83-539: Hale End is a locality in East London in the borough of Waltham Forest , very near Woodford Green , two miles from Tottenham and one mile from Walthamstow . It adjoins Highams Park in the E4 postal district. Much of Highams Park until the late 19th century used to be called Hale End. Hale End railway station was opened in 1873 and renamed Highams Park-Hale End railway station in 1894. The area of Waltham Forest within
166-581: A byword for wider East London , before East London grew further still, east of the River Lea and into Essex . The contrast between the east and west ends was stark, in 1797 the Prussian writer and historian Archenholz wrote: (The east)...especially along the shores of the Thames, consists of old houses, the streets there are narrow, dark, and ill paved; inhabited by sailors and other workmen... and by
249-556: A byword for wider East London, before East London grew further still, east of the River Lea and into Essex . The area was notorious for its deep poverty, overcrowding and associated social problems. This led to the East End's history of intense political activism and association with some of the country's most influential social reformers. Another major theme of East End history has been migration, both inward and outward. The area had
332-544: A city in its own right, on account of its large size and social disengagement from the rest of London. The majority of the rail network in East London was built within fifty years from 1839. The first through the area was the Eastern Counties Railway from Mile End to Romford, extended to Shoreditch in 1840. The London and Blackwall Railway built a line from Minories to Blackwall the same year and
415-588: A great part of the Jews. The contrast between this and the west is astonishing Writing of the period around 1800, Rev. Richardson commented on the estrangements between the east and west: The inhabitants of the extreme east of London knew nothing of the western localities and vice-versa. There was little communication or sympathy between the two ends of London. …and thus the householders of Westminster were as distinct from householders of Bishopsgate Without , Shoreditch and all those localities which stretch towards
498-541: A local landmark that remained until it was demolished to improve access for the London City Airport . The first railway (the " Commercial Railway ") to be built, in 1840, was a passenger service based on cable haulage by stationary steam engines that ran the 3.5 mi (5.6 km) from Minories to Blackwall on a pair of tracks. It required 14 mi (22.5 km) of hemp rope , and "dropped" carriages as it arrived at stations, which were reattached to
581-469: A major manufacturing town, with 30,000 houses built between 1871 and 1901. Soon afterwards, East Ham was built up to serve the new Gas Light and Coke Company and Bazalgette's grand sewage works at Beckton . The years 1885–1909 saw a series of transportation milestones achieved in Walthamstow. In 1885, John Kemp Starley designed the first modern bicycle, while in 1892 Frederick Bremer built
664-677: A major railway centre for the North London Railway , with marshalling yards and a maintenance depot serving both the City and the West India docks. Nearby Bow railway station opened in 1850 and was rebuilt in 1870 in a grand style, featuring a concert hall. The line and yards closed in 1944, after severe bomb damage, and never reopened, as goods became less significant, and cheaper facilities were concentrated in Essex. The River Lea
747-627: A palace at Bethnal Green , King John is reputed to have established a palace at Bow and Henry VIII established a hunting lodge at Bromley Hall . The rural population of the area grew considerably in the Medieval period, despite reductions caused by the Norman Conquest and the Black Death. The pattern of agricultural settlement in south-east England was typically of dispersed farmhouses, rather than nucleated villages. However
830-404: A professionally catered cafeteria, recreational spaces, and classrooms. The internationally recognised setup is one of the most successful in football history; producing a high rate of professional footballers, and a high count of internationally capped footballers . East London East London is the northeastern part of London , England, east of the ancient City of London and north of
913-470: A series forming the basis for London Labour and the London Poor (1851), that the trades in the area included tailors, costermongers , shoemakers, dustmen, sawyers, carpenters, cabinet makers and silkweavers. He noted that in the area: roads were unmade, often mere alleys, houses small and without foundations, subdivided and often around unpaved courts. An almost total lack of drainage and sewerage
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#1732782772933996-515: A strong pull on the rural poor from other parts of England, and attracted waves of migration from further afield, notably Huguenot refugees, Irish weavers, Ashkenazi Jews , and, in the 20th century, Bengalis . The closure of the last of the Port of London's East End docks in 1980 created further challenges and led to attempts at regeneration, with Canary Wharf and the Olympic Park among
