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| Bethnal Green | |
|---|---|
 Stairway to Heaven, also seen isBethnal Green tube station,CoESt John Church andSalmon and Ballpublic house. | |
  Bethnal Green Location withinGreater London | |
| Population | 27,849 (Bethnal Green North and Bethnal Green South wards 2011)[1] |
| OS grid reference | TQ345825 |
| • Charing Cross | 3.3 mi (5.3 km) SW |
| London borough | |
| Ceremonial county | Greater London |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | LONDON |
| Postcode district | E1, E2 |
| Dialling code | 020 |
| Police | Metropolitan |
| Fire | London |
| Ambulance | London |
| UK Parliament | |
| London Assembly | |
| 51°31′37″N0°03′18″W / 51.527°N 0.055°W /51.527; -0.055 | |
Bethnal Green is an area inLondon, England, and is located in theLondon Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is ineast London and part of theEast End. The area emerged from the small settlement which developed around theGreen,[2] much of which survives today as Bethnal Green Gardens, beside Cambridge Heath Road. By the 16th century the term applied to a wider rural area, theHamlet of Bethnal Green, which subsequently became a Parish, then aMetropolitan Borough before merging with neighbouring areas to become the north-western part of the new Tower Hamlets.
Economic focus shifted from mainstream farming produce for theCity of London – through highly perishable goods production (market gardening), weaving, dock and building work and light industry – to a high proportion of commuters to city businesses, public sector/care sector roles, construction, courier businesses and home-working digital and creative industries.Identifiable slums in the maps ofBooth inLife and Labour of the People in London (3 editions, 1889–1903) were in large part cleared before theaerial bombardment of theSecond World War which accelerated clearance of many tightly packed terraces of small houses to be replaced with green spaces and higher-rise social housing.
ThetopographerDaniel Lysons suggested in the late 18th century that Bethnal was a corruption ofBathon Hall which would have been the residence of a notable Bathon family who owned large parts ofStepney, theparish of which Bethnal Green was part. "Green" related to one which lay "about half a mile beyond the suburbs".[3]
More recently it has been suggested that the name could be a derivation of theAnglo-SaxonBlithehale orBlythenhale from the 13th century.healh would have meant "angle, nook, or corner" andblithe would have been the word for "happy, blithe", or come from a personal nameBlitha. In either case, theDictionary of London Place Names supports a contraction involvinghall orhealh, noting h-dropping in local dialects, toBethnal Green.[4]
| Bethnal Green Parish Act 1742 | |
|---|---|
| Act of Parliament | |
 | |
| Long title | An Act to make the Hamlet of Bethnal Green in the Parish of Saint Dunstan, Stepney, in the County of Middlesex, a separate and distinct Parish, and for erecting a Parish Church therein. |
| Citation | 16 Geo. 2. c. 28 |
| Territorial extent | Great Britain |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 21 April 1743 |
| Commencement | 16 November 1742[a] |
| Other legislation | |
| Amended by | |
| Repealed by | London Government (Borough of Bethnal Green) Order in Council 1901 |
Status: Repealed | |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
The termBethnal Green originally referred to a small common in theManor and Ancient Parish of Stepney; around which a small settlement developed. By the seventeenth century the area had become ahamlet, a territorial sub-division of Stepney,[5][6] with a degree of independence. Continued housebuilding and population growth in the 18th century led to the hamlet area becoming a fully independent daughter parish in 1743. The parish had a church, a benefice (for its priest)and vestry (for its people) in 1743. In 1855 Bethnal Green was included within the area of theMetropolitan Board of Works to which it nominated one member and the various local government bodies were replaced by a single incorporatedvestry which consisted of 48 elected vestrymen.[7]
Under theMetropolis Management Act 1855, any parish that exceeded 2,000ratepayers was to be divided into wards; as such the incorporated vestry of St Matthew Bethnal Green was divided into four wards (electingvestrymen): No. 1 or East (9), No. 2 or North (9), No. 3 or West (15) and No. 4 or South (15).[7][8][9]
The (civil) parish became a Metropolitan Borough in 1900, which merged with some of the neighbouring areas, to become the new London Borough of Tower Hamlets, in 1965.
