Stepney

Stepney is a district in the East End of London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The district is not officially defined, and is usually used to refer to a relatively small area, however for much its history the place name applied to a much larger manor and parish. Stepney Green is a remnant of a larger area of Common Land formerly known as Mile End Green.[2]

For other uses, see Stepney (disambiguation).

Stepney

Top from left: St. Dunstan's Church; Stepney Green tube station. Middle from left: Genesis cinema; Half Moon pub. Bottom from left: Stepney Green; route 135 at Arbour Square.
Stepney
Location within Greater London
Population16,238 (2011 census. St Dunstan's and Stepney Green Ward)[1]
OS grid referenceTQ355814
• Charing Cross3.6 mi (5.8 km) WSW
London borough
Ceremonial countyGreater London
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townLONDON
Postcode districtE1, E14
Dialling code020
PoliceMetropolitan
FireLondon
AmbulanceLondon
UK Parliament
London Assembly

The area was built up rapidly in the 19th century, mainly to accommodate immigrant workers and displaced London poor, and developed a reputation for poverty, overcrowding, violence and political dissent.[3] It was severely damaged during the Blitz, with over a third of housing totally destroyed; and then, in the 1960s, slum clearance and development replaced most residential streets with tower blocks and modern housing estates. Some Georgian architecture and Victorian era terraced housing survive in patches: for example Arbour Square, the eastern side of Stepney Green, and the streets around Matlock Street.[3][4]

Etymology

The first surviving record of the place name is from around 1000 AD as Stybbanhyð, "Stybba's hyð"; hyð developed into hithe (meaning landing-place) in modern English, so "Stybba's landing-place". The parish of Stebbing in Essex also appears to have taken its name from an individual called Stybba.[5] The hithe itself is thought to have been at Ratcliff, just under half a mile south of St Dunstans Church.[6]

Changing Scope

The area is not officially defined, but is usually used to refer to a relatively small area; originally however, Stepney was a very large manor and Ancient Parish which covered most of what would become the East End. From 1900-1965 the place-name was again applied to a broader area, the Metropolitan Borough of Stepney which in 1965 became the south-west part of the new London Borough of Tower Hamlets which currently administers the area.[3] There is currently a Stepney episcopal area in the Anglican Diocese of London, which covers the London boroughs of Hackney, Islington and Tower Hamlets, and has its own suffragan bishop.[7]

Manor and Ancient Parish

For hundreds of years the term Stepney referred to the Manor and Ancient Parish of Stepney. The first contemporary record of the Manor is around the year 1000, it covered an area equivalent to the modern borough of Tower Hamlets, as well as the district of Hackney (in the wider modern borough of the same name). The origins of the Manor are not known, but its large size, relatively rich soils and position adjacent to the walls of London have led to suggestions that the manor was the foundation grant of land made to the Bishop of London to support the creation of the new diocese of London (the East Saxon see) at the time of the establishment of St Paul's Cathedral in 604 AD.[8]

St Dunstan's church is recorded (not contemporaneously) as having been founded in 952, and as the first church in the manor, will have served the whole of that landholding. The proto-parish of Stepney will therefore have covered the same area as the manor. A church at Hackney is first mentioned in 1275 but is likely to have been in place for some time before then. From the early 1100s, greater enforcement of Canon law made it difficult to form new parishes[9] so Hackney is likely to have formed a distinct parish by this time, however it remained a sub-manor of Stepney. It was usual for one or more manors to form a parish, but the manor of Stepney's great size meant that this was reversed with two parishes (Stepney and Hackney) serving the single manor of Stepney. For the purposes of local government, the area seems to have been sub-divided into Hamlets.[10]

Manor

The Domesday Book survey of 1086 gives the name as Stibanhede and says that the land was held by the Bishop of London and was 32 hides large, mainly used for ploughing, meadows, woodland for 500 pigs, and 4 mills. There were over 100 serfs, split between villeins who ploughed the land, and cottars who assisted the villeins in return for a hut or cottage.

Bishop William held this land in demesne, in the manor of Stepney, on the day on which King Edward was alive and dead. In the same vill Ranulph Flambard holds 3½ hides of the bishop.[11]

The earliest record of the Bishop's Manor house is for Bishopswood (later known as Bonner Hall) in 1207, this was sited in the Bethnal Green area.[8] Edward VI passed the land to the Wentworth family, and thence to their descendants, the Earls of Cleveland. The Manors of Stepney and Hackney were linked, until they passed into separate ownership in the 1660s.[8]

The ecclesiastic system of copyhold, whereby land was leased to tenants for terms as short as seven years, prevailed throughout the manor. This severely limited scope for improvement of the land and new building until the estate was broken up in the 19th century.[12]

Church and Parish

St Dunstan's Church was founded (or rebuilt) around 952, by St Dunstan himself when he was Bishop of London, and therefore also Lord of the Manor of Stepney. Many bishops lived in the manor and Dunstan may have done the same. The church was dedicated to Dunstan after he was canonised in 1029. The bells of the church, cast at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry, appear in the nursery rhyme, Oranges and Lemons

"When will that be? Say the bells of Stepney"

The church is known as "The Mother Church of the East End"[13] as the very large parish covered most of what would become inner East London, before population growth led to the creation of a large number of daughter parishes. It is also known as "The Church of the High Seas" due to its traditional maritime connections.

