69-616: 51°30′40″N 0°03′22″W / 51.5112°N 0.056°W / 51.5112; -0.056 Cable Street is a road in the East End of London , England, with several historic landmarks nearby. It was made famous by the Battle of Cable Street in 1936. Cable Street starts near the edge of London's financial district, the City of London , in south-western Whitechapel and continues on through to central Shadwell and then to south-eastern Stepney , to
138-567: A byword for wider East London , before East London grew further still, east of the River Lea and into Essex . The contrast between the east and west ends was stark, in 1797 the Prussian writer and historian Archenholz wrote: (The east)...especially along the shores of the Thames, consists of old houses, the streets there are narrow, dark, and ill paved; inhabited by sailors and other workmen... and by
207-584: A great part of the Jews. The contrast between this and the west is astonishing Writing of the period around 1800, Rev. Richardson commented on the estrangements between the east and west: The inhabitants of the extreme east of London knew nothing of the western localities and vice-versa. There was little communication or sympathy between the two ends of London. …and thus the householders of Westminster were as distinct from householders of Bishopsgate Without , Shoreditch and all those localities which stretch towards
276-532: A local landmark that remained until it was demolished to improve access for the London City Airport . The first railway (the " Commercial Railway ") to be built, in 1840, was a passenger service based on cable haulage by stationary steam engines that ran the 3.5 mi (5.6 km) from Minories to Blackwall on a pair of tracks. It required 14 mi (22.5 km) of hemp rope , and "dropped" carriages as it arrived at stations, which were reattached to
345-463: A major manufacturing town, with 30,000 houses built between 1871 and 1901. Soon afterwards, East Ham was built up to serve the new Gas Light and Coke Company and Bazalgette's grand sewage works at Beckton . The years 1885–1909 saw a series of transportation milestones achieved in Walthamstow. In 1885, John Kemp Starley designed the first modern bicycle, while in 1892 Frederick Bremer built
414-654: A major railway centre for the North London Railway , with marshalling yards and a maintenance depot serving both the City and the West India docks. Nearby Bow railway station opened in 1850 and was rebuilt in 1870 in a grand style, featuring a concert hall. The line and yards closed in 1944, after severe bomb damage, and never reopened, as goods became less significant, and cheaper facilities were concentrated in Essex. The River Lea
483-556: A maritime history): East End of London The East End of London , often referred to within the London area simply as the East End , is the historic core of wider East London , east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames . It does not have universally accepted boundaries on its north and east sides, though the River Lea is sometimes seen as
552-609: A palace at Bethnal Green , King John is reputed to have established a palace at Bow and Henry VIII established a hunting lodge at Bromley Hall . The rural population of the area grew considerably in the Medieval period, despite reductions caused by the Norman Conquest and the Black Death. The pattern of agricultural settlement in south-east England was typically of dispersed farmhouses, rather than nucleated villages. However
621-481: A reference to the large numbers of Irish residents there then, but the name is old – it is found in the St Dunstan Stepney registers in the early 1600s. Also, in the 19th century, the area at the western end of Cable Street was identified as "near Wellclose Square ", as this was a well-known landmark, where nautical items were sold. The whole of the central area of the current street was named after St George in
690-464: A series forming the basis for London Labour and the London Poor (1851), that the trades in the area included tailors, costermongers , shoemakers, dustmen, sawyers, carpenters, cabinet makers and silkweavers. He noted that in the area: roads were unmade, often mere alleys, houses small and without foundations, subdivided and often around unpaved courts. An almost total lack of drainage and sewerage
759-599: A suspect in the Ratcliff Highway murders . Local people went along with the claim that he had committed suicide, from guilt of the crimes. At the time, 1812, suicide was considered to be sinful, and justified him being buried upside down with a stake through his heart. His skull was found when new gas mains were being laid in August 1886, and was on display for many years in The Crown and Dolphin pub opposite. On 4 October 1936
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#1732858459321828-516: A violent confrontation between the Metropolitan Police and local communities on the street was later named the ' Battle of Cable Street '. Communist , anarchist , labour and Jewish groups joined with locals to resist a planned march through the East End by Oswald Mosley 's British Union of Fascists . The East End has traditionally been an area of London with a large Jewish population. It