The area was part of thehistoric (or ancient) county ofMiddlesex, but military and most (or all) civil county functions were managed more locally, by theTower Division (also known as the Tower Hamlets).
The role of theTower Division ended when Bethnal Green became part of the newCounty of London in 1889. The County of London was replaced by Greater London in 1965.
_in_the_grounds_of_the_former_London_Chest_Hospital_02.jpg)
In what would become northern Bethnal Green (known asCambridge Heath) a tract ofcommon land, which stretched to the east and west, a part of theManor and Ancient Parish of Stepney. The heath was used aspasture where people grazed their sheep in the 13th century, though 1275 records suggest at least one house stood there.[10]Stepney's Manor House (known asBishopswood, laterBishop's Hall) was located in Bethnal Green from at least 1207,[11] on a site subsequently occupied by theLondon Chest Hospital.
The area was once best known for the popularearly modern ballad,The Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green, which tells the story of a beautiful young woman named Bess, the daughter of a blind beggar. The earliest known explicit mention of the ballad is from 1624, but it was clearly well established by that date, as two other ballads of similar date were said to have been sung to the tune of theBlind Beggar. A play on the same theme, almost certainly based on an existing ballad, is known to have been performed in 1600.[12]
According to one version of the legend, found inThomas Percy'sReliques of Ancient English Poetry published in 1765, the beggar was said to beHenry, the son ofSimon de Montfort, but Percy himself declared that this version was not genuine.[13] A version published in 1934,[14] closely based on Percy's but with some amendments to include much older material, contains 67 verses. The ballad recounts how Bess leaves Bethnal Green to seek her fortune, and stays a short time at the Queen's Arms inn atRomford. There, her beauty quickly attracts four suitors, three of whom lose interest when she declares her background, while the fourth, a knight is unconcerned by her father's status. The couple marry, and despite his seeming poverty, the beggar gives a huge dowry to the knight, to the bitter dismay of the other three suitors.The Blind Beggar public house, just on the Bethnal Green side of the historic boundary withWhitechapel,[15] is reputed to be the site of his begging.
A depiction of the beggar is known to have been used on the head of the localbeadle's staff in 1690.[16][17] Later, the beggar and his daughter were the basis of thecommon seal of theMetropolitan Borough of Bethnal Green.[18] The legend also inspiredElisabeth Frink's sculptureBlind Beggar and his Dog (1958) on theCranbrook Estate in Bethnal Green.
Bethnal Green is famous for itsmulberry trees, most notably theBethnal Green mulberry at the site of the former London Chest Hospital, which is reputed to be the oldest tree in the East End. Many of these mulberry trees may be a legacy of unsuccessful 16th and 17th century attempts to boost the weaving industries that Bethnal Green,Shoreditch,Spitalfields and other East End districts relied upon so heavily.[19]
Mulberries were used as the local emblem when it was a partly self-governing neighbourhood of Tower Hamlets from 1986 to 1992, and the symbol can still be seen on many local street signs.[20] The mulberry is also used as a symbol of the East End more generally, and is featured on thecoat of arms of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.
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The Green and Poor's Land is the area of open land now occupied byBethnal Green Library, theYoung V&A andSt John's Church, designed byJohn Soane.
InJohn Stow'sSurvey of London (1598) the hamlet was calledBlethenal Green. It was one of the hamlets included in the Manor of Stepney and Hackney. Hackney later became separated.
In 1678, the owners of houses surrounding the Green purchased the land to save it from being built on and in 1690, the land was conveyed to a trust under which it was to be kept open and rent from it used for the benefit of poor people living in the vicinity. From that date, the trust has administered the land and its minute books are kept in theLondon Metropolitan Archives.
Bethnal House, or Kirby's Castle, was the principal house on the Green. One of its owners was Sir Hugh Platt (1552–1608), author of books on gardening and practical science. Under its next owner it was visited bySamuel Pepys. In 1727 it was leased to Matthew Wright and for almost two centuries it was anasylum. Its two most distinguished inmates wereAlexander Cruden, compiler of theConcordance to the Bible, and the poetChristopher Smart. Cruden recorded his experience inThe London Citizen Grievously Injured (1739) and Smart's stay there is recorded by his daughter. Records of the asylum are kept in the annual reports of the Commissioner in Lunacy. Even today, the park where the library stands is known locally as "Barmy Park".