Stepney formed a large Ancient Parish in the Tower division of the Ossulstone hundred of Middlesex; bounded by Bromley (almost certainly part of Stepney until the Reformation) and West Ham to the east, the River Thames to the south, Shoreditch and Hackney (after its probable early split from Stepney) to the north and the City of London and the Liberties of the Tower of London to the west.[14] The parish included the hamlets of Mile End Old Town, Mile End New Town, Ratcliff, Whitechapel, Wapping, Bow, Shadwell, Spitalfields, Bethnal Green, Limehouse and Poplar.

Customs and obligations

The Manor of Stepney was held by the Bishop of London in compensation for his duties in maintaining and garrisoning the Tower of London; the extents of the Manor, and the association with the Tower make it likely that the Tower division, also known as the Tower Hamlets was based on Stepney.[15]

The manor was unusual in practising the gavelkind method of inheritance,[16] a custom largely limited to Kent.

St Dunstan's has a long association with the sea, with the parish of Stepney being responsible for registration of British maritime births, marriages and deaths until the 19th century. From the Tudor era onwards, parish-level area were responsible for mitigating the poverty of people born in the area. Stepney's additional responsibility for those born at sea was something of a burden.[16]

This maritime association is remembered in the old rhyme:

"He who sails on the wide sea, is a parishioner of Stepney"

Break-up of the Ancient Parish

The rapid growth in population meant that over time the parish was broken up. , and those settlements formed new independent parishes, leaving a residual parish of 830 acres (340 ha) comprising Mile End Old Town, Mile End New Town and Ratcliff.[14]

A map showing the 1870 boundaries of parishes which had been split from Stepney (excluding Hackney)

Such parish divisions were unusual and required acts of Parliament.

History

As with most of the East End of London, the contracted area now known as Stepney was sparsely populated until the 19th century, with a population focussed on scattered farms and small hamlets. The urbanisation of the area was driven by the maritime trades along the river, as well as ribbon development along the Mile End Road. Other factors included the development of London's docks and railways, combined with slum clearance, which pushed the displaced poor and various immigrants looking for work into cheap housing being built in the area.

The Trinity Green Almshouses were built in 1695 to provide housing for retired sailors. They are the oldest almshouses in Central London.[17]

Malplaquet House is named after the Battle of Malplaquet, one of the main battles of the War of the Spanish Succession, which took place in France in 1709. However, it is not known whether this naming came from the Jewish widow of the London merchant, who made his living selling war salvage, or from a later resident, the military surgeon Edward Lee.[18] It was home to a variety of small businesses including a bookmaker and a printer, before being occupied in 1910 by the Union of Stepney Ratepayers.[19]

The Leonard Montefiore memorial fountain on Stepney Green is named for a young writer and philanthropist, Leonard Montefiore, who at the time of his death in 1879 was known for his philanthropic work in the East End of London. Montefiore attended Balliol College, Oxford, where his posthumous memoir reports that he was a devotee of John Ruskin. Whilst at Balliol he became a friend of Oscar Wilde, who after Montefiore's death allegedly proposed to his sister Charlotte.[20]. He was also influenced by Arnold Toynbee and Benjamin Jowett. Montefiore was chief assistant to Samuel Barnett in his work regarding the extension of Oxford University to London, and was secretary of the Tower Hamlets branch of the Society for the Extension of University Teaching.[21] The Jewish Encyclopedia[22] says "Montefiore was associated with many philanthropic movements, especially with the movement for women's emancipation." Montefiore died at Newport, Rhode Island, aged 27. According to the Women's rights activist Emily Faithfull in her book "Three Visits to America" published in 1884 Montefiore died "While he was visiting the United States, in order to see for himself what could be learned from the political and social condition of the people, must ever be deplored. The world can ill afford to lose men of such deep thought and energetic action."[23] The memorial fountain has the following poem engraved on its side:

"Clear brain and sympathetic heart, A spirit on flame with love for man, Hands quick to labour, slow to part, If any good since time began, A soul can fashion such souls can."

