Bromley-by-Bow
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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.
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[edit] 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.
[edit] Administration
Bromley by Bow is designated as a ward in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The councillors for the Bromley by Bow ward are:
- Councillor Rania Khan (Respect)
- Councillor Mohammed Abdul Munim (Respect)
- Councillor Abdul Aziz Sardar (Labour)
The Tower Hamlets Partnership is concerned with improving the borough and works on a partnership basis. It brings togther key stakeholders based in the borough on a formal basis, namely residents, the council, the police, the health service, public services, voluntary and community groups, faith communities and businesses. It focuses on the delivery of the borough's Community Plan. Eight Local Area Partnerships together with community plan action groups form part of the framework for service planning and delivery. Local Area Partnership 6 comprises the Mile End East ward and the Bromley by Bow ward.
[edit] History
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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.[1]
This was a barbed reference, as it implied the Prioress had learned French, from the Benedictine nuns, in a distinct Anglo-Norman dialect,[2] 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.
[edit] Kingsley Hall
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.
[edit] Demographics
In 2001, according to the census data collected for the Bromley-by-Bow ward, 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.. Summary 2001 census data for LAP6 indicates that the proportion of households in rented tenure was higher than the average for the London Borough of Tower Hamlets
60% of males were economically active with total unemployment being around 16% compared to 11% for the borough as a whole.
[edit] Present Day
[edit] Community Services and Facilities
Kingsley Hall is 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.
[edit] Nearest places
[edit] Transport
- Bromley-by-Bow Underground station
[edit] References
- ^ Line 125. Chaucer: The Canterbury Tales accessed on 14 Nov 2006
- ^ Old Language Variety: Anglo-Norman
[edit] 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
- 2001 Key Statistics for LAP6 - compared to London Borough of Tower Hamlets
- Bromley-by-Bow Ward Councillors