1079-521: Is 55.4% Christian , 21.3% No religion , 12.1% Muslim , 1.5% Hindu , 0.7% Buddhist , 0.6% Jewish , 0.4% Sikh , 0.1% Agnostic . 87.2% of people living in Hale End and Highams Park speak English. The other top languages spoken are 1.3% Urdu , 1.2% Polish , 1.0% Turkish , 0.9% Romanian , 0.6% Tamil , 0.6% Punjabi , 0.6% Lithuanian , 0.5% Spanish , 0.5% Bengali . The Arsenal F.C. Academy (referred to by its geographical location of Hale End)
1162-496: Is based at Wadham Road, and acts as the hub for Arsenal's youth system . As one of the best funded football academies in the world, the campus houses state-of-the-art facilities. This includes several open sky 4G pitches , an indoor football complex (within the David Rocastle Indoor Sports Hall); coaching, medical & rehabilitation facilities; sport science, analytics & administrative offices;
1245-503: Is generally the lowest elevated of London's four cardinal points because of the wide Thames that runs here; the only hills here are in northern areas distant from the river in the boroughs of Havering, Redbridge and Waltham Forest. In Tower Hamlets, the population peaked in 1891 and growth was restricted to the outer boroughs. By 1971 the population was declining in every borough. By the 2011 United Kingdom census, this had reversed and every borough had undergone some growth in population. At
1328-743: Is governed by a London borough council local authority. Barking and Dagenham, Hackney, Havering, Newham and Redbridge are members of the East London Waste Authority . Some local government functions are held by the Greater London Authority , made up of the Mayor of London and the London Assembly . East London is located in the lower Thames valley. The major rivers of East London are the Thames that forms
1411-587: Is regarded as the symbolic start of the East End. On the river, the Tower Dock inlet, just west of the Tower of London and Tower Bridge marks the beginning of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets and its older predecessors. Beyond these reference points, the East End has no official or generally accepted boundaries; views vary as to how much of wider East London lies within it. In extending from
1494-515: Is sometimes used as a synonym for the area. The East End began to emerge in the Middle Ages with initially slow urban growth outside the eastern walls, which later accelerated, especially in the 19th century, to absorb pre-existing settlements. The first known written record of the East End as a distinct entity, as opposed to its component parts, comes from John Strype 's 1720 Survey of London , which describes London as consisting of four parts:
1577-469: Is thought to pre-date that by centuries. These landholdings would become the basis of the Ancient Parishes and City Wards which, by occasional fission and mergers, developed into the administrative units of today. Five monastic institutions, centres of learning and charity, were established just outside the walls: Bedlam , Holywell Priory , The New Hospital of St Mary without Bishopsgate ,
1660-497: Is to add to Tower Hamlets the former parish and borough of Shoreditch (including Hoxton and Haggerston ), which is now the southern part of the modern London Borough of Hackney . Other commentators prefer a definition broader still, encompassing districts such as West Ham , East Ham , Leyton , Walthamstow , parts or all of Hackney (the district, rather than the larger modern borough) and Ilford . The wider East London area might be said to comprise, or approximate to,
1743-462: Is uncertain, but is known to be an ancient name. The concept of East London as a distinct area is a relatively recent innovation. John Strype 's map of 1720 describes London as consisting of four parts: The City of London , Westminster , Southwark and That Part Beyond the Tower . From the late 19th century the term East End of London was used to describe areas immediately adjacent to the City in
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#17327827729331826-684: The Abbey of the Minoresses of St. Clare without Aldgate , Eastminster near the Tower, and St Katherine's on the Thames. Bromley was home to St Leonards Priory and Barking Abbey , important as a religious centre since Norman times was where William the Conqueror had first established his English court. Further east the Cistercian Stratford Langthorne Abbey became the court of Henry III in 1267 for
1909-740: The Elizabeth line . There are road tunnels at Rotherhithe and Blackwall , with the Woolwich Ferry further east. There are foot tunnels to Greenwich and Woolwich . In 1870, the Tower Subway cable railway tunnel was converted to pedestrian use; it was closed in 1898, following the opening of Tower Bridge. A cable car service opened in 2012. 51°33′N 0°6′E / 51.550°N 0.100°E / 51.550; 0.100 ( East London ) East End of London The East End of London , often referred to within
1992-528: The Essex side of the city, as they are from the inhabitants of Holland or Belgium. The East End has always contained some of London's poorest areas. The main reasons for this include: In medieval times trades were carried out in workshops in and around the owners' premises in the City. By the time of the Great Fire of London in 1666 these were becoming industries, and some were particularly noisome, such as
