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| Stepney | |
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  .jpg) .jpg)  .jpg) Clockwise from top left: St. Dunstan's Church; Stepney Green tube station; Genesis cinema; route 135 at Arbour Square; Stepney Green; the Half Moon pub. | |
  Stepney Location withinGreater London | |
| Population | 16,238 (2011 census. St Dunstan's and Stepney Green Ward)[1] |
| OS grid reference | TQ355814 |
| • Charing Cross | 3.6 mi (5.8 km) WSW |
| London borough | |
| Ceremonial county | Greater London |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | LONDON |
| Postcode district | E1, E14 |
| Dialling code | 020 |
| Police | Metropolitan |
| Fire | London |
| Ambulance | London |
| UK Parliament | |
| London Assembly | |
| 51°30′55″N0°02′46″W / 51.5152°N 0.0462°W /51.5152; -0.0462 | |
Stepney is an area in theLondon Borough of Tower Hamlets in theEast End of London. Stepney is no longer officially defined, and is usually used to refer to a relatively small area. However, for much of its history the place name was applied to a much larger manor and parish, which covered most of the inner East End.
Stepney Green is a remnant of a larger area of Common Land formerly known as Mile End Green.[2]
The area was built up rapidly during the 19th century, mainly to accommodate immigrant workers and poor families displaced from London. It developed a reputation for poverty, overcrowding, violence and political dissent.[3] It was severely damaged duringthe Blitz, with over a third of housing destroyed; and then, in the 1960s,slum clearance and development replaced most residential streets withtower blocks and modern housing estates. SomeGeorgian architecture andVictorian era terraced housing remain such asArbour Square, the eastern side of Stepney Green, and the streets around Matlock Street.[3][4]
The first surviving record of the place name is from around 1000 AD asStybbanhyð, "Stybba's hyð"; hyð developed intohithe (meaning landing-place) in modern English, so "Stybba's landing-place". The parish ofStebbing inEssex also appears to have taken its name from an individual called Stybba.[5]The hithe itself is thought to have been atRatcliff, just under one-half mile (800 metres) south ofSt Dunstan's Church.[6]
Historically, Stepney was a very largemanor andAncient Parish which covered most of what would become theEast End. From 1900 to 1965 the place-name was applied to theMetropolitan Borough of Stepney, which in 1965 became the south-west part of the newLondon Borough of Tower Hamlets which currently administers the area.[3]There is currently a Stepney episcopal area in the AnglicanDiocese of London, which covers the London boroughs ofHackney,Islington andTower Hamlets, and has its ownsuffragan bishop.[7]
The area of Stepney has had no local government definition since 1965, but is used to refer to the whole former parish and also to a relatively small area within it.
For hundreds of years the term Stepney referred to theManor andAncient Parish of Stepney, with the first contemporary record of the Manor around the year 1000. The Manor covered an area stretching from the eastern edge of theCity of London to theLea and fromStamford Hill down to theThames; in this way covering an area equivalent to the modern borough ofTower Hamlets, as well as the district ofHackney (in the wider modern borough of the same name).
The origins of the Manor (andVill) are not known, but its large size, relatively rich soils and position so close 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 (theEast Saxonsee) at the time of the establishment ofSt Paul's Cathedral in 604 AD.[8][9]
St Dunstan's church is recorded as being founded (or more likely rebuilt[10]) byDunstan himself 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.
