Local History Walks

All tickets are priced £2.00 (Refundable in the event of cancellation due to bad weather).
Send your contact details, choice of walks and a cheque/P.O. made payable to the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, together with a stamped addressed envelope to:

Tower Hamlets Local History Library and Archives
Bancroft Library
277, Bancroft Road
London E1 4DQ. Tel 020 7364 1290.
email: localhistory@towerhamlets.gov.uk

Guided Walks

Bow
Thursday 26 June 7pm

Starts and finishes at Bow Church Station (DLR)

Bow owes its existence to being a convenient place for travellers between London and Essex to cross the river Lea. Originally this was at Old Ford in the northern part of Bow but in the early 12th the first bridge at Bow was constructed; it is thought that its shape (like a bow) gave the district its name. In 1311 the inhabitants of Bow were granted a license to build a chapel of ease to the parish church of St. Dunstan’s, Stepney, but it was not until 1730 that Bow became a separate parish. In the early 19th century, Bow was still predominantly rural but industrial development along the river Lea and the expansion of London eastward resulted in it being completely transformed by the end of the century.

Limehouse
Tuesday 22 July 7pm

Starts at Limehouse Station. Ends Westferry Station (DLR)

Limehouse takes its name from the lime oasts or kilns that are known to have been there at least from the 14th century. By Elizabethan times it had become a thriving maritime centre and by 1610 half of its 2000 inhabitants were mariners. The population rose to about 7,000 in the next hundred years, concentrated in three streets close to the river. In the nineteenth century Limehouse merged into the general industrial East End. Parts (notably around Limehouse Causeway) developed as London’s first Chinatown in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Sites of interest will include the Regent’s Canal Dock, Hawksmoor’s outstanding church of St. Anne, eighteenth century housing in Newell and Narrow Streets and The Grapes public house, featured by Charles Dickens as the Six Jolly Fellowship Porters in “Our Mutual Friend”.
Spitalfields

Spitalfields
Saturday 6th September 3pm

Starts and finishes at Aldgate East Station

Spitalfields takes its name from the fields to the east of the medieval priory and hospital of St Mary Spital. The area remained largely undeveloped until the mid seventeenth century but by 1675 there were over 1,300 houses in the district, mostly small tenements crowded into narrow streets and alleyways. The history of Spitalfields is closely connected to immigration. Following the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685 large numbers of French Huguenots settled in the area mainly involved in the silk weaving industry. Many of their fine Georgian houses survive. In the latter part of the nineteenth century the area was dominated by Eastern European Jews. Since the latter part of the twentieth century immigrants originating from Bangladesh predominate and the name “Banglatown” has been designated for the area.

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