Map of 1792 of Stepney and around, when it was countryside
Map of 1853: The spread of London has reached Stepney

In 1883, Jacob P. Adler arrived in London with a troupe of refugee professional actors. He enlisted the help of local amateurs, and the Russian Jewish Operatic Company made their debut at the Beaumont Hall, close to Stepney Green tube station. Within two years they were able to establish their own theatre in Brick Lane.[24]

The Metropolitan Borough of Stepney was formed in 1900; in 1965 it was absorbed into the newly created London Borough of Tower Hamlets which currently administers the area.[3]

Stepney Green railway station was opened in 1902 by the Whitechapel and Bow Railway, a joint venture between the District Railway and the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway. The station passed to London Underground in 1950.[25]

In the early 20th century, Stepney was one of the most Jewish neighbourhoods in England;[26] it was eventually superseded as such by Stamford Hill.[27]

On 31 July 1987 the Docklands Light Railway, which operated over the old LBR line, commenced operations, with new platforms (platforms 3 and 4) built on the site of the old LBR platforms; at East Stepney which had been renamed Limehouse on 11 May that year.[28]

Governance

The Lord-Lieutenant Ken Olisa is Her Majesty's representative for Greater London, including Stepney. He has no political role and holds no office in any political party. The Lord Lieutenancy is purely an honorary titular position.[29]

Stepney is in the constituency of Bethnal Green and Bow, represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Rushanara Ali of the Labour Party.[30]

London overall has a directly elected executive Mayor of London, currently Sadiq Khan, and the City and East seat in the London Assembly is held by the Labour Party's Unmesh Desai.

Tower Hamlets London Borough Council is the local authority and also has a directly elected executive mayor, the Mayor of Tower Hamlets John Biggs. Stepney has local councillors from three wards, St Dunstan's, Bethnal Green and Stepney Green.

Geography
Stepney Green, Stepney Green Court

The Stepney Green Conservation Area was designated in January 1973, covering the area previously known as Mile End Old Town. It is a large Conservation Area with an irregular shape that encloses buildings around Mile End Road, Assembly Passage, Louisa Street and Stepney Green itself. It is an area of exceptional architectural and historic interest, with a character and appearance worthy of protection and enhancement. It is situated just north of the medieval village of Stepney, which was clustered around St. Dunstan's Church.[31]

Stepney Green developed as a street of residential housing off the Mile End Road in the 15th century, and now refers to the area in north Stepney.[32][33] A brewery was founded in 1738 that developed into Charrington and Co. in 1897. The brewery building, the Anchor Brewery, was on the north side of Mile End Road, opposite Stepney Green; and is now the site of the Anchor Retail Unit, owned by Henderson Global Investors,[34] though the Brewery Offices still remain on the corner of Mile End Road and Cephas Avenue.[33]

Nearest places

Community

The Stepney Community Trust, a community-led charity with a long history of local action, was set up in 1982 as the St Mary's Centre to respond to the severe housing and social deprivation in the area. The name was later changed to Stepney Community Trust.[35]

Stepney City Farm is a city farm which provides a number of community services, such as guided tours, workshops and other activities.[36], was founded in 1979 by Lynne Bennett; at that time it was called Stepping Stones. Local residents, schools, churches and community groups were consulted and wasteland left after a World War II bomb destroyed the Stepney Congregational Church in 1941 was secured for the farm's use.[37]

The Stepney Historical Trust was set up in 1989 to advance the public's education on the history of Stepney and the surrounding areas. It is based in the London Dockers Athletic and Social Club[38] and has installed a series of plaques on sites of historic interest.[39]

Jewish Care was created in 1990 by the merger of two previous charities to care for the community needs cost-effectively. It is based at the Brenner Centre in Raine House.[40]

The City Gateway Women Programmes were established to provide opportunities for local women in Stepney to gain independence, grow in confidence and access employment and develop skills in a supportive community environment.[41]

Demographics
Further information: Demography of London

Due to the availability of cheap housing, the East End of London and London Borough of Stepney has been home to various immigrants who have contributed to the culture and history of the area, such as the French Huguenots in the 17th century,[42] the Irish in the 18th century,[43] Ashkenazi Jews fleeing pogroms in Eastern Europe towards the end of the 19th century,[44] and the Bangladeshi community settling in the East End from the 1960s onwards.[45] The area still contains a range of immigrants, particularly young Asian families, as well as elderly East Enders, some students, and the beginnings of a young middle class.[4] The 2011 UK Census revealed that 47% of the population was Bengali; the highest percentage of Bengalis in Southern England.[46] White British people comprise just over a quarter of the ward of St. Dunstan's and Stepney Green.[47]

Education
Further information: List of schools in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets

The Sir John Cass's Foundation and Redcoat Secondary School and Sixth Form College is a Church of England voluntary aided school that was opened in 1710 by Sir John Cass.[48]

Stepney Green Maths, Computing and Science College is a community school for boys, the curriculum is broad, there is a wide range of extra-curricular activities offered before, during and after school.[49]

Sports

Stepney F.C. is a non-league association football team which currently plays in the Tower Hamlets-based Inner London Football League.[50]

The district's Senrab Street gave its name to Senrab F.C., a youth team now based in Wanstead Flats and notable for producing many future professional players.[51]

Transport
Stepney Green tube station.