2075-650: The Great Fire of London , and Captain Cook moved from Shadwell to Stepney Green , where a school and assembly rooms had been established (commemorated by Assembly Passage , and a plaque on the site of Cook's house on the Mile End Road). Mile End Old Town also acquired some fine buildings, and the New Town began to be built. By 1882, Walter Besant was able to describe East London as a city in its own right, on account of its large size and social disengagement from
2158-513: The Moorfields countryside. These boundaries remained consistent after urbanisation and so might be said to delineate east and north London. The boundary line, with very slight modifications, has also become the boundary between the modern London Boroughs of Hackney and Islington . Building accelerated in the late 16th century, and the area that would later become known as the East End began to take shape. Writing in 1603, John Stow described
2241-598: The Northern and Eastern Railway connected Lea Bridge and Tottenham with the Eastern Counties at Stratford. The Eastern Counties and Thames Junction Railway started passenger service on their line from Stratford to Canning Town, Custom House and North Woolwich in 1847. This made Stratford a significant railway junction and location of railway works. The East & West India Docks & Birmingham Junction Railway connected Kingsland with Bow and Poplar in 1850 and
2324-616: The Peabody Trust were formed to provide homes for the poor and to clear the slums generally. Expansion by the railway companies, such as the London and Blackwall Railway and Great Eastern Railway , caused large areas of slum housing to be demolished. The Housing of the Working Classes Act 1890 ( 53 & 54 Vict. c. 70), gave local authorities, notably London County Council , new powers and responsibilities and led to
2407-559: The River Thames as it begins to widen. East London developed as London's docklands and the primary industrial centre. The expansion of railways in the 19th century encouraged the eastward expansion of the East End of London and a proliferation of new suburbs. The industrial lands of East London are today an area of regeneration, which are well advanced in places such as Canary Wharf and ongoing elsewhere. The etymology of London
2490-599: The Royal Victoria Dock (1855), able to berth vessels of up to 8000 tons; Royal Albert Dock (1880), up to 12,000 tons; and King George V Dock (1921), up to 30,000 tons, on the estuary marshes helped extend the continuous development of London across the Lea into Essex. The railways gave access to a passenger terminal at Gallions Reach and new suburbs created in West Ham , which quickly became
2573-471: The SS Great Eastern , designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel , was launched from the yard of Messrs Scott Russell & Co , of Millwall . The 692 ft (211 m) vessel was too long to fit across the river, and so the ship had to be launched sideways. Due to the technical difficulties of the launch, after this, shipbuilding on the Thames went into a long decline. Ships continued to be built at
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2656-568: The Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company at Blackwall and Canning Town until the yard closed in 1913, shortly after the launch of the Dreadnought Battleship HMS Thunderer (1911) . Heading eastward from the Tower of London lie six and a half mile of former docklands; the most central of the docks – just east of the Tower, is St Katharine Docks , built in 1828 to accommodate luxury goods. This
2739-714: The Tower Division , which had owed military service to the Constable of the Tower (in his ex-officio role as Lord Lieutenant of the Tower Hamlets ) for time immemorial, having its roots in the Bishop of London's historic Manor of Stepney . This made the Constable an influential figure in the civil and military affairs of the early East End. Later, as London grew further, the fully urbanised Tower Division became
2822-604: The West Indies was unloaded directly into quayside warehouses. Ships were limited to 6000 tons. The old Brunswick Dock, a shipyard at Blackwall became the basis for the East India Company 's East India Docks established there in 1806. The Millwall Docks were created in 1868, predominantly for the import of grain and timber. These docks housed the first purpose built granary for the Baltic grain market ,
2905-430: The 16th century and the area that would later become known as the East End began to take shape. Until about 1700, London did not extend far beyond the walled boundaries of the City of London. However, the population in the parishes to the east of the City of London was rising and this led to a need to break up the large ancient parish of Stepney into smaller units to provide adequate religious and civil administration. It
2988-439: The 2021 census Barking and Dagenham, Havering and Redbridge surpassed their earlier population peaks. The total population of this area in 2021 was 1.9 million people. The population change between 1801 and 2021 was as follows: The City of London and West London are connected to South London by more than thirty bridges, but East London is only connected by Tower Bridge at its innermost edge. The reasons for this include
