Bethnal Green
Bethnal Green shown within Greater London
OS grid reference	TQ345825
London borough	Tower Hamlets
Ceremonial county	Greater London
Region	London
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	LONDON
Postcode district	E2
Dialling code	020
Police	Metropolitan
Fire	London
Ambulance	London
European Parliament	London
UK Parliament	Bethnal Green and Bow
London Assembly	City and East
List of places: UK • England • London

Coordinates: 51°31′39″N 0°03′58″W / 51.5275, -0.066

Bethnal Green is an area in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, in the East End of London. Greater London is the top-level administrative subdivision covering London, England. The British national grid reference system is a system of geographic grid references commonly used in Great Britain, different from using Latitude and Longitude The districts of England are a level of subnational division of England used for the purposes of local government The London Borough of Tower Hamlets ( is a London borough to the east of the City of London, England and north of the River Thames in East The ceremonial counties are areas of England that are appointed a Lord-Lieutenant, and are defined by the government as the Counties for the purposes of the Lieutenancies Greater London is the top-level administrative subdivision covering London, England. The region, also known as the government office region, is currently the highest tier of local government sub-national entity of England, with only one Greater London is the top-level administrative subdivision covering London, England. Constituent country is a phrase used often by official institutions in contexts in which a country makes up a part of a larger entity or grouping England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland This list of sovereign states, alphabetically arranged gives an overview of States around the world with information on the extent of their Sovereignty. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located A post town is a required part of all postal addresses in the United Kingdom, and a basic unit of the postal delivery system The London postal district is the area in England, currently of 241 square miles to which mail addressed to the LONDON Post town is delivered UK Postal codes are known as postcodes. UK postcodes are Alphanumeric. The E (Eastern postcode area, also known as the London E postcode area, is the part of the London postal district covering much of east London, England The UK Telephone numbering plan, also known as the National Telephone Numbering Plan, is the system used for assigning Telephone numbers in the United There are a number of law enforcement agencies in the United Kingdom. "Metropolitan Police" redirects here See also Metropolitan police. The fire service in the United Kingdom operates under separate legislative and administrative arrangements in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and The London Fire Brigade ( LFB) is the statutory The London Ambulance Service NHS Trust (LAS is the largest "free at the point of contact" ambulance service in the world that does not directly charge its patients London is a Constituency of the European Parliament. It currently elects 9 MEPs using the D'Hondt method of Party-list proportional This is a list of the 646 constituencies currently represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, as at the 2005 general election Bethnal Green and Bow is a Constituency located in Greater London, represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom Greater London is divided into fourteen territorial constituencies for London Assembly elections each returning one member City and East is a Constituency represented in the London Assembly. A Gazetteer of place names in the United Kingdom showing each place's County, Unitary authority or council area and its geographical coordinates List of places --> List of cities in the United Kingdom List of towns in England Lists of places This is a partial list of places in London, England See List of places in England for lists of settlements in other counties A geographic coordinate system enables every location on the Earth to be specified in three coordinates using mainly a spherical coordinate system. The London Borough of Tower Hamlets ( is a London borough to the east of the City of London, England and north of the River Thames in East Bethnal Green is located 3. 3 miles (5. 3 km) north east of Charing Cross. Charing Cross is located at the junction of the Strand, Whitehall and Cockspur Street in Central London, England.

Boundaries

Bethnal Green forms a part of Tower Hamlets, centred around the Central Line tube station at the junction of Bethnal Green Road, Roman Road and Cambridge Heath Road. The Central line is a line of the London Underground and coloured red on the Tube map. The district was originally a part of the Parish of Stepney, but formed a separate parish in the 19th century, as the population increased. This parish bordered the London Borough of Hackney in the north and west (at Shoreditch), and Mile End in the east. The London Borough of Hackney ( is a London borough in North-East London and forms part of Inner London. Shoreditch is an area of London within the London Borough of Hackney. Mile End is an area of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in East London, England. To the south is Whitechapel. Whitechapel is a built-up Inner city district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, England.