Hackney appears to have been an earlydaughter parish of Stepney; achurch at Hackney is first mentioned in 1275 but is likely to have been in place before then. From the 1100s, the development and improvement in enforcement ofCanon law made it difficult to form new parishes,[11] so Hackney seems likely to have formed an independent parish in the 12th century, with the district remaining 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 andHackney) serving the single manor of Stepney. For local government purposes, the parish sub-divided intohamlets.[12]
TheDomesday Book survey of 1086 gives the name asStibanhede and says that the land was held by theBishop of London and was 32hides large, mainly used for ploughing, meadows, woodland for 500 pigs, and 4 mills. The survey recorded 183 households; 74 ofvilleins who ploughed the land, 57 ofcottars who assisted the villeins in return for a hut or cottage and 52 of bordars. This is estimated to have given the manor a total population of around a thousand people.[13]
Bishop William held this land indemesne, in the manor of Stepney, on the day on which King Edward was alive and dead. In the same villRanulph Flambard holds 3½ hides of the bishop.[14]
The Bishop of London held many other estates around London, and one of them, heavily wooded Hornsey, was attached to Stepney as a remoteexclave for a time (it was common practice for wooded exclaves to be attached to more intensely farmed and densely populated estates in that period). The sub-manor of Hornsey was not part of the original territory of Stepney but was subsequently attached as an administrative convenience, and detached once more around the late 13th century.[9] The earliest record of the district's Manor house, is from 1207, but the Bishop may have had a home in the Manor long before. The house was first known asBishopswood, and later Bishops Hall or Bonner Hall, and was on a site inBethnal Green later occupied by theLondon Chest Hospital.[8]Edward VI passed Stepney to theWentworth family, and thence to their descendant, theEarl of Cleveland. The Manors of Stepney and Hackney were linked, until they passed into separate ownership in the 1660s.[8]
The system ofcopyhold, 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.[15]
St Dunstan's Church was founded (or rebuilt) around 952, bySt Dunstan himself when he wasBishop 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, making him thepatron saint of Stepney.[16] The bells of the church, cast at theWhitechapel Bell Foundry, appear in thenursery rhyme,Oranges and Lemons
" 'When will that be'? say the bells of Stepney"
The church is known as "The Mother Church of theEast End"[17] 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. In 1720 the historianJohn Strype wrote that Stepney (together with its daughter parishes) should be esteemed a province rather than a parish, due to its large population, area and the diversity of urban, rural and maritime industries.[18]
Stepney formed alarge Ancient Parish in theTower division of theOssulstone hundred ofMiddlesex. The parish included the hamlets ofMile End Old Town,Mile End New Town,Ratcliff,Wapping-Stepney,Bow,Shadwell,Bethnal Green,Limehouse andPoplar. The Hamlets were territorial sub-divisions (as opposed to small villages), which ultimately became independent daughter parishes.
The origin of the neighbouring parish of Shoreditch is obscure, but it primarily served the manors ofHoxton andHaggerston, both manors recorded at Domesday in 1086,[19][20] together with a part of the Manor of Stepney.[21] The parish church,St Leonard's, Shoreditch, was built on land that was part of the Manor of Stepney. Parcels of land inHackney Marshes (within the Manor of Stepney) long had a role in maintaining a lamp at St Leonards church.[22]
The manor ofHoxton, or a manor called Hoxton, was in Shoreditch, yet in 1352 is recorded as part of the parish of Hackney.[23]It is not clear if or how these links led to the inclusion of the parish of Shoreditch in theTower Division.
The Manor of Stepney was held by the Bishop of London, but theConstable of the Tower of London had important rights and responsibilities in the area. The Constable had responsibilities for theThames below the Tower and for the care of parts of theLea. In return the people of the area helped garrison the Tower. The early origin of these arrangements is obscure and the first surviving record of the military obligation dates from 1554, but is thought to be much older, with varying estimates in the post-Norman medieval period.[24][25] These arrangements evolved into the creation of theTower Division, also known as the Tower Hamlets.[26]
The manor was unusual in practising thegavelkind method of inheritance,[27] a custom largely limited toKent.
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, the parish-level was 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.[27]
This maritime association is remembered in the old rhyme:
"He who sails on the wide sea, is a parishioner of Stepney"
The rapid growth in population meant that over time the parish was broken up. Hackney is thought to have become independent in the 12th century,Whitechapel in the 14th andBromley in the 16th. Some sub-divisions for instance those that formBethnal Green,Bow andPoplar are known to have been based on pre-existing hamlets forming new daughter parishes. Such parish divisions were unusual and required an act of Parliament.[citation needed]
From 1819 the rump of Stepney consisted of three hamlets; Mile End New Town (which was detached from the rest), Ratcliffe and Mile End Old Town (which included St Dunstan's church). This residual parish was 830 acres (340 ha) in extent.[28]
Until 1837, the boundaries of English civil and Church of England ecclesiastical boundaries were identical, but after that the Church of England sub-divided its parishes to suit local needs and circumstances, especially in densely populated areas such as Stepney, and the civil and ecclesiastical boundaries differed from that point on. By 1890 the ancient parish was divided between 67 ecclesiastical parishes (a number later greatly reduced) which had little relation to the civil parish boundaries.
In 1866 the rump civil parish of Stepney came to an end when its three component hamlets (Mile End New Town, Ratcliff and Mile End Old Town) became independent civil parishes.
In 1299, during the reign ofEdward I, a parliament was held in Stepney at the home ofHenry le Walleis. The location of his home is uncertain but is thought to be close to St Dunstan's church.[29] The Stepney Parliament confirmed and reissued theMagna Carta (also known as the Charter of Liberties), and it is the Stepney version of Magna Carta that is in the modernstatute book.[30]
The 1600s and 1700s saw a long annual tradition known as theCockney's Feast, later also known as theStepney Feast. The event, managed by the Stepney Society was a way of raising money to apprentice Stepney boys into the maritime trades, for instance as sailors. The area was regarded as producing exceptional seamen, as the historianJohn Strype noted:
"It is further to be remarked that the Parish of Stepney, on the Southern Parts of it especially, that it is one of the greatest Nurseries of Navigation and Breeders of Seamen in England, the most serviceable Men in the Nation; without which England could not be England for they are its Strength and Wealth."
