| DISTRICT | ||
| Stepney | ||
|---|---|---|
| Image | ||
| Population | ||
| PostCode District | E1, E14 | |
| Borough | London Borough of Tower Hamlets | |
| OS Grid Reference | ||
| Latitude | ||
| Longditude | ||
Stepney is an area in East London, located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, and is considered to be a part of the East End.
Toponymy[]
Stepney was recorded c.1000 as Stybbanhythe (Stybba’s haven or landing place) and it was the only part of the modern East End to be entered in Domesday Book as Stibenhede.[1]
History[]
The medieval village grew up around the church of St Dunstan, the parish church of the same name which was founded in 952 by the Archbishop of Canterbury and is the oldest church in East London.[2]
Shandy Park[3] opened in 1837 as the East London Cemetery and it closed for burials in 1853, and landscaped as a public garden by the Metropolitan Public Gardens Association in 1885, with the cemetery moving to West Ham.[4]
Beaumont Philosophical Institution, which was founded by Barber Beaumont, built Beaumont Square Gardens in 1840.[5] as part of the Beaumont Estate as a private garden reserved for use by the residents. It was then leased by the London County Council in the late nineteenth century and opened to the public.[6]
Slum clearance was undertook in the 1930s and resumed after the Second World War as council estates were erected in Stepney. From the 1950s to the 1960s, the area had acquired a criminal reputation as small-time conmen, when compared more notorious gangs in nearby Whitechapel and Bethnal Green.[7]
The Stifford Estate was built in 1958-64 overlooking a new public park, Stepney Green Park, former common land that was once part of Mile End Green. The three 17-storey towers were demolished between 1999 and 2000.[8]
In the early 1970s, Tower Hamlets Council estate building continued into the last few available sites.[9] In 1974, following the 1972 merger of the Congregationalist Church with the Presbyterians, the Stepney Meeting House joined up with the John Knox Presbyterian Church of England, to create a single congregation.[10] By the end of the decade, conservationists were fighting to save the terraced houses that survived from the late 17th to early 19th centuries.[11]
Transport[]
Close to Arbour Square, on Commercial Road, London Buses east to west routes, these are the 15, 115, 135 and N550.[1]
Further routes is the 309 (running east-north) and 339 (south-east) via Ben Johnson Road.[2] From the Wikipedia page [12]