Tower Hamlets, Greater London, England, United Kingdom

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London borough covering much of the traditional East End. It was formed in 1965 from the merger of the former metropolitan boroughs of Stepney, Poplar, and Bethnal Green. The new authority's historical name refers to an alternative title for the Tower Division; the area of south-east Middlesex, focused on the area of the modern borough, which owed military service to the Tower of London.

Tower Hamlets occupies much of what is traditionally known as the East End of London, a working-class area once infamous for its high population density and poverty. Some of the tallest buildings in London occupy Canary Wharf, one of the country's largest financial districts, in the south of the borough. A part of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park is in Tower Hamlets. It was formed in 1965 by merger of the former metropolitan boroughs of Stepney, Poplar, and Bethnal Green. 'Tower Hamlets' was originally an alternative name for the historic Tower Division; the area of south-east Middlesex, focused on (but not limited to) the area of the modern borough, which owed military service to the Tower of London.

The local authority is Tower Hamlets London Borough Council. In 2017, a joint study by Trust for London and New Policy Institute found Tower Hamlets to be the 2nd most deprived London borough (after Barking and Dagenham) based on an average calculated across a range of indicators; with high rates of poverty, child poverty, unemployment and pay inequality compared to other London boroughs. However, it has the lowest gap for educational outcomes at secondary level.

Demographically, Tower Hamlets has the United Kingdom's largest population of British Bangladeshis, forming the largest single ethnic group in the borough at 32%. The 2011 census showed Tower Hamlets to have the highest proportion of Muslims of any English local authority and was the only location where Muslims outnumbered Christians. The borough has more than 40 mosques, Islamic centres and madrasahs, including the East London Mosque, Britain's largest. Brick Lane's restaurants, neighbouring street market and shops provide the largest range of Bangladeshi cuisine, woodwork, carpets and clothes in Europe. The Lane is also a major centre of hipster subculture.

Physical geography Tower Hamlets is in East London, north of the River Thames. The City of London lies to the west, the London Borough of Hackney to the north, while the River Lea forms the boundary with the London Borough of Newham to the east. The River Lea also forms the boundary between the historic counties of Middlesex and Essex. The borough's Thames frontage extends from the Tower Dock inlet, immediately west of the Tower of London, through several miles of former docklands, including the Isle of Dogs peninsula, to the confluence of the Thames and Lea at Blackwall. Areas along the Thames and Lea flood plains were historically frequently flooded, but the Thames Barrier, further east, has reduced that risk.

Regent's Canal enters the borough from Hackney to meet the River Thames at Limehouse Basin. A stretch of the Hertford Union Canal leads from the Regent's canal, at a basin in the north of Mile End, to join the River Lea at Old Ford. A further canal, Limehouse Cut, London's oldest, leads from locks at Bromley-by-Bow to Limehouse Basin. Most of the canal tow-paths are open to both pedestrians and cyclists.

The Borough includes open spaces such as Victoria Park, King Edward Memorial Park, Mile End Park, Island Gardens and part of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

Districts • Bethnal Green • Blackwall • Bow • Bromley-by-Bow • East Smithfield • Fish Island • Isle of Dogs, including Canary Wharf • Limehouse • Mile End • Poplar • Ratcliff • Shadwell • Spitalfields • St George in the East • St Katharine's • Stepney • The Tower Liberty, taking in Tower Hill • Wapping • Whitechapel.

History The earliest reference to the name "Tower Hamlets" was in 1554, when the Council of the Tower of London ordered a muster of "men of the hamlets which owe their service to the tower". This covered a wider area than the present-day borough, and its military relationship with the Tower is thought to have been several centuries earlier than the 1554 record. In 1605, the Lieutenant of the Tower was given the right to muster the militia and the area east of the tower came to be a distinct military unit, officially called Tower Hamlets (or the Tower Division). The Hamlets of the Tower paid taxes for the militia in 1646. A legacy of that connection with the Tower is that residents of the modern borough can gain entrance for only a token fee of £1. this benefit isn't extended to the London Borough of Hackney, most of which once formed part of the original Tower Hamlets.