897-644: Is Tower Hill . Opened in 2010, the nearest London Overground stations are Shadwell and Wapping on the East London Line . The nearest Docklands Light Railway stations are Shadwell and Limehouse (also a National Rail station). A musical based on the events in Cable Street in October 1936 ran at the Southwark Playhouse theatre in London from 16 February - 16 March 2024. People associated with
966-427: Is estimated that around 100,000 Jews from Eastern Europe had fled to the East End in the period 1881–1914. A bus was overturned and used as a barricade, Mosley's car was attacked with bricks, and there was some of the most violent hand-to-hand fighting ever seen in London. The march was eventually abandoned. A large mural (created between 1979 and 1983) on St George's Town Hall, next to Library Place, depicts scenes from
1035-544: Is often referred to as Shadwell . The street is in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets , in postal district E1 . It lies within the parliamentary constituencies of Bethnal Green and Bow and Poplar and Limehouse , currently represented by Rushanara Ali and Jim Fitzpatrick , both of the Labour party . Cable Street started as a straight path along which hemp ropes were twisted into ships' cables (i.e. ropes). These supplied
1104-461: Is thought to pre-date that by centuries. These landholdings would become the basis of the Ancient Parishes and City Wards which, by occasional fission and mergers, developed into the administrative units of today. Five monastic institutions, centres of learning and charity, were established just outside the walls: Bedlam , Holywell Priory , The New Hospital of St Mary without Bishopsgate ,
1173-497: Is to add to Tower Hamlets the former parish and borough of Shoreditch (including Hoxton and Haggerston ), which is now the southern part of the modern London Borough of Hackney . Other commentators prefer a definition broader still, encompassing districts such as West Ham , East Ham , Leyton , Walthamstow , parts or all of Hackney (the district, rather than the larger modern borough) and Ilford . The wider East London area might be said to comprise, or approximate to,
1242-702: The Abbey of the Minoresses of St. Clare without Aldgate , Eastminster near the Tower, and St Katherine's on the Thames. Bromley was home to St Leonards Priory and Barking Abbey , important as a religious centre since Norman times was where William the Conqueror had first established his English court. Further east the Cistercian Stratford Langthorne Abbey became the court of Henry III in 1267 for
1311-518: The Essex side of the city, as they are from the inhabitants of Holland or Belgium. The East End has always contained some of London's poorest areas. The main reasons for this include: In medieval times trades were carried out in workshops in and around the owners' premises in the City. By the time of the Great Fire of London in 1666 these were becoming industries, and some were particularly noisome, such as
1380-634: The Great Fire of London , and Captain Cook moved from Shadwell to Stepney Green , where a school and assembly rooms had been established (commemorated by Assembly Passage , and a plaque on the site of Cook's house on the Mile End Road). Mile End Old Town also acquired some fine buildings, and the New Town began to be built. By 1882, Walter Besant was able to describe East London as a city in its own right, on account of its large size and social disengagement from
1449-507: The Moorfields countryside. These boundaries remained consistent after urbanisation and so might be said to delineate east and north London. The boundary line, with very slight modifications, has also become the boundary between the modern London Boroughs of Hackney and Islington . Building accelerated in the late 16th century, and the area that would later become known as the East End began to take shape. Writing in 1603, John Stow described
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#17328584593211518-608: The Olympic Park among the most successful examples. Paradoxically, while some parts of the East End are undergoing rapid change and are amongst the areas with the highest mean salary in the UK, it also continues to contain some of the worst poverty in Great Britain. The East End lies east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames . Aldgate Pump on
1587-596: The Peabody Trust were formed to provide homes for the poor and to clear the slums generally. Expansion by the railway companies, such as the London and Blackwall Railway and Great Eastern Railway , caused large areas of slum housing to be demolished. The Housing of the Working Classes Act 1890 ( 53 & 54 Vict. c. 70), gave local authorities, notably London County Council , new powers and responsibilities and led to
1656-582: The Royal Victoria Dock (1855), able to berth vessels of up to 8000 tons; Royal Albert Dock (1880), up to 12,000 tons; and King George V Dock (1921), up to 30,000 tons, on the estuary marshes helped extend the continuous development of London across the Lea into Essex. The railways gave access to a passenger terminal at Gallions Reach and new suburbs created in West Ham , which quickly became