The original mansion, the White House, was supplemented by other buildings. In 1891, the Trust lost the use of Poor's Land to the London County Council. The asylum reorganised its buildings, demolishing the historic White House and erecting a new block in 1896. This building became the present Bethnal Green Library. A history of Poor's Land and Bethnal House is included inThe Green, written by A.J. Robinson and D.H.B. Chesshyre.
Boxing has a long association with Bethnal Green.Daniel Mendoza, who was champion of England from 1792 to 1795 though born inAldgate, lived in Paradise Row on the western side of Bethnal Green for 30 years.Joe Anderson, 'All England' champion of 1897, was from Bethnal Green.[21]
The north end of the Green is associated with the Natt family. During the 18th century they owned many of its houses. Netteswell House is the residence of the curator of the Bethnal Green Museum. It is almost certainly named after the village ofNetteswell, nearHarlow, whoserector was the Reverend Anthony Natt. A few of its houses have becomeUniversity settlements. In Victoria Park Square, on the east side of the Green, No. 18 has aTudor well in its cellar.[22]
The silk-weaving trade spread eastwards fromSpitalfields throughout the 18th century. This attracted manyHuguenot and Irish weavers. Large estates of small two-storey cottages were developed in the west of the area to house them. A downturn in the trade in 1769 led to theSpitalfield Riots, and on 6 December 1769, two weavers accused of "cutting" were hanged in front of the Salmon and Ballpublic house. The weaving industry is now commemorated in the name of theWeaver Line railway which serves the area.[23]
Bethnal Green Road Market on the road of the same name, founded in the 18th century, grew and grew and became more full with stalls. By 1959 stalls were choking the streets and the council attempted to relocate the market but had no success. In 1986 there had been many shop closures but the stalls were still trading. The street market is now today recognised as a major local shopping area.[24]
In the 19th century, Bethnal Green remained characterised by itsmarket gardens and by weaving. Having been an area of large houses and gardens as late as the 18th century, by about 1860 Bethnal Green was mainly full of tumbledown old buildings with many families living in each house. By the end of the century, Bethnal Green was one of the poorest slums in London.Jack the Ripper operated at the western end of Bethnal Green and in neighbouringWhitechapel. In 1900, the Old Nichol Streetrookery was replaced with theBoundary Estate (near the limits of Shoreditch). This was a first incouncil housing. BrothersLew Grade andBernard Delfont were brought up on the estate.[25] In 1909, the largerBethnal Green Estate was opened with money left by the philanthropistWilliam Richard Sutton which he left for "modern dwellings and houses for occupation by the poor of London and other towns and populous places in England".[26][27] ThePeabody Trust administered the funds to complete much of the estate in 1910.[28]
TheRegent's Canal opened in 1820, for horse-drawn canal barges to carry cargo between thePort of London and theGrand Union Canal. These supplied local coal merchants and gas houses/plants (gasifiers) built along its banks including Bethnal Green.[29]
TheLondon Society for Promoting Christianity among the Jews built Palestine Place as Cambridge Heath began to be fully developed during the first half of the 19th century.[30] A windmill survived until at least 1836. Most local residents were poor, especially in the streets around the railway line and the Regent's Canal, as well as on Russia Lane.
As the population grew, a number of mission churches were founded to serve newly created parishes. St Andrew's church on Viaduct Street was built in 1841, serving a congregation of up to 350 people. It closed and was demolished in 1958.[30] St Barnabas Church on Grove Road, opposite Mile End Park, was founded in 1870 and still operates today.
