an average calculated across a range of indicators; with high rates of poverty, child poverty , unemployment and pay inequality compared to other London boroughs. However, it has
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2016-466: The borough has one of the lowest proportions of population over the age of 65 or older in England and Wales, at 5.6%. Tower Hamlets is a religious diverse borough with various places of worship . According to the 2021 census, 39.9% of the population was Muslim , 22.3% Christian , 2.0% Hindu , 1.0% Buddhist , 0.4% Jewish , 0.3% Sikh , 0.5% followed some other religion, 26.6% were not affiliated to
2079-564: The borough have high levels of racial segregation . The Times reported in 2006 that 47 per cent of secondary schools were exclusively non-white, and that 33 per cent had a white majority. About 60 per cent of pupils entering primary and secondary school are Bangladeshi. 78% of primary-school pupils speak English as a second language . The council runs several Idea Stores in the borough, which combine traditional library and computer services with other resources, and are designed to attract more diverse members. The flagship Whitechapel store
2142-428: The borough. The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is the local education authority for state schools within the borough. In January 2008, there were 19,890 primary-school pupils and 15,262 secondary-school pupils attending state schools there. Private-school pupils account for 2.4 per cent of schoolchildren in the borough. In 2010, 51.8 per cent of pupils achieved 5 A*–C GCSEs including Mathematics and English –
2205-606: The canal tow-paths are open to both pedestrians and cyclists. The borough includes open spaces such as Victoria Park , King Edward Memorial Park , Mile End Park , Island Gardens and part of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park . Areas within the borough include: The Canary Wharf complex within Docklands on the Isle of Dogs forms a group of some of the tallest buildings in Europe . One Canada Square
2268-406: The country's largest financial districts, in the south of the borough. A part of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park is in Tower Hamlets. It was formed in 1965 by merger of the former metropolitan boroughs of Stepney , Poplar , and Bethnal Green . 'Tower Hamlets' was originally an alternative name for the historic Tower Division ; the area of south-east Middlesex , focused on (but not limited to)
2331-527: The cravings of hunger". A Pentecost fair was granted in the district in 1229. The Royal Mint moved from the Tower of London , to a site at the end of East Smithfield in 1809. Today, this building, by Robert Smirke and its gatehouse are all that remain; the rest being swept away by continual expansion, until in November 1975, the London Mint was closed and production transferred to Wales . The site
2394-527: The district was in the county of Middlesex , but included in the area of the Metropolitan Board of Works . In 1889 the area of the MBW was constituted the County of London , and the district board became a local authority under the London County Council . The district comprised the following civil parishes . The main function of the parish vestries within the district was to elect the 58 members of
2457-554: The east. The River Lea also forms the boundary between the historic counties of Middlesex and Essex . The borough's Thames frontage extends from the Tower Dock inlet, immediately west of the Tower of London , through several miles of former docklands, including the Isle of Dogs peninsula, to the confluence of the Thames and Lea at Blackwall . Areas along the Thames and Lea flood plains were historically frequently flooded, but
2520-559: The former Royal Mint building in East Smithfield . The local authority is Tower Hamlets Council, based at Tower Hamlets Town Hall on Whitechapel Road . Since 2010 the council has been led by the directly elected Mayor of Tower Hamlets . Since 2000, the borough lies within the City and East constituency, one of fourteen constituencies which make up the London Assembly , and is represented by Unmesh Desai of
2583-458: The garrison. The southern part of East Smithfield was given by Holy Trinity Priory as a site for the Hospital of St Katharine , founded by Matilda (wife of Stephen of England ), in 1148. Further foundations were bestowed by Eleanor (widow of Henry III ) and Philippa (wife of Edward III ). The importance of the hospital was such that the whole of East Smithfield came to be deemed within