The event was typically held on a convenient Saturday on or around 19 May, the feast day ofSt Dunstan, the patron saint of Stepney.[32] The meal was preceded by a service atSt Dunstan's church.
In his 'A Survey of the Cities of London and Westminster' of 1720, the historian and clergymanJohn Strype described the course of the event in his day. Eight Stewards would be chosen each year, sometimes men who as a boy had benefitted from the charity. At the initial church service, a sermon would be given by a locally born clergyman – Strype said that he had had the honour on several occasions.
There was then a procession led by beneficiaries of the scheme and "the eight Stewards and the rest of the Natives commonly take a Walk with Officers and Musick playing before them, throughLimehouse andRatcliff, and so return back to the King's Head overagainst the Church; and there dine plentifully and friendly together"[33] Strype thought that Stepney was an unusually charitable place with more alms houses than any parish he knew of.[33]
The event was discontinued in 1784 after the fundraising was taken on by theMarine Society, a charity which had the resources to apprentice boys beyond the East End.[34]
An annualBarbados equivalent of the Feast was also held, with invitations limited to those born within the sound ofBow Bells.[35]
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At the turn of the 16th century Stepney was largely rural. The theologian andhumanist philosopherErasmus was a friend ofJohn Colet, the vicar of St Dunstans's church, who was a great influence on him. Ahead of a stay with Colet, Erasmus wrote of Stepney "I come to drink your fresh air, to drink yet deeper of your rural peace". About the same timeSir Thomas More wrote "wheresoever you look, the earth yieldeth you a pleasant prospect."[36]
Much of the subsequent urbanisation of the area was driven by the maritime trades along the river, as well as ribbon development along theMile 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.
TheTrinity Green Almshouses were built in 1695 to provide housing for retired sailors. They are the oldest almshouses inCentral London.[37]
Malplaquet House is named after theBattle of Malplaquet, one of the main battles of theWar 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.[38] 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.[39]
TheLeonard 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 attendedBalliol College, Oxford, where his posthumous memoir reports that he was a devotee ofJohn Ruskin. Whilst at Balliol he became a friend ofOscar Wilde, who after Montefiore's death allegedly proposed to his sister Charlotte.[40] He was also influenced byArnold Toynbee andBenjamin Jowett. Montefiore was chief assistant toSamuel Barnett in his work regarding the extension of Oxford University to London, and was secretary of theTower Hamlets branch of the Society for the Extension of University Teaching.[41] The Jewish Encyclopedia[42] 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 activistEmily 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."[43] 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."
_from_the_east_half_of_the-_%2527Plan_of_the_cities_of_London_and_Westminster%2c_the_borough_of_Southwark_and_parts_adjoining_shewing_every_house%2527_RMG_K0929.jpg)
In 1883,Jacob P. Adler arrived in London with a troupe of refugee professional actors. He enlisted the help of local amateurs, and theRussian Jewish Operatic Company made their debut at the Beaumont Hall, close toStepney Green tube station. Within two years they were able to establish their own theatre inBrick Lane.[44]
Stepney Green railway station was opened in 1902 by theWhitechapel and Bow Railway, a joint venture between theDistrict Railway and theLondon, Tilbury and Southend Railway. The station passed to London Underground in 1950.[45]
In the early 20th century, Stepney was one of the mostJewish neighbourhoods in England;[46] it was eventually superseded as such byStamford Hill.[47]
On 31 July 1987 theDocklands 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;[citation needed] at Stepney East which had been renamed Limehouse on 11 May that year.[48]
TheLord-LieutenantKen Olisa isHis Majesty'srepresentative 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.[49]
Stepney is in the constituency ofBethnal Green and Stepney, represented in theHouse of Commons of theUK Parliament since 2010 byRushanara Ali of theLabour Party.[50]
London overall has a directly elected executiveMayor of London, currentlySadiq Khan, and theCity and East seat in theLondon Assembly is held by the Labour Party'sUnmesh Desai.
Tower Hamlets London Borough Council is the local authority and also has a directly elected executive mayor, theMayor of Tower HamletsJohn Biggs. Stepney has local councillors from three wards, St Dunstan's, Bethnal Green and Stepney Green.