In 1841, theAnglo-CatholicNathaniel Woodard, who was to become a highly influential educationalist in the later part of the 19th century, became thecurate of the newly created St. Bartholomew's church on Buckhurst Street. He was a capable pastoral visitor and established a parochial school. In 1843, he got into trouble for preaching asermon in which he argued thatThe Book of Common Prayer should have additional material to provide forconfession andabsolution and in which he criticised the "inefficient and Godless clergy" of theChurch of England. After examining the text of the sermon, theBishop of London condemned it as containing "erroneous and dangerous notions". As a result, the bishop sent Woodard to be a curate inClapton. St Bartholomew's church continued operating until 1983 and is now converted for residential use.[30]
Globe Town was established from 1800 to provide for the expanding population ofweavers around Bethnal Green attracted by improving prospects insilk weaving. The population of Bethnal Green trebled between 1801 and 1831, operating 20,000 looms in their own homes. By 1824, with restrictions on importation of French silks relaxed, up to half these looms became idle and prices were driven down. With many importingwarehouses already established in 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 decline of the silk industry.[31]
Columbia Road Flower Market is on the street of the same name which has kept some Victorian shops, and was established as Columbia Market in 1869 as a covered food market. It closed in 1886, but was later revived as a Sunday flower market.[32][33]
Bethnal Green Junction, now just Bethnal Green from 1946 (which leads to confusion with the much-laterLondon Underground station) and Cambridge Heath railway station are on theLondon Overground. Both were opened by theGreat Eastern Railway (GER) on theLea Valley Lines in 1872 as part of a more direct route toEnfield Town. The GER opened further Fast Lines that allow longer-distance trains to bypass these.[34][35][36] Bethnal Green was also formerly served by trains on theGreat Eastern Main Line (GEML) viaStratford and saw two derailments in the later 20th century, similar to other contemporary comparators of busy, metropolitan junctions.[37][38]
Mowlem Street School opened in 1887. It was enlarged in 1898 and again in 1902 to accommodate 410 boys and 410 girls. A new single-storey building catering for 280 children was opened in 1971 when it was renamed Mowlem Primary School.[39]
Bethnal Green Town Hall was completed in 1910[40] and the internationally renownedYork Hall opened in 1929 with a capacity of 1,200.[41] In 1993, the Town Hall was vacated when theLondon Borough of Tower Hamlets moved its headquarters, and in 2007 the building was converted to a hotel which opened in 2010.[42]
The warehouse buildings rose from the Regent's Canal without a towpath to interrupt development, giving direct access to the canal. A row of Victorian workshops was built on Wadeson Street in what was a historicallyJewish precinct. This became very overcrowded with 572 inhabitants living in 125 houses by the 1930s.[43]
During the Second World War, theLuftwaffe beganThe Blitz on 7 September 1940. Bethnal Green was in "Target Area A" along with the rest of theEast End of London.[44]
Bethnal Green Library was bombed on the very first night of the Blitz. This forced the temporary relocation of the library into the unopened Bethnal Green Underground Station in order to provide continuity of lending services. The library was rebuilt and opened a few months later for the public.[45] Oxford House also had a major role, with some local residents fleeing into the house off Bethnal Green Road seeking shelter, this location was more attractive than the stables under the nearbyGreat Eastern Main Line arches. The Chief Shelter Welfare Officer at the time, Jane Leverson, is reported to have said that "people came to Oxford House not because it was an air raid shelter but because there they found happiness and a true spirit of fellowship".[46]
It is estimated that during this war, 80 tons of bombs fell on the Metropolitan Borough of Bethnal Green, affecting 21,700 houses, destroying 2,233 and making a further 893 uninhabitable. There were a total of 555 people killed and 400 seriously injured.[47] Many unexploded bombs remain in the area, and on 14 May 2007, builders discovered a Second World War 1 m long 500 lb (230 kg)bomb.[48]
On 3 March 1943, anair raid warning sounded at 8:17 pm, causing a flow of people down the narrow staircase, with no handrail, of the uncompletedBethnal Green tube station, wet from rain and only dimly lit due to blackout precautions, to shelter from bombs. (The station had been requisitioned in 1940 by theMetropolitan Borough of Bethnal Green under the supervision of the Regional Commissioners.) Acrowd crush ensued, thought to have been triggered by a woman carrying a baby tripping on the stairs. A new anti-aircraft rocket being test-fired in nearby Victoria Park caused panic, being thought to be a German weapon.[49] The panic began at 8:27.