1725-463: The SS Great Eastern , designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel , was launched from the yard of Messrs Scott Russell & Co , of Millwall . The 692 ft (211 m) vessel was too long to fit across the river, and so the ship had to be launched sideways. Due to the technical difficulties of the launch, after this, shipbuilding on the Thames went into a long decline. Ships continued to be built at
1794-546: The Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company at Blackwall and Canning Town until the yard closed in 1913, shortly after the launch of the Dreadnought Battleship HMS Thunderer (1911) . Heading eastward from the Tower of London lie six and a half mile of former docklands; the most central of the docks – just east of the Tower, is St Katharine Docks , built in 1828 to accommodate luxury goods. This
1863-686: The Tower Division , which had owed military service to the Constable of the Tower (in his ex-officio role as Lord Lieutenant of the Tower Hamlets ) for time immemorial, having its roots in the Bishop of London's historic Manor of Stepney . This made the Constable an influential figure in the civil and military affairs of the early East End. Later, as London grew further, the fully urbanised Tower Division became
1932-570: The Tower Division , which had owed military service to the Tower of London since time immemorial. Later, as London grew further, the fully urbanised Tower Division became a byword for wider East London, before East London grew further still, east of the River Lea and into Essex . The area was notorious for its deep poverty, overcrowding and associated social problems. This led to the East End's history of intense political activism and association with some of
2001-586: The West Indies was unloaded directly into quayside warehouses. Ships were limited to 6000 tons. The old Brunswick Dock, a shipyard at Blackwall became the basis for the East India Company 's East India Docks established there in 1806. The Millwall Docks were created in 1868, predominantly for the import of grain and timber. These docks housed the first purpose built granary for the Baltic grain market ,
2070-454: The Bishop of London's Manor of Stepney . The Manor's lands were the basis of a later unit called the Tower Division, or Tower Hamlets which extended as far north as Stamford Hill . It is thought that the manor was held by the Bishop of London , in compensation for his duties in maintaining and garrisoning the Tower of London . The oldest recorded reference to this obligation is from 1554, but it
2139-524: The East church and St George in the East parish . From Victorian times through to the 1950s, Cable Street had a reputation for cheap lodgings, brothels, drinking inns and opium dens. The last occasion in England when a stake was hammered through a sinner's heart at an official burial, took place at the junction of Cable Street and Cannon Street Road: John Williams was found hanged in his cell, after being arrested as
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2208-403: The East End as a distinct entity, as opposed to its component parts, comes from John Strype 's 1720 Survey of London , which describes London as consisting of four parts: the City of London, Westminster , Southwark , and "That Part beyond the Tower". The relevance of Strype's reference to the Tower was more than geographical. The East End was the urbanised part of an administrative area called
2277-402: The East End as a distinct entity, rather than a collection of parishes, when he describes London as consisting of four parts: the City of London, Westminster , Southwark , and "That Part beyond the Tower" . The relevance of Strype's reference to the Tower was more than geographical. The East End (including the Tower and its Liberties ) was the urbanised part of an administrative area called
2346-568: The East End rather than in the crowded streets of the City. In 1817 the Lower Moorfields was built on and the gap with Finsbury was fully closed, and in the late 19th century development across the Lea in West Ham began in earnest. As time went on, large estates began to be split up, ending the constraining effect of short-term copyhold. Estates of fine houses for captains, merchants and owners of manufacturers began to be built. Samuel Pepys moved his family and goods to Bethnal Green during
2415-486: The area: Members of Parliament, for Bethnal Green and Bow : Members of Parliament, for Poplar and Canning Town : West of Cable Street North of Cable Street starting from the west: East of Cable Street South of Cable Street , starting from the west: As Cable Street refers to the fact that originally cables (and such) were made here, often for the maritime industry, it is a name (together with similar names) which can be found in other places (which often have