3071-458: The Bishop of London's Manor of Stepney . The Manor's lands were the basis of a later unit called the Tower Division, or Tower Hamlets which extended as far north as Stamford Hill . It is thought that the manor was held by the Bishop of London , in compensation for his duties in maintaining and garrisoning the Tower of London . The oldest recorded reference to this obligation is from 1554, but it
3154-404: The City of London, Westminster , Southwark , and "That Part beyond the Tower". The relevance of Strype's reference to the Tower was more than geographical. The East End was the urbanised part of an administrative area called the Tower Division , which had owed military service to the Tower of London since time immemorial. Later, as London grew further, the fully urbanised Tower Division became
3237-402: The East End as a distinct entity, rather than a collection of parishes, when he describes London as consisting of four parts: the City of London, Westminster , Southwark , and "That Part beyond the Tower" . The relevance of Strype's reference to the Tower was more than geographical. The East End (including the Tower and its Liberties ) was the urbanised part of an administrative area called
3320-576: The East End rather than in the crowded streets of the City. In 1817 the Lower Moorfields was built on and the gap with Finsbury was fully closed, and in the late 19th century development across the Lea in West Ham began in earnest. As time went on, large estates began to be split up, ending the constraining effect of short-term copyhold. Estates of fine houses for captains, merchants and owners of manufacturers began to be built. Samuel Pepys moved his family and goods to Bethnal Green during
3403-687: The London area simply as the East End , is the historic core of wider East London , east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames . It does not have universally accepted boundaries on its north and east sides, though the River Lea is sometimes seen as the eastern boundary. Parts of it may be regarded as lying within Central London (though that term too has no precise definition). The term "East of Aldgate Pump "
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3486-655: The Thames and east of the City of London that stretched as far as Chingford and Epping Forest, which was similar to the definition used by Robert Sinclair in 1950 that stretched east to include Barking and Dagenham. This broadly matched the Metropolitan Police District east of the city and north of the Thames at that time, and now corresponds to the boroughs of Barking and Dagenham, Hackney, Havering, Newham, Redbridge, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest in Greater London . The East End of London ,
3569-623: The Tower division of Middlesex. Charles Booth in 1889 defined East London as the County of London between the City of London and the River Lea . In 1902, Booth considered this area to be the "true East End", and his attention had been drawn eastward over the Lea into the Borough of West Ham , which was then outside London, and geographically in Essex, but under the authority of neither; in 1857 Charles Dickens termed it "London-over-the-Border". Walter Besant described East London as an area north of
3652-506: The Walthamstow line in 1873 and extended to Chingford. The London and Blackwall built an extension to Millwall and North Greenwich on the Isle of Dogs in 1872 and the Eastern Counties and Thames Junction Railway was extended to Beckton in 1873, and Gallions in 1880. The London, Tilbury and Southend Railway connected Barking with Dagenham, Hornchurch and Upminster in 1885, and Romford with Upminster in 1893. The final piece of original railway works
3735-556: The Woodford Green IG8 postcode is, in particular, most often referred to as Hale End. Population: 11,355 (Hale End and Highams Park ward, 2011 census) Originally the name Hale End covered a larger part of this part of London stretching from the North Circular Road (Wadham Bridge) all the way down to Clivedon Road, and to Sheriden Road approaching Chingford Hatch next to Highams Park Lake, but this changed at
3818-399: The beginning of the twentieth century when much of the area was renamed "Highams Park". Many references about the history of Highams Park are about Walthamstow ("Highams Benstead a hamlet of Walthamstow" also previously known as Haysham Town located just over a mile from Highams Park present location "The former Hale End"). Old maps give detail to this fact. The area was a clearing originally in
3901-822: The building of new philanthropic housing such as Blackwall Buildings and Great Eastern Buildings. By 1890, official slum clearance programmes had begun. These included the creation of the world's first council housing, the LCC Boundary Estate , which replaced the neglected and crowded streets of Friars Mount, better known as The Old Nichol Street Rookery. Between 1918 and 1939 the LCC continued replacing East End housing with five- or six-storey flats, despite residents preferring houses with gardens and opposition from shopkeepers who were forced to relocate to new, more expensive premises. The Second World War brought an end to further slum clearance. Industries associated with
3984-399: The cable for the return journey, the train "reassembling" itself at the terminus. The line was converted to standard gauge in 1859, and steam locomotives adopted. The building of London termini at Fenchurch Street (1841), and Bishopsgate (1840) provided access to new suburbs across the River Lea , again resulting in the destruction of housing and increased overcrowding in the slums. After