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2646-509: The highest paid workers in London, but also has high rates of long-term illness and premature death and the 2nd highest unemployment rate in London. Canary Wharf is home to the many of the world and European headquarters of numerous major banks and professional services firms including Barclays , Citigroup , Clifford Chance , Credit Suisse , Infosys , Fitch Ratings , HSBC , J.P. Morgan , KPMG , MetLife , Morgan Stanley , RBC , Skadden , State Street and Thomson Reuters . Savills ,
2709-452: The highest proportion of Muslims of any English local authority and was the only location where Muslims outnumbered Christians . The borough has more than 40 mosques, Islamic centres and madrasahs , including the East London Mosque , Britain's largest. Whitechapel and Brick Lane 's restaurants, neighbouring street market and shops provide the largest range of Bangladeshi cuisine , woodwork, carpets and clothes in Europe. The Lane
2772-880: The highest proportion of children in poverty of any local authority in the UK at 49% (and as high as 54.5% in the Bethnal Green South ward). Surveys and interviews conducted by the Child Poverty Action group for the council found that the Universal Credit system was deeply unpopular with low-income families in the borough and that most claimants who have used the system found it difficult to understand and experienced frequent payment errors. The East London Advertiser and Social Streets provide local news in print and online. There are also several Bengali print and online newspapers published in
2835-546: The highest results in the borough's history – compared to the national average of 53.4 per cent. Seventy-four per cent achieved 5 A*–C GCSEs for all subjects (the same as the English average); the figure in 1997 was 26 per cent. The percentage of pupils on free school meals in the borough is the highest in England and Wales . In 2007, the council rejected proposals to build a Goldman Sachs -sponsored academy . Schools in
2898-526: The hospital of St Katherin's, with the mills that were founded in King Stephen 's daies, and the outward stone wall, and the new ditch of the Tower, are of the saide fee and liberbertie." The strip of land became known as the Portsoken , an extramural ward of the City of London which originally extended as far south of the Thames. The name East Smithfield - derived from smoothfield - was applied to an area corresponding, either exactly or approximately, to
2961-444: The lowest gap for educational outcomes at secondary level. Tower Hamlets is the first London borough in which the earliest skyscrapers were built, and since 2014 it saw the completion of 71 skyscrapers, more than any other place in the country. Demographically, Tower Hamlets has a large population of British Bangladeshis , forming the largest single ethnic group in the borough at 32%. The 2011 census showed Tower Hamlets to have
3024-743: The name changing to The Highway after quarter of a mile. The street is on the route of both the London Marathon and the London Triathlon . At one time the street was known as Upper East Smithfield with the eastern part of St Katharine's Way (the part within East Smithfield) known as Lower East Smithfield . John Stow recounts the origin of the area from the Liber Trinitae , where the Saxon King Edgar
3087-556: The population growth. This migration peaked at the end of that century and population growth entered a long decline through to the 1960s, as people moved away eastwards to newer suburbs of London and Essex . The area's population had neared 600,000 around the end of the nineteenth century, but fell to a low of less than 140,000 by the early 1980s. The metropolitan boroughs suffered very badly during World War II , during which considerable numbers of houses were destroyed or damaged beyond use due to heavy aerial bombing . This coincided with
3150-401: The second-largest minority ethnic group. Those of mixed ethnic backgrounds form 4%, while other ethnic groups form 2%. The White British proportion was recorded as 31.2% in the 2011 UK Census, a decrease from 42.9% in 2001. In 2018, Tower Hamlets had the lowest life expectancy and the highest rate of heart disease of all London boroughs, along with Newham . The 2021 census found that
3213-427: The south, employment was in the docks and related industries – such as chandlery and rope making. By the middle of the nineteenth century, the district now recognised as Tower Hamlets was characterised by overcrowding and poverty. The construction of the railways caused many more displaced people to settle in the area, and a massive influx of Eastern European Jews at the latter part of the nineteenth century added to
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#17327648723603276-480: The worst poverty in Britain. The area of the modern borough had historically been part of the hundred of Ossulstone in county of Middlesex . Ossulstone was subsequently divided into four divisions, one of which was the Tower Division , also known as the Tower Hamlets, which covered a larger area than the modern borough, also including parts of Hackney . From at least the 17th century the Tower Division