In the wet, dark conditions, a woman tripped on the crowded stairs, causing many others to fall. Within a few seconds 300 people were crushed in the narrow stairwell, causing the deaths of 173 people, mostly women and 62 children, who were crushed and asphyxiated. A report was filed by Eric Linden, who witnessed the incident, with theDaily Mail, but not published. Very little information was provided at the time.[50][51][52] The outcome of a government inquiry was not made public until 1946 to avoid a propaganda win for the enemy and to protect public morale.[53][49] It was the largest loss of life in a single incident on the London Underground network.[54]
DirectorSteve McQueen made a 2024 film,Blitz, about the wartime bombing of London (the Blitz), depicting and partly inspired by this event.[49]
Bethnal Green tube station opened on 4 December 1946 on theCentral line and is betweenLiverpool Street andMile End on theLondon Underground, however construction of the Central line's eastern extension into then-Essex was started in the 1930s, and the tunnels were largely complete at the outbreak of the Second World War although rails were not laid.
The bookFamily and Kinship in East London (1957) shows an improvement in working class life. Husbands in the sample population no longer went out to drink but spent time with the family. As a result, both birth rate and infant death rate fell drastically and local prosperity increased.
The famous criminals, theKray twins, lived and operated in the area during the 1950s and 1960s, with a gang known as The Firm.[55]
St Barnabas Community Fete was an annual fête and music festival held on Wennington Green inMile End Park.[56]
In 2015, three children Amira Abase,Shamima Begum, and Kadiza Sultana appeared in the press, referred to as theBethnal Green trio.[57] All three had attended theBethnal Green Academy before leaving home to join theIslamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).[58]
Excluding the five-year tenure ofGeorge Galloway at Westminster from 2005, for any seat containing the name Bethnal Green: the pre-1945 General Election decades ofBethnal Green South West was the last time when such a seat was not won by the chosenLabour Party candidate.[59]
Bethnal Green forms part of the UK Parliament constituency ofBethnal Green and Bow. Its MP since 2010 has beenRushanara Ali of theLabour Party.[60]
London overall has a directly elected executive Mayor of London, currentlySadiq Khan, and theCity and East seat in theLondon Assembly is held by theLabour Party member,Unmesh Desai.
The area of Bethnal Green covers roughly three wards of Tower Hamlets; Bethnal Green[61] represented by Councillors Mohammed Ahbab Hossain, Sirajul Islam (who is Statutory Deputy Mayor for Housing underMayor of Tower Hamlets and Eve McQuillan; St Peter's (which takes its name from the ecclesiastical parish of the same name[62]) represented by Councillors Kevin Brady, Tarik Khan and Gabriella Salva-Macallan; and Weaver's represented by Councillors John Pierce and Abdul Mukit[63] All local councillors are currently members of theLabour Party.[64]
Between 1986 and 1992, the nameBethnal Green was applied to one of seven neighbourhoods to which power was devolved from the council.[65] Much of the street signage in the area was replaced to reflect this.
Bethnal Green has a number of conservation areas established by Tower Hamlets Council due to its history and landscape, including the Bethnal Green Gardens Conservation Area which was designated in July 1969 and then extended in October 2008 to the south west of the tube station due to significant buildings located in and around the junction of Bethnal Green Road, Roman Road and Cambridge Heath Road, which helps ensure these landmarks will be preserved.[43]
A part of the Hackney Road Conservation Area is intended to protect the special architectural and historic character of buildings and areas adjoining the road which are composed of a dense concentration of modest sized properties.[66] The Victoria Park Conservation Area was designated in March 1977, altered in 2008 to make way for the Regent's Canal Conservation Area and to expand Driffield Road Conservation Area and now includes the listed park itself, the formal axial road pattern to the south west and the many Victorian terraces.[67]
It is also part of the wider Regents Canal Conservation Area, the street-side buildings are neglected but form part of the industrial heritage and character ofVyner Street and also Wadeson Street, which contains a row of three storey Victorian workshops mostly converted to residential use. Both types contribute to the character of the area.[68]
To the north-west is the Old Bethnal Green Road Conservation Area, which focuses around the roads of the Winkley Estate, which has a very cohesive character and little scope exists for change. The buildings contained within the area being considered form an important group worthy of protection and enhancement.[69]
Bethnal Green Gardens, located in central Bethnal Green, holds the war memorial, known as the Stairway To Heaven,[70] and Weavers' Fields, which is a 15.6 acres park and is the 6th largest open space in Tower Hamlets that lies south of Bethnal Green Road.[71] The western part ofVictoria Park is in Bethnal Green.
