Limehouse

Limehouse
Middlesex
Limehouse Town Hall
Location
Grid reference:	TQ365815
Location:	51°30’57"N, 0°1’54"W
Data
Population:	15,986  (2011)
Post town:	London
Postcode:	E14
Dialling code:	020
Local Government
Council:	Tower Hamlets
Parliamentary constituency:	Poplar and Limehouse

Limehouse is a district in the south-east of Middlesex, stretching from the north bank of the River Thames in the 'East End of London', between Stepney to the west and Poplar to the east, all to the east of the City of London.

The proximity of Limehouse to the river has given it a strong maritime character, which it retains through its riverside public houses and steps, such as The Grapes and Limehouse Stairs. It stretches from the end of Cable Street and Butcher Row in the west to Stainsby Road near Bartlett Park in the east, and from West India Dock (South Dock) and the Thames in the south to Salmon Lane and Rhodeswell Road in the north. A major feature of Limehouse if the Limehouse Cut on the Lee Navigation.

The area gives its name to Limehouse Reach, a section of the Thames which runs south to Millwall after making a right-angled bend at Cuckold's Point, Rotherhithe. The west-to-east section upstream of Cuckold's Point is properly called the Lower Pool.

History

The name relates to the local lime kilns or, more precisely, lime oasts, by the river and operated by the large potteries that served shipping in the London Docks.

The name is from Old English lim-ast "lime-oast". The earliest reference is to Les Lymhostes, in 1356. The place appears in 1473 as "Lymehurst", with the occupation appearing as "lymebrenar".

The name is found used in 1417:

Inquisicio capta sup' litus Thomisie apud Lymhosteys pro morte Thome Frank.

("Inquest held on the shore of the Thames by Lymhosteys for the death of Thomas Frank")

17 Aug, 5 Henry V. [A.D. 1417], inquest held before "les Lymehostes" within the liberty and franchise of the City, before Henry Bartone, the Mayor, and the King's Escheator, as to the cause of the death of Thomas Franke, of Herewich, late steersman (conductor) or "lodysman" of a ship called "la Mary Knyght" of Danzsk in Prussia. A jury sworn, viz., John Baille, Matthew Holme, Robert Marle, Henry Mark, Alexander Bryan, John Goby, Richard Hervy, Walter Steel, Peter West, Richard Stowell, John Dyse, and Walter Broun. They find that the said Thomas Franke was killed by falling on the sharp end of an anchor

Maritime links

From its foundation, Limehouse, like neighbouring Wapping, has enjoyed better links with the river than the land, the land route being across a marsh. Limehouse became a significant port in late mediæval times, with extensive docks and wharves. Although most cargoes were discharged in the Pool of London before the establishment of the docks, industries such as shipbuilding, ship chandlering and rope making were established in Limehouse.

John Boydell's view of the riverside at Limehouse in 1751

Limehouse Basin opened in 1820 as the Regent's Canal Dock. This was an important connection between the Thames and the canal system, where cargoes could be transferred from larger ships to the shallow-draught canal boats. This mix of vessels can still be seen in the Basin: canal narrowboats rubbing shoulders with seagoing yachts.

From the Tudor era until the 20th century, ships crews were employed on a casual basis. New and replacement crews would be found wherever they were available - foreign sailors in their own waters being particularly prized for their knowledge of currents and hazards in ports around the world. Crews would be paid off at the end of their voyages and, inevitably, permanent communities of foreign sailors became established, including colonies of Lascars and Africans from the Guinea Coast. Large Chinese communities at both Limehouse and Shadwell developed, established by the crews of merchantmen in the opium and tea trades, particularly Han Chinese. The area achieved notoriety for opium dens in the late 19th century, often featured in pulp fiction works by Sax Rohmer and others. Like much of the East End it remained a focus for immigration, but after the devastation of the Second World War many of the Chinese community relocated to Soho.

On 12 February 1832, the first case of cholera was reported in London at Limehouse. First described in India in 1817, it had spread here via Hamburg. Although 800 people died during this epidemic, it was fewer than had died of tuberculosis in the same year. Unfortunately, cholera visited again in 1848 and 1858.