The district is associated with the E2 postal district, but this also covers parts of Shoreditch, Haggerston and Cambridge Heath. The E (Eastern postcode area, also known as the London E postcode area, is the part of the London postal district covering much of east London, England Haggerston is a place in the London Borough of Hackney. It is bounded by Hackney Road on the south Kingsland Road on the west Middleton Road on the north with London Fields Cambridge Heath is a place in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Between 1986 and 1992, the name Bethnal Green was applied to one of seven neighbourhoods, to whom power was devolved from the council. This resulted in replacement of much of the street signage in the area, that remains in place. ^[1] This included parts of both Cambridge Heath and Whitechapel - north of the Whitechapel Road - being more associated with the post code and administrative simplicity, than the historic districts.

History

Etymology

The place-name Blithehale or Blythenhale, the earliest form of Bethnal Green, is derived from the Anglo-Saxon healh ('angle, nook, or corner') and blithe ('happy, blithe'), or from a personal name Blitha. Nearby Cambridge Heath (Camprichesheth), is unconnected with Cambridge and may also derive from an Anglo-Saxon personal name. Cambridge Heath is a place in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The area was once marshland and forest which, as Bishopswood, lingered in the east until the 16th century. A settlement's dependence upon water suggests that the 'happy corner' was cleared next to the natural spring, St. Winifred's well, in Conduit field at the northern end of the Green^[2]. Over time, the name became Bethan Hall Green which because of local pronunciation as Beth'n 'all Green and by the 19th Century had become Bethnal Green.

Early history

A Tudor ballad, the Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green tells the story of an ostensibly poor man who gave a surprisingly generous dowry for his daughter's wedding. Social and economic revolution Following the Black Death Plagues and the agricultural depression of the late 14th century population growth The tale furnishes the parish of Bethnal Green's coat of arms. According to one version of the legend, found in Percy's Reliques of Ancient English Poetry, published in 1765, the beggar was said to be Henry, the son of Simon de Montfort, but Percy himself declared that this version was not genuine^[3]. Thomas Percy ( April 13, 1729 - September 30, 1811) was Bishop of Dromore and editor of Tatler, Guardian The Reliques of Ancient English Poetry (sometimes known as Reliques of Ancient Poetry or simply Percy's Reliques) is a collection of Ballads and Simon de Montfort 6th Earl of Leicester (1208 – August 4, 1265) was the principal leader of the Baronial opposition to King Henry III of England The Blind Beggar public house in Whitechapel, is reputed to be the site of his begging. The Blind Beggar is a Public house in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Whitechapel is a built-up Inner city district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, England.

York Hall is the local leisure centre and boxing venue

Boxing has a long association with Bethnal Green. Daniel Mendoza, who was champion of England from 1792 to 1795, though born in Aldgate, lived in Paradise Row, on the West side of Bethnal Green, for 30 years. Daniel Mendoza ( 5 July 1764 &ndash 3 September 1836) (often known as Dan Mendoza) was an English Prizefighter Aldgate was the easternmost gateway through London Wall leading from the City of London to Whitechapel and the East End. Since then numerous boxers have been associated with the area, and the local leisure centre, York Hall, remains notable for presentation of boxing bouts. The York Hall is a health and leisure centre and one of Britain's best known boxing venues

In 1841, the Anglo-Catholic Nathaniel Woodard - who was to become a highly influential educationalist in the later part of the 19th century - became the Curate of the newly created St. Bartholomew's in Bethnal Green. The terms Anglo-Catholic and Anglo-Catholicism (or sometimes possibly incorrectly High Church &mdashsee below describe people Nathaniel Woodard ( 21 March, 1811 - 25 April, 1891) was a priest in the Church of England. From the Latin curatus (compare Curator) a curate is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'' ''of souls'' of a Saint Bartholomew was one of the twelve Apostles of Jesus. Bartholomew (Βαρθολομαίος transliterated "Bartholomaios" comes from He was a capable pastoral visitor and established a parochial school. In 1843, he got into trouble for preaching a sermon in St. A sermon is an oration by a Prophet or member of the Clergy. Sermons address a Biblical, theological, or religious topic Bartholomew's in which he argued that The Book of Common Prayer should have additional material to provide for confession and absolution and in which he criticised the 'inefficient and Godless clergy' of the Church of England. The Book of Common Prayer is the common title of a number of prayer books of the Church of England and used throughout the Anglican Communion. The confession of one's Sins is a religious practice important to many faiths e Absolution is a traditional theological term for the forgiveness experienced in the traditional Churches in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England, the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican After examining the text of the sermon, the Bishop of London condemned it as containing 'erroneous and dangerous notions'. The Bishop of London is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of London in the Province of Canterbury. As a result, the Bishop sent Woodard to be a curate in Clapton. Lower Clapton is a district within the London Borough of Hackney.