In the 1970s, Tower Hamlets Council decided to fence and lock up the area now known asBethnal Green Nature Reserve, to protect it from fly tipping. In the late 1990s the localTeesdale and Hollybush Tenants and Residents Association became the site custodians and, with the support of Tower Hamlets Council, took responsibility for St Jude's as it was still called locally.[72]
The formerBethnal Green Infirmary, later theLondon County Council Bethnal Green Hospital, stood oppositeCambridge Heath railway station. The hospital closed as a public hospital in the 1970s and was ageriatric hospital under the NHS until the 1980s. Much of the site was developed for housing in the 1990s but the hospital entrance and administration block remains as a listed building.
Since 2013, Bethnal Green has been home to the cocktail barSatan's Whiskers, whichMorning Advertiser named the best cocktail bar in the United Kingdom in 2019, 2023, and 2025.[73]
Bethnal Green had a total population of 27,849 at the 2011 UK census.[74] The largest single ethnic group is people ofBangladeshi descent, who constitute 38 per cent of the area's population. Every year since 1999 theBaishakhi Mela is held in Weavers' Fields to commemorate the Bengali New Year.[75] The second largest is theWhite British, constituting 30 per cent of the area's population. Other ethnic groups includeBlack Africans andBlack Caribbeans.[76]
According to the UK census of 2011, the population has a lower proportion of young people than the national average and a higher proportion of older people. Bethnal Green also has a significant immigrant population.[77]
In 2021 the religions of Bethnal Green's residents were estimated at:[78]
There are many historic churches in Bethnal Green. Notable Church of England churches include St John on Bethnal Green,[79] which was built from 1826 to 1828 by the architectJohn Soane,St Matthew – built byGeorge Dance the Elder in 1746. St Matthew is the mother church of Bethnal Green; the church's opening coincided with a vast population increase in the former village ofStepney, resulting in the need to separate the area around Bethnal Green from the mother Parish ofSt Dunstan's, Stepney. All but the bell tower, still standing today, was destroyed by fire and the church again suffered devastating damage during the bombing campaigns of the Second World War, resulting in the installation of a temporary church within the bombed-out building. St. Matthew's remains a major beacon of the localEast End community and is frequented on Sundays and other religious occasions by a mixture of established locals and more recent migrants to the area.[80] Other churches includeSt Peter's (1841) andSt James-the-Less (1842), both byLewis Vulliamy,St James the Great byEdward Blore (1843) andSt Bartholomew byWilliam Railton (1844). The church attendance in Bethnal Green was 1 in 8 people since 1900 (only10% attend regularly in the UK).Baptisms,marriages andburials have been deposited nearly at all churches in Bethnal Green.[clarification needed][81][82]
There is one major Roman Catholic church, the Church of Our Lady of the Assumption,[83] in Bethnal Green. The Church of Our Lady of the Assumption hosts the London Chinese Catholic Centre and Chinese mass is held weekly.[84] Other Christian churches include The Good Shepherd Mission,[85] The Bethnal Green Medical Mission,[86] The Bethnal Green Methodist Church.[87] The Quakers hold regular meetings in Old Ford Road.[88] Opened and named after theparish of Bethnal Green, in 1868, the Bethnal Green Methodist Church became tied in with the founding of the National Children's Home and Orphanage (nowAction for Children). This was established next to the church on Bonner Road.[89]
St. Casimir's Lithuanian Church serves London'sLithuanian community and masses are held in bothLithuanian and English.[90][91]
There are at least eightmosques or places of worship in Bethnal Green for theMuslim community.[92] These include the Baitul Aman Mosque and Cultural Centre,[93]Darul Hadis Latifiah,[94] the Senegambian Islamic Cultural Centre and the Globe Town Mosque and Cultural Centre.
