|
|
|
Canning Town is situated about 3½ miles east of Whitechapel, adjacent to the river Lea as it enters the Thames at Bow Creek. Originally in the County of Essex, now a district of the modern day borough of Newham. An industrial and residential area dating from about 1850 built to house the labourers in Victoria Docks, the coal wharves and the shipbuilding works on Bow Creek. It suffered severe damage during the 2nd World War and has subsequently been largely rebuilt.
Whitechapel, originally part of Stepney, quickly developed as a suburb to the City of London because of its location on the main route in and out of the City from Essex. The chapel that gives Whitechapel its name was built in the 13th century and became the parish church of St. Mary in about 1338. Many trades, particularly in metalwork, were considered a nuisance in the congested City and moved to Whitechapel. Amongst these were the Gunmakers Company Proof House in Commercial Road and the Whitechapel Bell Foundry which made the 'Liberty Bell' and 'Big Ben'. Both are still in existence to-day. The poverty of the inhabitants, much commented upon by the Victorians, was already present. The hearth tax returns of 1664 show that almost three-quarters of the households occupied houses worth less than £1 a year - the highest proportion in East London. At the end of the 17th century, more substantial houses were built in the Leman Estate area, some of which were occupied by Sephardic Jews. When the London Hospital was moved to its present site in Whitechapel Road in the 1750's, it backed on to fields. Whitechapel continued to develop, the back streets becoming a maze of disreputable yards and courts, later to become the scene of the Whitechapel murders (Jack the Ripper). The Commercial Road brought much traffic to and from the East & West India Docks including sugar to refineries in Whitechapel especially in the Blackchurch Lane area. The refineries employed mostly Germans while the Irish lived around Rosemary Lane (now renamed Royal Mint Street). Whitechapel Market was one of the largest Victorian street markets and was mainly run by Jewish and Irish traders with much competition between them. Docklands is the semi-official name for an area in the east of London, England, comprising parts of several boroughs (Southwark, Tower Hamlets and Newham) in Greater London. The eponymous docks were formerly part of the Port of London, at one time the world's largest port. They have now been redeveloped principally for commercial and residential use. The name London Docklands was used for the first time in a government report on redevelopment plans in 1971 but has since become virtually universally adopted. |
|
Featured hotels in London Docklands Britannia International Hotel, 163 Marsh Wall, Docklands, London E14 9SJ Express by Holiday Inn Royal Docks, 1 Silvertown Way, Canning Town, London E16 1EA The City Hotel, 12 Osborn Street, Whitechapel, London E1 6TE Quality Hotel West Ham, West Ham United FC, Green Street, London E13 9AZ Crowne Plaza Docklands ExCeL, Royal Victoria Dock, Western Gateway, London E16 1AL Express By Holiday Inn London Limehouse, 469 - 475 The Highway Road, Limehouse, London E1W 3HN Premier Inn London City (Tower Hill) Hotel, 24-26 Prescot Street, London, E1 8BB Travelodge London City Airport Hotel , Hartmann Road, Silvertown, London, E16 2BZ, England More hotels in London Docklands |
| Home |
| Hotels in London Docklands, Whitechapel, Canning Town, E1, E13, E14, E16 |