The Green and Poor's Land

The Green and Poor's Land is the area of open land now occupied by Bethnal Green Library, The V&A Museum of Childhood and St. The V&A Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green in the East End of London is a branch of the Victoria and Albert Museum (the "V&A" John's Church, designed by John Soane. Sir John Soane ( 10 September 1753 &ndash 20 January 1837) was an English Architect who specialised in the Neo-Classical In Stow's Survey of London (1598) the hamlet was called Blethenal Green, now called Bednal Green. See John Stow for the 1598 work 'Survey of London' The Survey of London is a research project to produce a comprehensive historical 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 the land was to be kept open and rent from it used for the benefit of poor people living in the vicinity. From that date until now the trust has administered the land and its minute books are kept in the Greater London Record Office.

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 by Samuel Pepys. It became associated with the ballad of the Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green (see Thomas Percy).

In 1727 it was leased to Matthew Wright and for almost two centuries it was a mad house. Its two most distinguished inmates were Alexander Cruden, compiler of the Concordance to the Bible, and the poet Christopher Smart. Alexander Cruden ( June 8 1699 &ndash 1 November 1770) was the author of an early concordance to the Bible, and also A Complete Concordance to the Holy Scriptures, generally known as Cruden's Concordance, is a concordance of the King James Bible Christopher Smart (11 April 1722 &ndash 21 May 1771 otherwise known as "Kit Smart" "Kitty Smart" and "Jack Smart" was an English poet Cruden recorded his experience in The 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 in The Green (A. J. Robinson and D. H. B. Chesshyre).

Other Houses on the Green

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 of Netteswell, near Harwell, whose rector was the Rev. Anthony Natt. A few of its houses have become University Settlements. In Victoria Park Square, on the east side of the Green, No. 18 has a Tudor well in its cellar. ^[4]

Globe Town

To the east of the district lies Globe Town, this was established from 1800 to provide for the expanding population of weavers around Bethnal Green, attracted by improving prospects in silk 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 importing warehouses 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^[5].

Modern history

Old Bethnal Green Town Hall. Besides being the headquarters of the pre-1965 metropolitan borough, this was also, for a time, Tower Hamlets town hall, until the borough decentralised itself in the 1980s. The Metropolitan Borough of Bethnal Green was a Metropolitan borough in the County of London between 1900 and 1965 when it was merged into the London Borough The London Borough of Tower Hamlets ( is a London borough to the east of the City of London, England and north of the River Thames in East

V&A Museum of Childhood

In the nineteenth century, Bethnal Green was characterised by its market gardens and by the silk-weaving trade. Having been an area of large houses and gardens as late as the eighteenth 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 nineteenth century, Bethnal Green was one of the poorest slums in London. Jack the Ripper operated at the western end of Bethnal Green and in neighbouring Whitechapel. Jack the Ripper is an alias given to an unidentified Serial killer active in the largely impoverished Whitechapel area and adjacent districts of London Whitechapel is a built-up Inner city district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, England.

