BROMLEY-BY-BOW

'Bromley-by-Bow', historically and officially 'Bromley', is a place in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is an inner-city district situated 4.8 miles (7.8 km) east north-east of Charing Cross.

Contents

Geography and Administration

Administration

History

History of name

Religion

Community facilities

Demographics

Education

Transport and locale

Nearest places

Transport

References

External links

Geography and Administration

The area is bisected north to south by the Blackwall Tunnel Approach Road (A12) and the boundary of the area to the east is the River Lee. Kingsley Hall is in Bromley-by-Bow, near the Bromley by Bow Centre.

Administration

Councillors for the Bromley by Bow ward, which covers the district, are:^[1]

★ Rania Khan (Respect)

★ Mohammed Abdul Munim (Respect)

★ Abdul Aziz Sardar (Labour)

History

History of name

From 1899 to 1965 the area was part of the Metropolitan Borough of Poplar and located in the east of the borough. The area had been known as Bromley and formed part of the parish of ''Bromley St Leonard'' for hundreds of years. Soon after the creation of Greater London the London Underground station at Bromley was renamed to ''Bromley-by-Bow'' to distinguish it from the stations at Bromley in the London Borough of Bromley some 8 miles (12.9 km) south of there. Over time the station's name has been applied to the area, so much so that today it is nearly always known as ''Bromley-by-Bow'' in full. Bow itself was originally known as ''Stratforde'', becoming ''Stratford-at-Bow'' when a medieval bridge was built, in the shape of a bow.

Religion

Bromley was also known as Bromley-St Leonards, after St Leonard's Priory, a Benedictine nunnery founded in the time of William the conqueror. This priory achieved notoriety in the prologue to the ''Prioress' tale'' in Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.

: ''Ther was also a nonne, a prioresse,''
: ''That of hir smylyng was ful symple and coy;''
: ''Hire gretteste ooth was but by seinte loy;''
: ''And she was cleped madame eglentyne.''
: ''Ful weel she soong the service dyvyne,''
: ''Entuned in hir nose ful semely,''
: ''And frenssh she spak ful faire and fetisly,''
: ''After the scole of stratford atte bowe,''
: ''For frenssh of parys was to hire unknowe''.^[2]

This was a barbed reference, as it implied the Prioress had learned French, from the Benedictine nuns, in a distinct Anglo-Norman dialect,^[3] that by this time had lost prestige, and was being ridiculed as sub-standard French.
The Abbey was destroyed at the time of the Dissolution, and the manor and lands passed to Sir Ralph Sadleir, who lived at Sutton House, in Homerton and was privy councillor to Henry VIII. The church was retained to become the parish church of St Leonards. This in turn was destroyed by bombing in World War II, and obliterated by the building of the Blackwall Tunnel approach road, dividing the main residential body of the parish from the river front. All that remains of the grounds of the Abbey is a small neglected churchyard.
The Revd Richard Enraght, religious controversialist^[4], was the Curate of St Michael and All Angels Church in St Leonards Road from 1884-1888 and Rector of St Gabriel Church, Crisp Street (Poplar), from 1888-1895. (both Churches are now demolished)

Community facilities

Kingsley Hall is famous both for the visits of Mahatma Gandhi to the East End in 1931, and also for the therapeutic clinic run by the alternative psychologist, R. D. Laing from 1965. Despite a severe fire in 1995, Kingsley Hall remains an active community centre.
The Bromley by Bow Centre is a radical approach to integrate health care, with nursery care, training opportunities and a community centre. It has been cited as a model for the future development of community services and healthcare.

Demographics

In 2001, according to the UK national census data^[5], there were 11,581 people living in the ward in 2188 households, giving an average of 2.8 people per household. Of these 51% were female, 30% were under the age of 16 and 40% were of Bangladeshi origin.
Tenure in Bromley-by-Bow ward was predominantly rented with only 15% of households being owner-occupiers^[6]. Census data indicates that the proportion of households in rented tenure was higher than the average for the borough. 60% of males were economically active with total unemployment being around 16% compared to 11% for the borough as a whole.

Education

:''For details of education in see the Tower Hamlets article''

Transport and locale

Nearest places

★ Bow

★ Canning Town

★ Poplar

★ West Ham

Transport

★ Bromley-by-Bow Underground station

References

1. councillors for the Bromley by Bow ward accessed 17 May 2007
2. Line 125. Chaucer: ''The Canterbury Tales'' accessed on 14 Nov 2006
3. Old Language Variety: Anglo-Norman
4. Rev R.W. Enraght BA ''My Prosecution'' (1883) accessed 17 May 2007
5. census data accessed 17 May 2007
6. Summary 2001 census data for LAP6 accessed 17 May 2007

External links

★ History of Bromley St. Leonard

★ A Vision of Britain - Parish boundaries of Bromley St. Leonard

★ Kingsley Hall Community Centre

★ Bromley-by-Bow Centre

★ Bromley-by-Bow Ward Profile - based on 2001 census data

★ Local Area Partnership 6 for the Mile End East ward and the Bromley by Bow ward.

★ 2001 Key Statistics for LAP6 - compared to London Borough of Tower Hamlets

★ Bromley-by-Bow Ward Councillors