MILE END

'Mile End' is an area of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in East London, England. Mile End is 3.6 miles (5.8 km) east north-east of Charing Cross.

Locale

Mile End is in a part of London known as the East End and home to the main campus of Queen Mary, University of London. Parts of the Barts and Royal London Medical school are also based on this campus, using facilities at the nearby Mile End Hospital. The main student halls of residence are also now located on this campus.

The Green Bridge carries Mile End Park over the Mile End Road (January 2006)

The area also boasts an unusual landmark, the "Green Bridge". This structure (designed by CZWG Architects, and built c.2000) allows Mile End Park to cross over the Mile End Road and makes an interesting contrast with the more usual approach of building bridges for cars. It contains garden and water features and some shops and restaurant space built in below.
Mile End as a parliamentary constituency had a reputation as a Labour Party stronghold, but also sent Communist Member of Parliament (MP) Phil Pirratin to the House of Commons between 1945 and 1950. At that time, it had a large Jewish population. The area now is covered by the Bethnal Green and Bow seat which has returned to its left-wing roots with the election of Respect MP George Galloway in 2005.

History

Etymology and development

Mile End takes its name from a milestone signifying the point one mile east of the boundary of the City of London at Aldgate, although historically the stone's position was near Stepney Green tube station. Mile End New Town developed along Bow Road, during the Georgian era. In the modern era Mile End is used to describe the area about half a mile east of Stepney Green, around Mile End tube station. Mile End Gate is at the junction of Mile End Road and Cambridge Heath Road, this was the location of the principal toll gate on the road to Bow Bridge.^[1]

Peasants' Revolt

''Main article: Peasants' Revolt''
In 1381, an uprising against the tax collectors of Brentwood quickly spread first to the surrounding villages, then throughout the South-East of England, but it was the rebels of Essex, led by a priest named Jack Straw, and the men of Kent, led by Wat Tyler, who marched on London. On 12th June, the Essex rebels, comprising 60,000 men, camped at Mile End and on the following day the men of Kent arrived at Blackheath. On 14th June, the young king Richard II rode to Mile End where he met the rebels and signed their charter. Unfortunately, their subsequent behaviour caused the king to have the leaders and many rebels executed^[2].

Birth of London's Yiddish theatre

In 1883, Jacob P. Adler arrived in London with a troupe of refugee professional actors. He enlisted the help of local amateurs, and the ''Russian Jewish Operatic Company'' made their debut at the Beaumont Hall, close to Stepney Green tube station. Within two years they were able to establish their own theatre in Brick Lane.^[3]

V-1 plaque on Grove Road railway bridge (January 2006)

People's Palace

Novelist and social commentator Walter Besant proposed a ''Palace of Delight''^[4] with concert halls, reading rooms, picture galleries, an art school and various classes, social rooms and frequent fêtes and dances. This coincided with a project by the philanthropist businessman, Edmund Hay Currie to use the money from the winding up of the ''Beaumont Trust''^[5], together with subscriptions to build a ''People's Palace'' in the East End. Five acres of land were secured on the Mile End Road, and the ''Queen's Hall'' was opened by Queen Victoria on 14 May 1887. The complex was completed with a library, swimming pool, gymnasium and winter garden, by 1892, providing an eclectic mix of populist entertainment and education. A peak of 8000 ''tickets'' were sold for classes in 1892, and by 1900, a Bachelor of Science degree awarded by the University of London was introduced^[6]. In 1931, the building was destroyed by fire, but the Draper's Company, major donors to the original scheme, invested more to rebuild the technical college and create Queen Mary's College in December 1934^[7]. A new ''People's Palace'' was constructed, in 1937, by the Metropolitan Borough of Stepney, in St Helen's Terrace. This finally closed in 1954^[8].

Second World War

Besides suffering heavily in earlier blitzes, Mile End was hit by the first V-1 to strike London. On 13 June 1944, this 'doodlebug' impacted next to the railway bridge on Grove Road, an event now commemorated by a plaque. Eight civilians were killed in the blast^[9] In May 2007, a live WWII bomb weighing 200kg was found north of Mile End station near Grove and Roman Roads. Approximately 100 local residents were evacuated and stayed with friends and family or the Mile End Leisure Centre until the bomb could be deactivated and removed.

Media References

The neighbourhood was immortalised (humorously but unfavourably) in the pop band Pulp's song, ''Mile End'', which was featured on the ''Trainspotting'' soundtrack. The song describes a group of squatters taking up residence in an abandoned 15th floor apartment in a run-down apartment tower.

Education

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

Transport

Nearest places

★ Bethnal Green

★ Bow

★ South Hackney

★ Poplar

★ Stepney

Nearest tube stations

★ Stepney Green tube station

★ Mile End tube station

★ Bow Road tube station

References

1. 'Stepney: Communications', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 11: Stepney, Bethnal Green (1998), pp. 7-13 accessed: 29 March 2007
2. R. B. Dobson, editor, (2002), ''The Peasants' Revolt of 1381 (History in Depth)'' ISBN 0-333-25505-4; a collection of source materials

★ Alastair Dunn (2002), ''The Great Rising of 1381: The Peasant's Revolt and England's Failed Revolution'', ISBN 0-7524-2323-1
3. The Jewish Museum accessed on 31 Mar 2007
4. In Walter Besant ''All Sorts and Conditions of Men'' (1882)
5. In 1840, John Barber Beaumont died and left property in Beaumont Square, Stepney to provide for the ''education and entertainment'' of people from the neighbourhood. The charity - and its property - was becoming moribund by the 1870s, and in 1878 it was wound up by the Charity Commissioners, providing its new chair, Sir Edmund Hay Currie, with £120,000 to invest in a similar project. He raised a further £50,000 and secured continued funding from the Draper's Company for ten years (The Whitechapel Society, below)
6. G. P. Moss and M. V. Saville ''From Palace to College - An illustrated account of Queen Mary College (University of London)'' (1985) pages 39-48 ISBN 0-902238-06-X
7. ''The People's Palace'' The Whitechapel Society accessed 5 July 2007
8. ''Origins and History'' Queen Mary, University of London Alumni Booklet accessed 5 Jul 2007
9. BBC Second World War memories accessed 27 Mar 2007

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