TheLondon Buddhist Centre works with those affected by alcohol dependency,[95] the centre also runs courses and retreats using mindfulness based cognitive therapy approaches. Its courses for depression, based on the mindfulness-basedcognitive behavioural therapy methodology ofJon Kabat-Zinn at theUniversity of Massachusetts Medical School, featured in theFinancial Times in 2008.[96] It is the focus of a large Buddhist residential and business community in the area.[96]
In the Boundary Estate, Arnold Circus is a mark point on severalley line alignments, such as for example theAlfred Watkins' "Strand Ley"[97] and "The Coronation Line".[98]
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The Bethnal Green and Globe Town Community Mental Health Team (CMHT) is a community-based multidisciplinary team; they provide a health and social care for service users with severe and enduring mental health problems, run byEast London NHS Foundation Trust (ELFT).[99]
Bethnal Green has numerousprimary schools, educating children aged four to 11. St. Matthias School, on Bacon Street off Brick Lane, is over a century old and uses the Seal of the old Metropolitan Borough as its badge and emblem. The school was opened with funds from 18th-century St. Matthew's Church on St. Matthew's Row.[100] TheBangabandhu Primary School, named afterSheikh Mujib (who had declared the independence ofBangladesh), a non-selective statecommunity school,[101] was opened in January 1989; it moved to a new building in November 1991 and has over 450 pupils. In the first decade, around 70% of pupils' parents spokeSylheti, a dialect of Bengali, at home, andEnglish as a second language;Standard Bengali was a subject choice in the school.
Bethnal Green Academy is one of the top schools and sixth form colleges in London. Other schools in the area include Oaklands School.
The oldest secondary school wasRaine's Foundation School on Old Bethnal Green, avoluntary aided,Anglican-tradition, state school founded in 1719.[102] The school relocated, amalgamating with St. Jude's School[103] to becomecoeducational in 1977. The school closed in 2020.
Bethnal Green Gardens and Bethnal Green Library provide leisure facilities and information.
TheOxford House is a proactive community centre that has its roots in helping the local community. Founded in 1884, as one of the first "settlements" byOxford University,[104] it has helped alleviate or remove the impact of poverty and today provides a programme of community classes, events and weekly activities.[105]
The Approach Gardens, once an unused space, has been developed into a community food garden, a shared fruit orchard and a wildlife area.[106]
The Nomadic Community Gardens, once an area fenced off and overgrown, was occupied between 2015 and 2019[107] by a temporary project or "meanwhile use" run by a private limited company[108] on behalf of the property developer Londonewcastle, which leases the site to the garden operator for apeppercorn rent and provided start-up funding.[109] Londonewcastle gained planning consent for a development of "affordable housing, townhouses and apartments"[110] on the site in November 2015.[111] Construction on the Fleet Street Hill Project was intended to commence in 2016.[109] In 2019 ownership of the lease was sold[107] and the site remained empty.
The Gallery Cafe, inSt. Margaret's House, reopened as a vegetarian not-for-profit, community café in 2006; it became a fully vegan café in December 2017.[112] It wonBest Café in Bethnal Green at theTime OutLove London Awards in 2014, 2015[113] and 2016.[114]
Bethnal Green tube station is on theLondon UndergroundCentral line, which connects Bethnal Green directly toStratford in the east, theCity and London'sWest End.