The London Borough of Tower Hamlets forms the core of the East End. The population of the area grew enormously in the 19th century, leading to extreme overcrowding and a concentration of poor people and immigrants throughout the area.[note 2] These problems were exacerbated by the construction of St Katharine Docks (1827)[note 3] and the central London railway termini (1840–1875) with many displaced people moving into the area following the clearance of former slums and rookeries. Over the course of a century, the East End became synonymous with poverty, overcrowding, disease and criminality.

The area was once characterised by rural settlements clustered around the City walls or along the main roads, surrounded by farmland, with marshes and small communities by the River, serving the needs of shipping and the Royal Navy. Until the arrival of formal docks, shipping was required to land goods in the Pool of London, but industries related to construction, repair, and victualling of ships flourished in the area from Tudor times. The area attracted large numbers of rural people looking for employment. Successive waves of foreign immigration began with Huguenot refugees creating a new extramural suburb in Spitalfields in the 17th century. They were followed by Irish weavers, Ashkenazi Jews and, in the 20th century, Bangladeshis.

Many of these immigrants worked in the clothing industry. The abundance of semi- and unskilled labour led to low wages and poor conditions throughout the East End. This brought the attentions of social reformers during the mid-18th century and led to the formation of unions and workers associations at the end of the century. The radicalism of the East End contributed to the formation of the Labour Party and demands for the enfranchisement of women.

Official attempts to address the overcrowded housing began at the beginning of the 20th century under the London County Council. Aerial bombing in World War II devastated much of the East End, with its docks, railways and industry forming a continual target. In the separate boroughs making up today's Tower Hamlets a total of 2,221 civilians were killed and 7,472 were injured, with 46,482 houses destroyed and 47,574 damaged. This led to some dispersal of the population to outlying suburbs. New housing was built in the 1950s for those that remained.

The closure of the last of the East End docks in the Port of London in 1980 created further challenges and led to attempts at regeneration and the formation of the London Docklands Development Corporation. The Canary Wharf development, improved infrastructure, and the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park mean that the East End is undergoing further change, but some of its districts continue to see some of the worst poverty in Britain.

Historical landmarks • Brick Lane • Cable Street - site of the Battle of Cable Street • Hawksmoor's Christ Church, Spitalfields • Site of two historic Royal Mints • Tower of London • Tower Bridge • Victoria Park • Roman Road • Columbia Road • Poplar Baths.

Modern landmarks The Canary Wharf complex within Docklands on the Isle of Dogs forms a group of some of the tallest buildings in Europe. One Canada Square was the first to be constructed and is the third tallest in London. Nearby are the HSBC Tower, Citigroup Centres and One Churchill Place, headquarters of Barclays Bank. Within the same complex are the Heron Quays offices.

Part of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, developed for the London 2012 Olympics, lies within the borders of Tower Hamlets.

The Embassy of China in London will move into the former Royal Mint building in East Smithfield.

Economy The borough hosts the world headquarters of many global financial businesses, employing some of the highest paid workers in London, but also has a high rates of long-term illness and premature death and the 2nd highest unemployment rate in London.

Canary Wharf is home to the world or European headquarters of numerous major banks and professional services firms including Barclays, Citigroup, Clifford Chance, Credit Suisse, Infosys, Fitch Ratings, HSBC, J.P. Morgan, KPMG, MetLife, Morgan Stanley, RBC, Skadden, State Street and Thomson Reuters. Savills, a top-end estate agency recommends that 'extreme luxury' and ultra-modern residential properties are to be found at Canary Riverside, West India Quay, Pan Peninsula and Neo Bankside.

The End Child Poverty coalition published that Tower Hamlets has the highest proportion of children in poverty of any local authority in the UK at 49% (and as high as 54.5% in the Bethnal Green South ward).

Surveys and interviews conducted by the Child Poverty Action group for the council found that the Universal Credit system was deeply unpopular with low-income families in the borough and that most claimants who have used the system found it difficult to understand and experienced frequent payment errors.

Media The East London Advertiser provides local news in print and online.