By 1900, the Old Nichol Street Rookery was demolished, and the Boundary Estate opened on the site, near the boundary with Shoreditch. A rookery (also sometimes described as a stew) was the colloquial British English name historically given to a city Slum or Ghetto frequented by poor people The Boundary Estate is a housing development formally opened in 1900 in the East End of London, England. Shoreditch is an area of London within the London Borough of Hackney. This was the world's first council housing, and brothers Lew Grade and Bernard Delfont were brought up here^[6]. The council house is a form of public or social housing in the United Kingdom. Lew Grade Baron Grade (25 December 1906&ndash13 December 1998 born Lev Winogradsky, was an influential Showbusiness Impresario and Television Bernard Delfont Baron Delfont ( 5 September 1909 &ndash 28 July 1994) born Boris (or Boruch Winogradsky, was a leading

On March 3, 1943 at 8:27PM the unopened Bethnal Green tube station was the site of a wartime disaster. Bethnal Green tube station is a station on the Central Line of the London Underground in Bethnal Green, east London Families had crowded into the underground station due to an air raid siren at 8:17, one of 10 that day. There was a panic at 8:27 coinciding with the sound of an anti-aircraft battery (possibly the recently installed Z battery) being fired at nearby Victoria Park. The Unrotated Projectile, or UP, was a short range Rocket firing anti-aircraft weapon developed for the Royal Navy to supplement the 2 pounder Pom-Pom Victoria Park (or 'Vicky' Park as locally known is a large open space that stretches out across part of the East End of London, England bordering parts of Bethnal In the wet, dark conditions, a woman slipped on the entrance stairs and 173 people died in the resulting crush. Although a report was filed by Eric Linden with the Daily Mail, who witnessed it, it never ran. The Daily Mail is a British newspaper currently published in a tabloid format The story which was reported instead was that there had been a direct hit by a German bomb. The results of the official investigation were not released until 1946. ^[7] There is now a plaque at the entrance to the tube station, which commemorates it as the worst civilian disaster of World War II. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including It is estimated that during WWII, 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. The Metropolitan Borough of Bethnal Green was a Metropolitan borough in the County of London between 1900 and 1965 when it was merged into the London Borough There were a total of 555 people killed and 400 seriously injured. ^[8] Many unexploded bombs remain in the area, and on Monday 14th May 2007, builders discovered a World War II 1 m long, 500 lb bomb. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including A bomb is any of a range of devices that typically rely on the Exothermic Chemical reaction of an Explosive material to produce an extremely ^[9]

During the 1960s, the infamous gangsters the Kray twins lived in Bethnal Green, but by the beginning of the twenty-first century, Bethnal Green, in common with much of the old East End, began to undergo a process of gentrification. Reginald "Reggie" Kray ( 24 October 1933 &ndash 1 October 2000) and Ronald "Ronnie" Kray ( 24 October Gentrification, or urban gentrification, is the change in an Urban area associated with the movement of more affluent individuals into a lower-class

The former Bethnal Green Infirmary, later the London County Council Bethnal Green Hospital, stood opposite Cambridge Heath railway station. Cambridge Heath railway station is in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in east London. The hospital closed as a public hospital in the 1960s and was a geriatric 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. Marcus Garvey was at one time buried here, before his body was returned to Jamaica. Marcus Mosiah Garvey Jr, National Hero of Jamaica (17 August 1887 10 June 1940 was a Publisher, Journalist, Entrepreneur, Black nationalist Jamaica (ˈdʒəˈmeɪkə} is an Island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length and as much as in width situated in the Caribbean Sea.

Places of interest

• Museum of Childhood, part of the Victoria and Albert Museum
• Centre for Recent Drawing
• London Buddhist Centre