3339-520: The writer Pierce Egan wrote a semi-autobiographical account of a visit to the Coach and Horses public house on Nightingale Lane (now called Sir Thomas More Street) in East Smithfield. The story tells of three upper class friends who tiring of high society events decide to “see a bit of life at the East End of Town”. Egan compares the East Ends informal egalitarian nightlife favourably to the formality of
3402-466: Was a liberty with judicial and administrative independence from the rest of the county. The liberty appears to have arisen from much older obligations on inhabitants of the area to provide military service to the Constable of the Tower of London . From 1856 the area was governed by the Metropolitan Board of Works , which was established to provide services across the metropolis of London. In 1889
3465-499: Was a local government district within the metropolitan area of London , England from 1855 to 1900. The district was formed by the Metropolis Management Act 1855 and was governed by the Whitechapel District Board of Works , which consisted of 58 elected vestrymen . The district contained a number of small parishes in the East End of London that were considered too small to be self governing. Until 1889
3528-510: Was built in the 1950s for those that remained. The closure of the last of the East End docks in the Port of London in 1980 created further challenges and led to attempts at regeneration and the formation of the London Docklands Development Corporation . The Canary Wharf development, improved infrastructure, and the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park mean that the East End is undergoing further change, but some of its districts continue to see some of
3591-607: Was created in 1965 under the London Government Act 1963 . It was a merger of the old boroughs of Bethnal Green, Poplar and Stepney, and was named Tower Hamlets after the historic liberty. Tower Hamlets is in East London, north of the River Thames . The City of London lies to the west, the London Borough of Hackney to the north, while the River Lea forms the boundary with the London Borough of Newham to
3654-417: Was designed by David Adjaye , and cost £16 million to build. Mile End Stadium within Mile End Park hosts an athletics stadium and facilities for football and basketball . Two football clubs, Tower Hamlets F.C. (formerly Bethnal Green United) and Sporting Bengal United F.C. , are based there, playing in the Essex Senior Football League . Whitechapel District (Metropolis) Whitechapel
3717-420: Was given to the church of Holy Trinity within Aldgate, which had been founded in 1107 by Matilda , Henry's Queen. The prior of the Abbey was then to sit as an ex officio Alderman of London. The gift was not without problems. The Constable of the Tower , Geoffrey de Mandeville had cultivated a piece of ground in East Smithfield, adjacent to the Tower, as a vineyard. He refused to give it up and defended it with
3780-402: Was gloriously performed; and the same day the King named it Knighten Guilde , and so bounded it from Ealdgate ( Aldgate ) to the place where the bars now are toward the east, &c. and again toward the south unto to the river of Thames, and so into the water, and throw his speare; so that all East Smithfield, with the right part of the street that goeth by Dodding Pond into the Thames and also
3843-408: Was once characterised by rural settlements clustered around the City walls or along the main roads, surrounded by farmland, with marshes and small communities by the River, serving the needs of shipping and the Royal Navy . Until the arrival of formal docks, shipping was required to land goods in the Pool of London , but industries related to construction, repair, and victualling of ships flourished in
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#17327648723603906-399: Was petitioned by 13 knights to grant them the wasteland to the East of the city wall , desiring to form a guild. The request was said to be granted on condition that each knight should "accomplish three combats, one above the ground, one below the ground, and the third in the water; after this, at a certain day in East Smithfield, they should run with spears against all comers; all of which
3969-411: Was the first to be constructed and is the third tallest in London. Nearby are the HSBC Tower , Citigroup Centres and One Churchill Place , headquarters of Barclays Bank . Within the same complex are the Heron Quays offices. Part of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park , developed for the London 2012 Olympics , lies within the borders of Tower Hamlets. The Embassy of China in London will move into
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