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.
Geography and AdministrationThe 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. AdministrationCouncillors for the Bromley by Bow ward, which covers the district, are:[1] HistoryHistory of nameFrom 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. ReligionBromley 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.
This was a barbed reference, as it implied the Prioress had learned French, from the Benedictine nuns, in a distinct Anglo-Norman dialect,[3] 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. The Revd Richard Enraght, religious controversialist[4], was the Curate of St Michael and All Angels Church in St Leonards Road from 1884-1888 and Rector of St Gabriel Church (now demolished), Chrisp Street (Poplar), from 1888-1895. Community facilitiesKingsley 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. Despite a severe fire in 1995, Kingsley Hall remains 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. DemographicsIn 2001, according to the UK national census data[5], 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[6]. Census data indicates that the proportion of households in rented tenure was higher than the average for the borough. 60% of males were economically active with total unemployment being around 16% compared to 11% for the borough as a whole. Education
Transport and localeNearest placesTransport
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