Education: University • Queen Mary University of London, a constituent college of the University of London, which includes Barts and The London, Queen Mary's School of Medicine and Dentistry • London Metropolitan University • UCL School of Management, located in One Canada Square, Canary Wharf

Further education colleges • Tower Hamlets College, which in 2017 merged with Hackney Community College and Redbridge College to form New City College, the second largest college in London with over 20,000 students.

Schools and Sixth form colleges • Mulberry Academy Shoreditch • Bishop Challoner Catholic School • Bow School • Central Foundation Girls' School • George Green's School • Lansbury Lawrence School • Langdon Park School • Morpeth School • Mulberry School for Girls • Oaklands School • St Paul's Way Trust School • Stepney All Saints School • Stepney Green Maths, Computing & Science College • Swanlea School, Business and Enterprise College • Jamiatul Ummah School and Sixth Form • London East Academy (East London Mosque) • Ibrahim College • London Enterprise Academy • Wapping High School • Mazahirul uloom London.

Sport Mile End Stadium within Mile End Park hosts an athletics stadium and facilities for football and basketball. Two football clubs, Tower Hamlets F.C. (formerly Bethnal Green United) and Sporting Bengal United F.C., are based there, playing in the Essex Senior Football League.

John Orwell Sports Centre in Wapping is the base of Wapping Hockey Club. In 2014, the club secured over £300,000 of investment to designate the centre a hockey priority facility.

A leisure centre including a swimming pool at Mile End Stadium was completed in 2006. Other pools are located at St Georges, Limehouse and York Hall, in Bethnal Green. York Hall is also a regular venue for boxing tournaments, and in May 2007 a public spa was opened in the building's renovated Turkish baths.

KO Muay Thai Gym and Apolaki Krav Maga & Dirty Boxing Academy. in Bethnal Green are the main sources for martial arts and combat sports training in the area.

The unusual Green Bridge, opened in 2000, links sections of Mile End Park that would otherwise be divided by Mile End Road. The bridge contains gardens, water features and trees around the path.

Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park Tower Hamlets was one of five host boroughs for the 2012 Summer Olympics; the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park was constructed in the Lea Valley. As such, the borough's involvement in the Olympics includes: • A small part of the Olympic Park is in Bow, a district of the borough, which makes the borough a host borough. • The energy centre (King's Yard Energy Centre) of the Olympic Park is in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, and gives energy to all the venues, none of which are located in Tower Hamlets. • The world square and the London 2012 mega-store is also in the borough. The world square is for spectators, who can buy food or drink; the world's biggest McDonald's is in the world square in Tower Hamlets. • The London 2012 mega-store provides official gifts and souvenirs. High Street, which is the main road to the Olympic park from west and central London, combines Whitechapel Road, Mile End Road and Bow Road. • Victoria Park, in Tower Hamlets, is an important part of the Olympics because spectators without tickets can watch the games on big screens (London live 2012); that park is less than a mile away from the Olympic park. The main spectator cycle park is located in Victoria park. One of the entrances to the Olympic park is in Tower Hamlets, and is called the Victoria gate. • A few schools in Tower Hamlets have taken part in the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympic and Paralympic games as well as all the other host boroughs. The section of the Olympic Park in Tower Hamlets will be named "Sweetwater", one of the 5 new neighbourhoods after the games. Sweetwater will cover Tower Hamlets' part of the Olympic Park near Old Ford. • The Olympic marathon was planned to run through the borough but later ran through the City and Westminster. However, the U-turn was located in the borough near The Tower of London. • Danny Boyle, the artistic director of the London 2012 opening ceremony, lives in Mile End. • A large number of Tower Hamlets' residents became Olympic volunteers; Tower Hamlets ranks second, after neighbouring borough Newham, for the number of volunteers from the borough.

Parks There are over one hundred parks and open spaces in Tower Hamlets ranging from the large Victoria Park, to numerous small gardens and squares. The second largest, Mile End Park, separated from Victoria Park by a canal, includes The Green Bridge that carries the park across the busy Mile End Road. One of the smallest at 1.19 ha is the decorative Grove Hall Park off Fairfield Road, Bow, which was once the site of a lunatic asylum. Other parks include Altab Ali Park, Mudchute Park and Grove Hall Park.