2484-810: The building of new philanthropic housing such as Blackwall Buildings and Great Eastern Buildings. By 1890, official slum clearance programmes had begun. These included the creation of the world's first council housing, the LCC Boundary Estate , which replaced the neglected and crowded streets of Friars Mount, better known as The Old Nichol Street Rookery. Between 1918 and 1939 the LCC continued replacing East End housing with five- or six-storey flats, despite residents preferring houses with gardens and opposition from shopkeepers who were forced to relocate to new, more expensive premises. The Second World War brought an end to further slum clearance. Industries associated with
2553-399: The cable for the return journey, the train "reassembling" itself at the terminus. The line was converted to standard gauge in 1859, and steam locomotives adopted. The building of London termini at Fenchurch Street (1841), and Bishopsgate (1840) provided access to new suburbs across the River Lea , again resulting in the destruction of housing and increased overcrowding in the slums. After
2622-572: The country's most influential social reformers. Another major theme of East End history has been migration, both inward and outward. The area had a strong pull on the rural poor from other parts of England, and attracted waves of migration from further afield, notably Huguenot refugees, Irish weavers, Ashkenazi Jews , and, in the 20th century, Bengalis . The closure of the last of the Port of London's East End docks in 1980 created further challenges and led to attempts at regeneration, with Canary Wharf and
2691-420: The day. A red plaque at Cable Street's junction with Dock Street commemorates the incident. Listed from west to east: Vehicular traffic is restricted to travel one-way along the whole street, though the direction varies. It is mostly west-bound, but it is east-bound east of Brodlove Lane (itself one-way north-bound). It lies outside of the London congestion charge zone (CCZ). London Cycle Superhighway 3 runs
2760-452: The defence of Aldgate and the nearby walls. The land inside and outside Bishopsgate seems to have been the responsibility of the Bishop of London (the Bishop of the East Saxons ), who was promoting building in the underdeveloped eastern side of the walled area, and who may also have had a role in defending Bishopsgate itself. Apart from parts of Shoreditch, the rest of the area was part of
2829-463: 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 silk industry's decline. During the 19th century, building on an ad hoc basis could not keep up with the expanding population's needs. Henry Mayhew visited Bethnal Green in 1850 and wrote for the Morning Chronicle , as a part of
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2898-558: The eastern boundary. Parts of it may be regarded as lying within Central London (though that term too has no precise definition). The term "East of Aldgate Pump " is sometimes used as a synonym for the area. The East End began to emerge in the Middle Ages with initially slow urban growth outside the eastern walls, which later accelerated, especially in the 19th century, to absorb pre-existing settlements. The first known written record of
2967-490: The edge of the City is regarded as the symbolic start of the East End. On the river, the Tower Dock inlet, just west of the Tower of London and Tower Bridge marks the beginning of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets and its older predecessors. Beyond these reference points, the East End has no official or generally accepted boundaries; views vary as to how much of wider East London lies within it. In extending from
3036-490: The first British motorcar in a workshop in his garden. The London General Omnibus Company built the first mass-produced buses there, the B-type from 1908 onwards and in 1909, A V Roe successfully tested the first all-British aeroplane on Walthamstow Marshes . The East End has historically suffered from poor housing stock and infrastructure. From the 1950s, the area was a microcosm of the structural and social changes affecting
3105-536: The junction between Cable Street and Butcher Row in Limehouse . The street is parallel to, and south of, the Docklands Light Railway and Commercial Road , and north of The Highway . The area is close to Wapping and Shadwell Basin to the south, Tower Hill to the west, and Aldgate to the north. Since many Londoners define their locality by the nearest London Underground stations, the Cable Street area
3174-488: The length of Cable Street in the form of a two-way segregated cycle track , continuing west into Royal Mint Street (its western terminus). This is well used by cyclists, especially those commuting to the City and Docklands. London Buses routes 100 and D3 both pass west-bound through the central part of Cable Street: The district falls within Transport for London 's Travelcard zone 2 . The nearest London Underground station
3243-510: The line of the former walls, the area is taken to include the small ancient extramural City wards of Bishopsgate Without and the Portsoken (as established until 21st century boundary reviews). The various channels of the River Lea are sometimes viewed as the eastern boundary. Beyond the small eastern extramural wards, the narrowest definition restricts the East End to the modern London Borough of Tower Hamlets . A more common preference