4067-458: The defence of Aldgate and the nearby walls. The land inside and outside Bishopsgate seems to have been the responsibility of the Bishop of London (the Bishop of the East Saxons ), who was promoting building in the underdeveloped eastern side of the walled area, and who may also have had a role in defending Bishopsgate itself. Apart from parts of Shoreditch, the rest of the area was part of
4150-471: The district, the abundance of cheap labour was turned to boot, furniture and clothing manufacture. Globe Town continued its expansion into the 1860s, long after the silk industry's decline. During the 19th century, building on an ad hoc basis could not keep up with the expanding population's needs. Henry Mayhew visited Bethnal Green in 1850 and wrote for the Morning Chronicle , as a part of
4233-494: The first British motorcar in a workshop in his garden. The London General Omnibus Company built the first mass-produced buses there, the B-type from 1908 onwards and in 1909, A V Roe successfully tested the first all-British aeroplane on Walthamstow Marshes . The East End has historically suffered from poor housing stock and infrastructure. From the 1950s, the area was a microcosm of the structural and social changes affecting
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#17327827729334316-776: The forest called ‘North End’ or ‘Wood End’. In 1285 a Walter de la Hale lived there but "Hale End" became used as the name only in the 17th when a Thomas Hale lived there. In the 2011 Census the population of Hale End and Highams Park was 11,355 and is made up of approximately 52% females and 48% males. The average age of people in Hale End and Highams Park is 36, while the median age is 36. 76.5% of people living in Hale End and Highams Park were born in England . Other top answers for country of birth were 2.3% Pakistan , 1.1% Jamaica , 1.1% Ireland , 0.9% India , 0.8% Scotland , 0.7% South America , 0.5% Sri Lanka , 0.5% Nigeria , 0.5% Wales . The religious make-up of Hale End and Highams Park
4399-515: The line of the former walls, the area is taken to include the small ancient extramural City wards of Bishopsgate Without and the Portsoken (as established until 21st century boundary reviews). The various channels of the River Lea are sometimes viewed as the eastern boundary. Beyond the small eastern extramural wards, the narrowest definition restricts the East End to the modern London Borough of Tower Hamlets . A more common preference
4482-457: The longstanding presence of that open space separating the emerging East End from the western and small northern suburb must have helped shape the different economic character of the areas and perceptions of their distinct identity (see map below). Shoreditch's boundary with the parish of St Luke's (which, like its predecessor St Giles-without-Cripplegate served the Finsbury area ) ran through
4565-448: The marshy area of Pimlico . These docks imported tobacco, wine, wool and other goods into guarded warehouses within high walls (some of which still remain). They were able to berth over 300 sailing vessels simultaneously, but by 1971 they closed, no longer able to accommodate modern shipping. The West India Docks were established in 1803, providing berths for larger ships and a model for future London dock building. Imported produce from
4648-564: The most successful examples. Paradoxically, while some parts of the East End are undergoing rapid change and are amongst the areas with the highest mean salary in the UK, it also continues to contain some of the worst poverty in Great Britain. The East End lies east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames . Aldgate Pump on the edge of the City
4731-482: The navy is recorded at Ratcliff in 1354, with shipfitting and repair carried out in Blackwall by 1485 and a major fishing port developed downstream at Barking to provide fish for the City. These and other factors meant that industries relating to construction, repair, and victualling of naval and merchant ships flourished in the area but the City of London retained its right to land the goods, until 1799. Growth
4814-472: The old core of modern East London, began with the medieval growth of London beyond the city walls , along the Roman roads leading from Bishopsgate and Aldgate , and also along the river. Growth was much slower in the east, and the modest extensions there were separated from the much larger suburbs in the west by the marshy open area of Moorfields adjacent to the wall on the north side, which discouraged development in that direction. Urbanisation accelerated in
4897-475: The opening of Liverpool Street station (1874), Bishopsgate railway station became a goods yard, in 1881, to bring imports from Eastern ports. With the introduction of containerisation, the station declined, suffered a fire in 1964 that destroyed the station buildings, and it was finally demolished in 2004 for the extension of the East London Line . In the 19th century, the area north of Bow Road became