Saint John on Bethnal Green

Trivia

• The area is host to occurrences in the book Journey Through A Small Planet by Emanuel Litvinoff, who details his working class Jewish upbringing in the 1920s and 30s. The V&A Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green in the East End of London is a branch of the Victoria and Albert Museum (the "V&A" The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of decorative arts and design housing a permanent collection Founded by Andrew Hewish in 2004 the Centre for Recent Drawing (C4RD is a non-commercial curatorial space in London, UK for the exhibition of recent drawing and providing The London Buddhist Centre (LBC in Bethnal Green, London is the main London headquarters of the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order. Emanuel Litvinoff (born May 5, 1915) is a British writer and human rights campaigner and is one of the best known and highly regarded figures in Anglo-Jewish literature
• Musicians Pete Doherty and Carl Barat formerly of The Libertines, shared a flat in Teesdale Street. Carl Ashley Raphael Barât (born June 6, 1978) is an English musician The Libertines were an English Indie rock band Formed in London in 1997 by frontmen Pete Doherty (vocals/rhythm guitar and Carl Barât (vocals/lead The flat was christened the Albion Rooms by Doherty, whose fascination with romantic Britain is well documented.
• Most of the sketches of Andy & Lou in Little Britain are filmed in Bethnal Green. Little Britain is a character-based comedy Sketch show first appearing on BBC radio and then television The shop where they buy the snake is actually Magri's pets, a shop at 205 Roman Road owned by former boxing champion and East End boy Charlie Magri. Charlie Magri (born July 20, 1956 in Tunis, Tunisia) is a former English Flyweight boxer
• Bethnal Green is notable for the staple cheap London meal, pie and mash with jellied eels^[10]. Pie and mash is a traditional London Working class food Pie mash and stewed eels shops have been in London since the 18th century and are still common in south and Jellied eels are Eels cooked for approximately half an hour and allowed to cool Kelly's is one such place, with two outlets in Bethnal Green.
• A notable and popular local market is the Columbia Road Flower Market. Columbia Road Flower Market is one of many markets in Central London a street flower market, it is located in East London ^[10]
• Bucks Fizz-star and TV Presenter Cheryl Baker was born in Bethnal Green and lived there till the age of 30. Bucks Fizz are a British pop group formed in 1981 to compete in the Eurovision Song Contest that year Cheryl Baker (born Rita Maria Crudgington, on 8 March 1954, in Bethnal Green, London) is an English Television presenter
• The seventh model for Lara Croft - Karima Adebibe comes from and lives in Bethnal Green with her family. Lara Croft is a Fictional character and the protagonist of Eidos Interactive 's Tomb Raider video game series Karima Adebibe (born February 14 1985 is an English Actress and model. ^[11]
• In the fictitious videogame The Getaway, Bethnal Green is presented as the hub of cockney gangster activity.
• The 1947 Ealing Studios film It Always Rains on Sunday was set in Bethnal Green, with extensive filming in the local area. For the film see Ealing Comedy (film. For the film comedies see Ealing Comedies. It Always Rains on Sunday is a 1947 film adaptation of the eponymous novel by Arthur La Bern, adapted and directed by Robert Hamer. It provides an excellent insight on post war East London, showing bomb sites and slums before most were swept away during the redevelopment in the 1960s and later. ^[12]
• The area is mentioned in one of the Harry Potter books. Harry Potter is a series of seven Fantasy novels written by British author J
• The Bethnal Green disaster was the basis for the song "Rosemary's Sister" by Connie Dover
• Bethnal Green is the location of the BBC house for the contestants in the programmes Any Dream Will Do (TV series) and How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?
• Actress, Singer, Comedienne and Improviser Josie Lawrence also lives in the area. Any Dream Will Do, often known as 'Joseph' was a 2007 Talent show -themed Television series produced by the BBC in the United How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? was a multi-award-winning British talent show shown on Saturday evenings on BBC One, first broadcast on 29 July Josie Lawrence (born Wendy Lawrence 6 June 1959) is a British Comedienne and actress best known for her work with Comedy Store

Education

Main article: List of schools in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets

Transport

Nearest places

• Liverpool Street
• Bow
• Haggerston
• Stepney
• Whitechapel
• Shoreditch
• Hoxton
• Spitalfields

Nearest tube stations

• Bethnal Green tube station
• Whitechapel tube station
• Stepney Green tube station

Nearest railway stations

• Bethnal Green railway station
• Cambridge Heath railway station

References

See also

• Bethnal Green and Bow (UK Parliament constituency)
• Metropolitan Borough of Bethnal Green

External links

• Tower Hamlets London Borough Council information about Bethnal Green