3312-452: The longstanding presence of that open space separating the emerging East End from the western and small northern suburb must have helped shape the different economic character of the areas and perceptions of their distinct identity (see map below). Shoreditch's boundary with the parish of St Luke's (which, like its predecessor St Giles-without-Cripplegate served the Finsbury area ) ran through
3381-487: The many ships that would anchor in the nearby Pool of London , between London Bridge and Wapping and Rotherhithe . Many other ropewalks can be seen on later maps, showing how demand for ropes grew as shipping increased. Until Victorian times, the current Cable Street had different names for each of its sections. From west to east these ran: Cable Street, Knock Fergus, New Road, Back Lane, Blue Gate Fields , Sun Tavern Fields, and Brook Street. Knock Fergus may have been
3450-448: The marshy area of Pimlico . These docks imported tobacco, wine, wool and other goods into guarded warehouses within high walls (some of which still remain). They were able to berth over 300 sailing vessels simultaneously, but by 1971 they closed, no longer able to accommodate modern shipping. The West India Docks were established in 1803, providing berths for larger ships and a model for future London dock building. Imported produce from
3519-477: The navy is recorded at Ratcliff in 1354, with shipfitting and repair carried out in Blackwall by 1485 and a major fishing port developed downstream at Barking to provide fish for the City. These and other factors meant that industries relating to construction, repair, and victualling of naval and merchant ships flourished in the area but the City of London retained its right to land the goods, until 1799. Growth
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#17328584593213588-409: The opening of Liverpool Street station (1874), Bishopsgate railway station became a goods yard, in 1881, to bring imports from Eastern ports. With the introduction of containerisation, the station declined, suffered a fire in 1964 that destroyed the station buildings, and it was finally demolished in 2004 for the extension of the East London Line . In the 19th century, the area north of Bow Road became
3657-470: The presence of the city and maritime trades as a market for goods and services led to a thriving mixed economy in the countryside of the Manor of Stepney. This led to large settlements, inhabited mostly by tradesmen (rather than farmers) to develop along the major roads forming hamlets such as Mile End and Bow. These settlements would expand and merge with the development radiating out from London itself. Geography
3726-455: The processing of urine for the tanning industry, or required large amounts of space, such as drying clothes after process and dying in fields known as tentergrounds . Some were dangerous, such as the manufacture of gunpowder or the proving of guns. These activities came to be performed outside the City walls in the near suburbs of the East End. Later, when lead-making and bone-processing for soap and china came to be established, they too located in
3795-539: The rest of the capital. As the area became built up and more crowded, the wealthy sold their plots for subdivision and moved further afield. Into the 18th and 19th centuries, there were still attempts to build fine houses, for example Tredegar Square (1830), and the open fields around Mile End New Town were used for the construction of estates of workers' cottages in 1820. This was designed in 1817 in Birmingham by Anthony Hughes and finally constructed in 1820. Globe Town
3864-471: The sea developed throughout the East End, including rope making and shipbuilding. The former location of roperies can still be identified from their long straight, narrow profile in the modern streets, for instance Ropery Street near Mile End . Shipbuilding for the navy is recorded at Ratcliff in 1354, with shipfitting and repair carried out in Blackwall by 1485. On 31 January 1858, the largest ship of that time,
3933-422: The squalid riverside development, extending nearly as far as Ratcliff , which had developed mostly within his lifetime. The polluted nature of the area was noted by Sir William Petty in 1676, at a time when unpleasant smells were considered a vector of disease. He called for London's centre of gravity to move further west from the City towards Westminster , upwind what he called "the fumes steams and stinks of
4002-429: The two eastern wards of the City, the former Tower Division and those parts of London east of the Lea. The East End developed along the Thames, and beyond Bishopsgate and Aldgate , the gates in the city wall that lay east of the little Walbrook river. These gates, first built with the wall in the late second or early third centuries, secured the entrance of pre-existing roads (the modern A10 and A11/A12 ) into