4980-474: The presence of the city and maritime trades as a market for goods and services led to a thriving mixed economy in the countryside of the Manor of Stepney. This led to large settlements, inhabited mostly by tradesmen (rather than farmers) to develop along the major roads forming hamlets such as Mile End and Bow. These settlements would expand and merge with the development radiating out from London itself. Geography
5063-455: The processing of urine for the tanning industry, or required large amounts of space, such as drying clothes after process and dying in fields known as tentergrounds . Some were dangerous, such as the manufacture of gunpowder or the proving of guns. These activities came to be performed outside the City walls in the near suburbs of the East End. Later, when lead-making and bone-processing for soap and china came to be established, they too located in
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#17327827729335146-545: The rest of the capital. As the area became built up and more crowded, the wealthy sold their plots for subdivision and moved further afield. Into the 18th and 19th centuries, there were still attempts to build fine houses, for example Tredegar Square (1830), and the open fields around Mile End New Town were used for the construction of estates of workers' cottages in 1820. This was designed in 1817 in Birmingham by Anthony Hughes and finally constructed in 1820. Globe Town
5229-476: The sea developed throughout the East End, including rope making and shipbuilding. The former location of roperies can still be identified from their long straight, narrow profile in the modern streets, for instance Ropery Street near Mile End . Shipbuilding for the navy is recorded at Ratcliff in 1354, with shipfitting and repair carried out in Blackwall by 1485. On 31 January 1858, the largest ship of that time,
5312-553: The southern boundary; the Lea which forms the boundary of Tower Hamlets/Hackney with Newham/Waltham Forest; the Roding which approximately forms the boundary of Newham with Barking and Dagenham/Redbridge; and the Beam which forms the boundary of Barking and Dagenham with Havering. The marshes along the Thames which once stretched from Wapping to Rainham are almost completely gone. East London
5395-422: The squalid riverside development, extending nearly as far as Ratcliff , which had developed mostly within his lifetime. The polluted nature of the area was noted by Sir William Petty in 1676, at a time when unpleasant smells were considered a vector of disease. He called for London's centre of gravity to move further west from the City towards Westminster , upwind what he called "the fumes steams and stinks of
5478-429: The two eastern wards of the City, the former Tower Division and those parts of London east of the Lea. The East End developed along the Thames, and beyond Bishopsgate and Aldgate , the gates in the city wall that lay east of the little Walbrook river. These gates, first built with the wall in the late second or early third centuries, secured the entrance of pre-existing roads (the modern A10 and A11/A12 ) into
5561-415: The urban footprint was constrained in 1878 by the protection of Epping Forest and later the implementation of the Metropolitan Green Belt . The density of development increased during the interwar period , and new industries developed, such as Ford at Dagenham . The industries declined in the later part of the 20th century (and earlier), but East London is now an area of regeneration. London Docklands
5644-454: The visitation of the Papal legates , and it was here that he made peace with the barons under the terms of the Dictum of Kenilworth . It became the fifth largest Abbey in the country, visited by monarchs and providing a retreat (and a final resting place) for the nobility. Edward I held his parliament at Stepney in 1299. The lands east of the City have sometimes been used as hunting grounds for bishops and royalty. The Bishop of London had
5727-514: The walled area. The walls were such a constraint to growth, that the position of the gates has been fundamental to the shaping of the capital, especially in the then suburbs outside the wall. The walled City was built on two hills separated by the Walbrook , Ludgate Hill to the west and Cornhill (of which Tower Hill is a shoulder), to the east. During the Anglo-Saxon period the two sides were under separate administration and had distinct economies, character, customs and regulations. Even beyond
5810-403: The walls, the Walbrook separated landholdings, with the Soke of Cripplegate to the west and the Soke of Bishopsgate to the east. The western side was more populous and prosperous, it had the cathedral, the royal palace (which later moved to Westminster) and its large market, Westcheap, was focussed on land-based trade. The east was poorer and more sparsely settled; its smaller market, Eastcheap,
5893-512: The whole easterly pyle" . In 1703 Joel Gascoyne published his map of the parish of St Dunstan Stepney, which occupied much of the East End area. He was commissioned to do so by the Vestry (local government) of the parish, who needed such a map for administrative purposes. The map shows Stepney divided into Hamlets , these were territorial sub-divisions, rather than small villages, and later became independent daughter parishes in their own right. In 1720 John Strype gives us our first record of