Museums • Island History Trust • Museum of London Docklands • Ragged School Museum • V&A Museum of Childhood • Whitechapel Art Gallery • Vagina Museum

Transport: Road As with most of the transport network in Tower Hamlets, several roads radiate across the Borough from the City of London. East–west routes include: • the A11, which runs from Aldgate to the A12 near Stratford, passing through Whitechapel, Mile End, and Bow. • the A13 (Commercial Road/East India Dock Road), which runs from Aldgate to Poplar. East of Poplar, the route continues towards Barking, Tilbury, and Southend. • the A1203 (The Highway), which runs from Tower Hill, through Wapping, to Limehouse and Canary Wharf.

There are several north–south routes in the Borough, including: • the A12, which begins at the A13 in Poplar and runs along the eastern edge of the Borough. The route carries traffic towards the M11 (for Stansted Airport), Romford, and destinations in Essex, including Chelmsford and Harwich International Port. The route ultimately runs to Lowestoft in Suffolk. • the London Inner Ring Road from Old Street to Tower Bridge.

There are three River Thames road crossings in the Borough. From west-east, these are: • Tower Bridge (Tower Hill to Southwark and Bermondsey) • Rotherhithe Tunnel (the A13 at Limehouse to Canada Water) • Blackwall Tunnel (the A12 and A13 at Poplar to Greenwich)

Transport: Rail The principal rail services commence in the City at Fenchurch Street, with one stop at Limehouse; and Liverpool Street, with stops at Bethnal Green and Cambridge Heath. The East London Line passes from north to south through Tower Hamlets with stations at Whitechapel, Shadwell and Wapping. One entrance to Shoreditch High Street station is inside the Borough. And the North London Line passes the very north in Tower Hamlets with one entrance to Hackney Wick inside the Borough. Two Crossrail stations are currently under construction and are expected to start services in summer 2021.

Transport: Metro The Docklands Light Railway was built to serve the docklands areas of the borough, with a principal terminus at Bank and Tower Gateway. An interchange at Poplar allows trains to proceed north to Stratford, south via Canary Wharf towards Lewisham, and east either via the London City Airport to Woolwich Arsenal or via ExCeL London to Beckton.

Three London Underground services cross the district, serving a total of 8 stations: the District and Hammersmith and City lines share track between Aldgate East and Barking. The Central line has stations at Bethnal Green and Mile End - where there is an interchange to the District line. A third central line station, at Shoreditch, has been proposed as the Central line runs within close proximity of Shoreditch High Street station. If built, it will be situated between the existing stations at Bethnal Green and Liverpool St. The Jubilee line has one stop at Canary Wharf.

List of stations • Aldgate East station • All Saints DLR station • Bethnal Green railway station • Bethnal Green tube station • Blackwall DLR station • Bow Church station • Bow Road station • Bromley-by-Bow station • Cambridge Heath railway station • Canary Wharf DLR station • Canary Wharf tube station • Crossharbour DLR station • Devons Road DLR station • East India DLR station • Hackney Wick railway station • Heron Quays DLR station • Island Gardens DLR station • Langdon Park DLR station • Limehouse station (Rail and DLR) • Mile End station • Mudchute DLR station • Poplar DLR station • Shadwell railway station • Shadwell DLR station • Shoreditch High Street railway station • South Quay DLR station • Stepney Green tube station • Tower Gateway DLR station • Tower Hill tube station • Wapping railway station • West India Quay DLR station • Westferry DLR station • Whitechapel tube station • Whitechapel railway station

In March 2011, the main forms of transport that residents used to travel to work were: underground, light rail, 24.0% of all residents aged 16–74; on foot, 7.5%; bus, minibus or coach, 7.5%; driving a car or van, 6.9%; bicycle, 4.1%; train, 3.8%; work mainly at or from home, 2.3%.

Tower Hamlets Borough Council operates a walking bus service for school pupils on agreed routes with some running every school day while and others once or twice a week depending on the number of adult volunteers involved.