The Stepney Green Conservation Area was designated in January 1973, covering the area previously known asMile 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.[51]
Stepney Green developed as a street of residential housing off theMile End Road in the 15th century, and now refers to the area in north Stepney.[52][53] A brewery was founded in 1738 that developed intoCharrington and Co. in 1897. The brewery building, the Anchor Brewery, was on the north side ofMile End Road, opposite Stepney Green; and is now the site of the Anchor Retail Unit, owned byHenderson Global Investors,[54] though theBrewery Offices still remain on the corner ofMile End Road and Cephas Avenue.[53]
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.[55]
Stepney City Farm is a city farm which provides a number of community services, such as guided tours, workshops and other activities.,[56] 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 aWorld War II bomb destroyed the Stepney Congregational Church in 1941 was secured for the farm's use.[57]
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[58] and has installed a series of plaques on sites of historic interest.[59]
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.[60]
TheCity 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.[61]
Due to the availability of cheap housing, theEast 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 FrenchHuguenots in the 17th century,[62] the Irish in the 18th century,[63]Ashkenazi Jews fleeingpogroms in Eastern Europe towards the end of the 19th century,[64] and theBangladeshi community settling in the East End from the 1960s onwards.[65] 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.[66]White British people comprise just over a quarter of the ward of St. Dunstan's and Stepney Green.[67]
Stepney All Saints School is aChurch of Englandvoluntary aided school that was opened in 1710 by SirJohn Cass as the Sir John Cass School. It merged with the Redcoat Secondary School in 1966 and took the name of Sir John Cass's Foundation and Red Coat School that year. It took its current name in 2020.[68]
Stepney Green Maths, Computing and Science College is acommunity school for boys, the curriculum is broad, there is a wide range of extra-curricular activities offered before, during and after school.[69]
Stepney F.C. is anon-leagueassociation football team which currently plays in the Tower Hamlets-basedInner London Football League.[70]
The district's Senrab Street gave its name toSenrab F.C., a youth team now based inWanstead Flats and notable for producing many future professional players.[71]
Stepney is connected to theLondon Underground atStepney Green tube station on theHammersmith & City andDistrict lines.[72][73]
The area overall is covered byLondon Buses services, mostly west–east by the25, 205, N25, N205 on Mile End Road[74] and15, 115,135 and N550 on Commercial Road,[75] the 309 and 339 via Ben Johnson Road.[76]
An automatic air monitoring site in nearbyMile 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.[citation needed]
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Richard Mead, a physician responsible for advances in the understanding oftransmissible diseases, was born in Stepney.
Others born in Stepney are entertainerDes O'Connor,[77] actorSteven Berkoff,[78] playwrightArnold Wesker, gardenerRachel De Thame, television executiveAlan Yentob, artistFrank Paton, drummerKenney Jones, musician and writerJah Wobble,[79] singerKenny Lynch and his sisterMaxine Daniels, singerCharles Coborn,footballersLedley King,Ashley Cole,Mark Lazarus,Barry Silkman, andDarren Purse, heavyweightboxer"Bombardier" Billy Wells, formerarmed robber and businessmanRoy Shaw, former British featherweight boxing championSammy McCarthy, sportswriterNorman Giller, andLabour politicianWes Streeting.
ClergymenJohn Sentamu, formerly Bishop of Stepney, and Father Richard Wilson, founder of theHoppers' Hospitals atFive Oak Green, Kent, lived in the borough at one time.[80]
Actors born in Stepney includeMatthew Garber,Bernard Bresslaw,Terence Stamp,Craig Fairbrass,Jeff Shankley,John Lyons,Eddie Marsan,Ben Onwukwe,Victor McLaglen,Roy Marsden,Ruth Sheen,EastEnders actressAnita Dobson andNicola Walker.
MusiciansMonty Norman (composer of theJames Bond Theme) andLionel Bart (known for creating the book, music and lyrics to the productionOliver!), were also born in Stepney, as was musicianWiley, widely considered to be the founding father ofgrime music.
British communistAlf Salisbury, who smuggled monetary funds to German anti-fascists during Hitler's rise to power, and fought in both theBattle of Cable Street and for theInternational Brigades during theSpanish Civil War, was born in Stepney.[citation needed] Fellow communistBetty Papworth and activist Betty Papworth was also born in Stepney.[81]
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In her 2002 memoirCall the Midwife,Jennifer Worth gives an account of 1950s Stepney, describing poverty, condemned buildings, filth, and rampant prostitution.[82][83]
In the 1965 Rolling Stones songPlay with Fire, it is said an heiress whose wealth has been carried off by her husband "gets her kicks in Stepney, not inKnightsbridge anymore."
Elton John refers to Stepney in the song "Bitter Fingers" which was written by Elton and Bernie Taupin.
Folk noir duoRuby Throat released a song called "Forget Me Nots of Stepney" on their 2012 albumO' Doubt O' Stars.
Mentioned inLock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels "Hand made in Italy, hand stolen in Stepney"
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