The use of Limehouse Basin as a major distribution hub declined with the growth of the railways, although the revival of canal traffic during the First World War and Second World War gave it a brief swansong. Today, Stepney Historical Trust works to advance the public's education in the history of the area.

Modern Limehouse

Limehouse Reach seen from above Limehouse Marina

Limehouse Basin was amongst the first docks to close in the late 1960s. By 1981, Limehouse shared the docklands-wide physical, social and economic decline which led to the setting up of the London Docklands Development Corporation. In November 1982, the LDDC published its Limehouse Area Development Strategy. This built on existing plans for Limehouse Basin, and offered a discussion framework for future development, housing refurbishment and environmental improvements across the whole of Limehouse. It was based on four major projects: Limehouse Basin, Free Trade Wharf, what was then known as the Light Rapid Transit Route (DLR) and the Docklands Northern Relief Road, a road corridor between The Highway and East India Dock across the north of the Isle of Dogs.

However, it was not until the mid-1980s with the abolition of the Greater London Council that the impetus for improvements to the infrastructure was provided. The key to development in Limehouse lay next door in the Isle of Dogs. Initial development plans on the island had been modest: light industrial development and a low rise business park. The Limehouse Studios (an independent television studio built inside the shells of two old warehouses in 1983) were an early development on the island: this was, technically, a misnomer, however, as the studios were located in South Quay, not, as the name suggests, Limehouse.

By 1984, 8 million sq ft of potential commercial development was predicted. In 1985 proposals for a 10-12 million sq ft development on the 71 acres of Canary Wharf were being considered. The sheer scale of the Canary Wharf proposals, and, in due course, the rapid implementation of the first phase of development, provided the impetus to the transport improvements which completely altered prospects for Limehouse as well as for the Isle of Dogs. The derelict Regent's Canal Dock was converted into Limehouse Marina.

The Troxy concert venue is located in Limehouse on the Commercial Road.

Society

Early Georgian terrace on Narrow Street, and The Grapes

St Anne's Limehouse was built by Nicholas Hawksmoor. A pyramid originally planned to be put atop the tower now stands in the graveyard. The church is next door to Limehouse Town Hall and close to Limehouse Library, both Grade II listed buildings, the former now used as a community centre. Across the road is the Sailors' Mission, where Situationist International held its conference in 1960. The building subsequently became a run-down hostel for the homeless which became notorious for its squalor, although it has since been converted into a luxury apartment block.

Further to the southwest, Narrow Street, Limehouse's historic spine, which runs along the back of the Thames wharves, boasts one of the few surviving early Georgian terraces in London. Next to the terrace is the historic Grapes pub, rebuilt in 1720 and well known to Charles Dickens, featuring as the Six Jolly Fellowship Porters in Our Mutual Friend. A few doors along was Booty's Riverside Bar but this closed down in 2012. Almost every building on the other side of Narrow Street was destroyed by bombing in the Second World War, including hundreds of houses, Taylor Walker & Co's Barley Mow Brewery and a school. One notable exception is a former public house, known locally as 'The House They Left Behind', because it was the only Victorian terrace to survive. It still stands today, with the aid of three large supporting pillars.

Further along the street is 'The Narrow', a gastropub, now run by Gordon Ramsay. It is housed in the Grade II listed, former dockmaster's and customs house, for Limehouse Dock.

Waterways

Though no longer a working dock, Limehouse Basin with its marina remains a working facility. The same is not true of the wharf buildings that have survived, most of which are now highly desirable residential properties. Limehouse Basin connects to the Regent's Canal by way of the Commercial Road Lock to the north, and the River Thames via Limehouse Basin Lock to the south. The Limehouse Cut connects the Basin to the River Lea in the east.

Pictures

• 
  Commercial Road Lock on the Regent's Canal
• 
  Limehouse Basin Lock
• 
  Construction of apartments on Commercial Road
• 
  View from Narrow Street
• 
  The Mission, formerly the British Sailors Society, now apartments
• 
  A picture of Limehouse D.L.R. station

Outside links

("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Limehouse)