Cambridge Heath
| Cambridge Heath | |
| Middlesex | |
|---|---|
 Cambridge Heath Road, looking north | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | TQ348832 |
| Location: | 51°32’1"N, 0°3’26"W |
| Data | |
| Post town: | London |
| Postcode: | E2 |
| Dialling code: | 020 |
| Local Government | |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Bethnal Green and Bow |
Cambridge Heath is an urban area of Bethnal Green in the south-east of Middlesex. It is named after a former heathland here. The northern boundary of the area is formed by the Regent's Canal and the area includes Vyner Street, best known for its street art and galleries.[1][2]
The area is served by Cambridge Heath railway station, operated by London Overground.
Name
The earliest written use of the name 'Cambridge Heath' was by a scribe in the era of great orthographic variety, as Camprichthesheth, in 1275; other manifold variations soon followed.[3] It might be unconnected with Cambridge and instead be from an Old English plant (such as comfrey) or from man's name, albeit one unknown. The area was once marshland and forest which, as Bishopswood, lingered in the east until the 16th century.[4]
History
The Bethnal Green gasworks in Cambridge Heath were built in 1866 and 1889 by the designer John Clark. The sites were used to manufacture and store town gas made from coal, until the avaialbility of North Sea gas in the 1960, when the gas holders continued to be used to store natural gas.[5]
The Wilkinson Gallery opened on Cambridge Heath Road in 1998 before moving to Vyner Street in 2007. The gallery became known as one of the first in London to have exhibitions by major artists. The Wilkinson Gallery closed in 2017.
By around 2005, Vyner Street had become a hub of the East London art scene.[6][7] Between 2005 and 2008, the EEL established the Vyner Street Festival with the local Victory Pub as a family festival with local bands, artists and market traders, this has a different theme every year, with the Red Arrows performing flyover in 2008.[8] By 2012, however, many artists had moved out due to the effects of recession and the 2012 Olympics.[7]
Geography and Regents Canal Conservation Area
Cambridge Heath and Bethnal Green proper were unequal halves of the same manor. Cambridge Heath is to the north and west of Bethnal Green, east of Haggerston, south-west of Hackney and west of Victoria Park.
It is largely part of the wider Regents Canal Conservation Area, established in 2008, the streetside buildings seem neglected but form part of the industrial heritage and character of Vyner Street and also Wadeson Street, which contains a row of three-storey Victorian workshops mostly converted to residential use. Both types contribute to the character of the area.[9]
On film
The area has appeared in several films, notably:
- Gangster No. 1[10]
- Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy[10]
- Fast & Furious 6[10]
- Kingsman: The Secret Service[11]
Festivals and events
The Oval Space hosted the London's first catfest in 2018. This featured photography with felines; street food and shelter kittens.[12][13]
Churches
- Church of England:
- St Peter: the church is on St Peter's Close.
- St John on Bethnal Green
- St James The Less
- Roman Catholic: St Casimir's Lithuanian Church, opened in 1912, is the earliest church for London's Lithuanian Catholics: masses are held in Lithuanian and English.
References
- ↑ London; Engl, Partners is registered in; London, under no 7493460 Registered Office; Partners; Riverside, 2 More London; London; London, SE1 2RR; London, Partners is the official promotional company for London We promote et al.. "Regent's Canal, London". https://www.visitlondon.com/things-to-do/london-areas/regents-canal.
- ↑ "Vyner Street Exhibition Reviews August 2012". https://www.artlyst.com/reviews/vyner-street-exhibition-reviews-august-2012/.
- ↑ Mills, A., Oxford Dictionary of London Place Names, (2000)
- ↑ A History of the County of Middlesex - Volume 11 pp 91-95: Bethnal Green: Settlement and Building to 1836 (Victoria County History)
- ↑ "The fight to save Bethnal Green's historic gas holders". 4 February 2015. http://www.eastlondonlines.co.uk/2015/02/groups-fight-to-save-bethnal-greens-historic-gas-holders-from-being-dismantled/. Retrieved 15 June 2019.
- ↑ Gleadell, Colin (29 May 2005). "Art sales: building a new art hub". https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/3642907/Art-sales-building-a-new-art-hub.html.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Batty, David (6 June 2012). "East End art galleries forced to go west as local scene 'dies'". https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2012/jun/06/vyner-street-galleries-east-london.
- ↑ "VYNER STREET FESTIVAL". 28 January 2010. https://theeelzine.wordpress.com/vyner-street-festival/.
- ↑ "Regents Canal Conservation Area". Tower Hamlets. https://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/Documents/Planning-and-building-control/Development-control/Conservation-areas/Regents-Canal-Conservation-Area-compressed.pdf. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Filming Locations for Fast And Furious 6 (2013): The Worldwide Guide to Movie Locations
- ↑ {Filming Locations for Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014) in London and the Home Counties: The Worldwide Guide to Movie Locations
- ↑ "Paw blimey! A cat festival is coming to London". https://www.standard.co.uk/go/london/attractions/paw-blimey-a-cat-festival-is-coming-to-london-next-year-a3662101.html.
- ↑ "Stop the mewsic: A cat festival is coming to London". Time Out. https://www.timeout.com/london/blog/stop-the-mewsic-a-cat-festival-is-coming-to-london-101717.