The area is also linked to theNational Rail network at two stations on theLondon Overground network:Bethnal Green andCambridge Heath railway stations.[115][116]
In 2018, Cambridge Heath station was chosen for a trial with a pay-by-face system that may end the need for station barriers, due to its low passenger volumes and having no gates.[117]
Bethnal Green has also been part of theNight Tube service since 2016.[118]
Bethnal Green is served byLondon Buses, includingroute 8,26,55, 254 and 388 toCentral London; routes 309, 388, D3, D6 and night routes N8, N26, N55 and N243 also stop here.[119]
The26 bus route was introduced in 1992 to replace the withdrawn section ofroute 6 betweenHackney Wick andAldwych and included a new night counterpart toChingford from Hackney Wick, theN26.[120]
On 25 September 1993, route 309 started running between Bethnal Green andPoplar. It was intended to start from theLondon Chest Hospital but this was delayed due to speed hump problems and it therefore started and ended at Three Colts Lane instead. It was finally extended from Bethnal Green station to Chest Hospital in 1995.[121]
Clare Street is well known as an art quarter. Some of themurals there have the buildings' owners' permission.[122] Elsewhere, a mural ofDavid Attenborough appeared on the side of a tropical fish store on St Matthew's Row.[123]
Chris Gollon gained a major commission from theChurch of England for fourteenStations of the Cross paintings for theSt John church.[124] Gollon was a controversial choice, since he was not a practisingChristian. In order to carry out the commission, and for consultation on theological matters, he collaborated with Fr Alan Green,Rector of the church.[125]
Between 2005 and 2008, the EEL (East End Life) established the Vyner Street Festival with the local Victory Pub as a family festival with local bands, artists and market traders, this has a different theme every year, with theRed Arrows performing flyover in 2008.[126] By 2012, however, many artists had moved out due to the effects of theGreat Recession as well as the2012 Olympics.[127] A documentary film was released in the same year titledVyner Street: this was a short observational piece about two different worlds living inconspicuously and side by side in the same place.[128][129][127]
As part of "TUBE" Art Installation in November 2013, sound artist Kim Zip[130] created an installation[131] commemorating the Bethnal Green Tube Disaster. The work was backed by theWhitechapel Gallery and promoted as part of the organisation's "First Thursdays" initiative for popular art.[132] "TUBE" exhibited over a period of four weeks in the belfry ofSir John Soane'sSt John on Bethnal Green Church.[133] The Lady Dinah's Cat Emporium was the firstcat café in London, which was opened in 2013.[134][135]
The Oval Space hostedCatfest in 2018, with guests having the chance to take photos with cats as well as sample street food and meet shelter kittens.[136][137]
A plaque was placed at the entrance to the tube station in the 1970s to commemorate the disaster there, one of the worst of the Second World War; and a larger memorial, "Stairway to Heaven", stands in nearby Bethnal Green Gardens. This memorial was unveiled in December 2017 at a ceremony attended byMayor of LondonSadiq Khan and Bethnal Green and Bow MP Rushanara Ali.[138]
In 2019Sustrans opened a new London headquarters at Bethnal Green.[139]
Early in 2018 Frank Wang, who had sold coffee to commuters from his van at the northern exit of Bethnal Green underground station lost his business when the electricity supply from the station was cut off as a result of the nearby site of a disused public lavatory behind his stall being converted into a beach bar called Chiringuito.[140] Tower Hamlets MayorJohn Biggs, one of Frank's long-standing customers came out in support along with the local community, the Chinese community and commuters who protested.[141]
Formerly part of the estate ofTruman's Brewery, now a free house,[142][143] the Hare was cited as the epitome of a 'good, honest pub' by theEvening Standard and was listed as one of the 50 best pubs in London in 2019.[144] During the May bank holiday, the redeveloped railway arches off Cambridge Heath Road into an eating and drinking quarter opened.[145] Tower Hamlets Council had turned down plans for the Cambridge Heath Road development because of concerns over its affordable housing mix and design quality.[146] The Better Streets for Tower Hamlets had turned the car park spot in Bethnal Green Road into a mini park for a day to draw people's attention to the need for more healthier public spaces.[147]
In 2018 Sainsbury's opened what it claims was the country's first meat-free butchers, in the form of a traditional style butchers which was open for three days from Friday 21 June to mark World Meat Free Week, where it offered customers an array of cuts and joints derived from plant-based alternatives, such as mushroom, jackfruit and pea protein.[148] During the 2019 redecorating of the Carpenters Arms onCheshire Street, an old safe was found in the cellar when a wall was torn down. It is thought it was boarded up before the immediately previous owners has acquired the pub.[149]
Non-League football clubs are:
Both play atMile End Stadium.
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