5976-598: The widening of the River Thames as it gets further east, and also the need, until relatively recently, to avoid impediments to the river traffic of the strategic London Docklands . Until the end of the 20th century the East was connected to the South by just one railway line, the East London Line . The Jubilee Line Extension opened in 1999, was supplemented by extensions to the Docklands Light Railway and
6059-541: Was a constraint to eastward expansion, but the Metropolitan Building Act of 1844 led to growth over that river into West Ham . The Act restricted the operation of dangerous and noxious industries from in the metropolitan area, the eastern boundary of which was the Lea . Consequently, many of these activities were relocated to the banks of the river. The building of the Royal Docks consisting of
6142-399: Was a major factor influencing the character of the developing East End; prevailing winds flow, like the river, west to east. The flow of the river led to the maritime trades concentrating in the east and the prevailing wind encouraged the most polluting industries to concentrate eastwards. Metal working industries are recorded between Aldgate and Bishopsgate in the 1300s and ship building for
6225-475: Was built by clearing the slums that lay in the area of the former Hospital of St Katharine . They were not successful commercially, as they were unable to accommodate the largest ships, and in 1864, management of the docks was amalgamated with that of the London Docks. The London Docks were built in 1805, and the waste soil and rubble from the construction was carried by barge to west London, to build up
6308-760: Was defined in the 1980s as the area of redevelopment under the control of the London Docklands Development Corporation . The Thames Gateway extends into East London with two areas of activity: the Lower Lea Valley around the Olympic site and London Riverside adjacent to the Thames. There are seven London boroughs that cover areas of Greater London to the north of the Thames and east of the City of London. They are Barking and Dagenham, Hackney, Havering, Newham, Redbridge, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest. Each London borough
6391-452: Was established from 1800 to provide for the expanding population of weavers around Bethnal Green, attracted by improving prospects in silk weaving. Bethnal Green's population trebled between 1801 and 1831, with 20,000 looms being operated in people's own homes. By 1824, with restrictions on importation of French silks relaxed, up to half these looms had become idle, and prices were driven down. With many importing warehouses already established in
6474-638: Was made worse by the ponds formed by the excavation of brickearth. Pigs and cows in back yards, noxious trades like boiling tripe, melting tallow, or preparing cat's meat, and slaughter houses, dustheaps, and 'lakes of putrefying night soil ' added to the filth A movement began to clear the slums. Burdett-Coutts built Columbia Market in 1869 and the Artisans' and Labourers' Dwellings Improvement Act 1875 passed in 1876 to provide powers to seize slums from landlords and to provide access to public funds to build new housing. Philanthropic housing associations such as
6557-473: Was much slower in the east, than in the large western suburb , with the modest eastern suburb separated from the much smaller northern extension by Moorfields adjacent to the wall on the north side. Moorfields was an open area with a marshy chararacter due to London's Wall acting as a dam, impeding the flow of the Walbrook and restricting development in that direction. Moorfields remained open until 1817, and
6640-407: Was renamed North London Railway in 1853. In 1854 the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway connected Forest Gate on the Eastern Counties with Barking and Rainham. The East London Railway was opened in 1869. The Great Eastern Railway connected Lea Bridge with Walthamstow in 1870, and in 1872 built a connection from the Eastern Counties line at Bethnal Green to Hackney Downs. This was connected to
6723-495: Was sited near the river to allow it to specialise in seaborne trade. These intramural distinctions would persist, if less markedly, and influence the development that subsequently occurred beyond the walls. Beyond the wall, the landholdings which would ultimately shape modern administrative divisions were in place before Domesday. The land outside Aldgate was held by the Cnichtengild , a fighting organisation responsible for
6806-612: Was the construction of the Great Eastern loop line to connect Woodford with Ilford via Fairlop in 1903. Areas further east developed in the Victorian and Edwardian eras after the expansion of the railways in the 19th century. Development of suburban houses for private sale was later matched by the provision of large-scale social housing at Becontree in the 1920s and Harold Hill after the Second World War . However,
6889-455: Was the industries associated with the River Thames , such as shipbuilding and the docks, that encouraged growth in the east, and by 1650, Shadwell was a developed maritime settlement. The docks in Tower Hamlets started to reach capacity in the early 19th century, and in 1855 the Royal Victoria Dock was opened in Newham. By 1882, Walter Besant and others, were able to describe East London as
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