Stepney is connected to the London Underground at Stepney Green tube station on the Hammersmith & City and District lines.[52][53]

The area overall is covered by London Buses services, mostly west–east by the 25, 205, N25, N205 on Mile End Road[54]and 15, 115, 135 and N550 on Commercial Road[55], the 309 and 339 via Ben Johnson Road.[56]

An automatic air monitoring site in nearby Mile End recorded a 2017 annual average of 48 μg/m3. Alternative monitoring sites on Mile End Road also failed to meet air quality objectives with a site at the junction with Globe Road recorded 52 μg/m3 as a 2017 average.

Notable people

The English physician Richard Mead, responsible for advances in understanding transmissible diseases, was born in Stepney. The entertainer Des O'Connor was born in Stepney,[57] as were actors Steven Berkoff,[58] Terence Stamp and Craig Fairbrass, playwright Arnold Wesker, gardener and television presenter Rachel De Thame, television executive, presenter and former BBC1 and BBC2 controller Alan Yentob, artist Frank Paton, drummer Kenney Jones, musician and writer Jah Wobble,[59] singer/record producer Kenny Lynch and his sister, also a singer, Maxine Daniels, also singer Charles Coborn.

Footballers Ledley King, Ashley Cole, Mark Lazarus, and Darren Purse were born in Stepney, Heavyweight boxer "Bombardier" Billy Wells and former armed robber, bare-knuckle boxer and businessman Roy Shaw were born in Stepney, as was former British featherweight boxing champion Sammy McCarthy, and sportswriter and author Norman Giller, whilst clergymen John Sentamu, formerly Bishop of Stepney, and Father Richard Wilson, founder of the Hoppers' Hospitals at Five Oak Green, Kent, lived in the borough at one time.[60]

Actors Bernard Bresslaw, Jeff Shankley, John Lyons, Ben Onwukwe and Roy Marsden were born in Stepney, as was EastEnders actress Anita Dobson. Danny Shea, the first footballer to be transferred for £2,000, was born in Wapping in 1887. Monty Norman (The composer of the James Bond theme) and Lionel Bart known for creating the book, music and lyrics to the production Oliver! were also born in Stepney.

In her 2002 memoir Call the Midwife, Jennifer Worth writes a graphic account of 1950s Stepney at the height of its urban decay describing bombsites, condemned buildings, filth, and rampant prostitution.

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References
  1. "Tower Hamlets Ward population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
  2. Link which includes relationship between open space of ME Green and Stepney Green https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/middx/vol11/pp7-13
  3. Christopher Hibbert; Ben Weinreb (2008). The London Encyclopaedia. Pan Macmillan. p. 877. ISBN 1-4050-4924-3. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
  4. "Hot neighbourhoods: Stepney, E1 – Time Out London". www.timeout.com. Retrieved 19 May 2010.
  5. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Place-names
  6. On the location of the hithe https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/middx/vol11/pp13-19
  7. "Stepney Episcopal Area". The Diocese of London. Archived from the original on 30 August 2005. Retrieved 10 May 2007.
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  9. Churches in the landscape, Richard Morris, 169-171
  10. https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/middx/vol11/pp63-70
  11. Domesday Book – A Complete Translation Folio 127V: MIDDLESEX. Penguin Books. Nov 2002. ISBN 0-14-100523-8
  12. Stepney, Old and New London: Volume 2 (1878), pp. 137–142 accessed: 17 November 2007
  13. The website homepage of the church http://www.stdunstanstepney.com/
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  15. The map shows the extent of the TD, which corresponds to Stepney, except for Shoreditch which was also held by the Bishops https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/middx/vol11/pp1-7
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  17. Prynn, Jonathan; Bourke, Joanna (4 February 2016). "Row over Sainsbury's scheme for tower near Whitechapel almshouses". London Evening Standard. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
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  19. Stourton 2012, pp. 112
  20. The Secret Life of Oscar Wilde, Neil Mckenna, Randon House, 2011-02-28
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  22. "MONTEFIORE". JewishEncyclopedia.com. Retrieved 7 October 2017.
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  27. Kosher in the country The Economist 1 June 2006 accessed 14 August 2007
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  29. "Her Majesty's Lord-Lieutenant of Greater London".
  30. "Rushanara Ali MP". UK Parliament.
  31. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 16 March 2012. Retrieved 30 July 2013.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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  34. "Anchor Retail Park – Scheme Overview on Completely Retail". www.completelyretail.co.uk. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
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  36. http://stepneycityfarm.org/at-the-farm/community-groups/?doing_wp_cron=1540313145.3181309700012207031250
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