4071-549: The visitation of the Papal legates , and it was here that he made peace with the barons under the terms of the Dictum of Kenilworth . It became the fifth largest Abbey in the country, visited by monarchs and providing a retreat (and a final resting place) for the nobility. Edward I held his parliament at Stepney in 1299. The lands east of the City have sometimes been used as hunting grounds for bishops and royalty. The Bishop of London had
4140-618: The walled area. The walls were such a constraint to growth, that the position of the gates has been fundamental to the shaping of the capital, especially in the then suburbs outside the wall. The walled City was built on two hills separated by the Walbrook , Ludgate Hill to the west and Cornhill (of which Tower Hill is a shoulder), to the east. During the Anglo-Saxon period the two sides were under separate administration and had distinct economies, character, customs and regulations. Even beyond
4209-500: The walls, the Walbrook separated landholdings, with the Soke of Cripplegate to the west and the Soke of Bishopsgate to the east. The western side was more populous and prosperous, it had the cathedral, the royal palace (which later moved to Westminster) and its large market, Westcheap, was focussed on land-based trade. The east was poorer and more sparsely settled; its smaller market, Eastcheap,
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#17328584593214278-561: The whole easterly pyle" . In 1703 Joel Gascoyne published his map of the parish of St Dunstan Stepney, which occupied much of the East End area. He was commissioned to do so by the Vestry (local government) of the parish, who needed such a map for administrative purposes. The map shows Stepney divided into Hamlets , these were territorial sub-divisions, rather than small villages, and later became independent daughter parishes in their own right. In 1720 John Strype gives us our first record of
4347-569: Was a constraint to eastward expansion, but the Metropolitan Building Act of 1844 led to growth over that river into West Ham . The Act restricted the operation of dangerous and noxious industries from in the metropolitan area, the eastern boundary of which was the Lea . Consequently, many of these activities were relocated to the banks of the river. The building of the Royal Docks consisting of
4416-399: Was a major factor influencing the character of the developing East End; prevailing winds flow, like the river, west to east. The flow of the river led to the maritime trades concentrating in the east and the prevailing wind encouraged the most polluting industries to concentrate eastwards. Metal working industries are recorded between Aldgate and Bishopsgate in the 1300s and ship building for
4485-469: Was built by clearing the slums that lay in the area of the former Hospital of St Katharine . They were not successful commercially, as they were unable to accommodate the largest ships, and in 1864, management of the docks was amalgamated with that of the London Docks. The London Docks were built in 1805, and the waste soil and rubble from the construction was carried by barge to west London, to build up
4554-452: Was established from 1800 to provide for the expanding population of weavers around Bethnal Green, attracted by improving prospects in silk weaving. Bethnal Green's population trebled between 1801 and 1831, with 20,000 looms being operated in people's own homes. By 1824, with restrictions on importation of French silks relaxed, up to half these looms had become idle, and prices were driven down. With many importing warehouses already established in
4623-583: Was made worse by the ponds formed by the excavation of brickearth. Pigs and cows in back yards, noxious trades like boiling tripe, melting tallow, or preparing cat's meat, and slaughter houses, dustheaps, and 'lakes of putrefying night soil ' added to the filth A movement began to clear the slums. Burdett-Coutts built Columbia Market in 1869 and the Artisans' and Labourers' Dwellings Improvement Act 1875 passed in 1876 to provide powers to seize slums from landlords and to provide access to public funds to build new housing. Philanthropic housing associations such as
4692-417: Was much slower in the east, than in the large western suburb , with the modest eastern suburb separated from the much smaller northern extension by Moorfields adjacent to the wall on the north side. Moorfields was an open area with a marshy chararacter due to London's Wall acting as a dam, impeding the flow of the Walbrook and restricting development in that direction. Moorfields remained open until 1817, and
4761-435: Was sited near the river to allow it to specialise in seaborne trade. These intramural distinctions would persist, if less markedly, and influence the development that subsequently occurred beyond the walls. Beyond the wall, the landholdings which would ultimately shape modern administrative divisions were in place before Domesday. The land outside Aldgate was held by the Cnichtengild , a fighting organisation responsible for
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