View source for Stepney

{{Short description|Area of London, England}}
{{Other uses}}
{{More citations needed|date=March 2025}}{{Use British English|date=February 2021}}{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox UK place
| country                   = England
| region                    = London
| official_name             = Stepney
| coordinates               = {{coord|51.5152|-0.0462|display=inline,title}}
| post_town                 = LONDON
| postcode_area             = E
| postcode_district         = E1, E14
| london_borough            = Tower Hamlets
| dial_code                 = 020
| os_grid_reference         = TQ355814
| constituency_westminster  = [[Bethnal Green and Stepney]]
| population                = 16,238
| population_ref            = (2011 census. St Dunstan's and Stepney Green Ward)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=13689091&c=Stepney+Green&d=14&e=62&g=6338245&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&o=362&m=0&r=1&s=1476697229647&enc=1|title=Tower Hamlets Ward population 2011|access-date=17 October 2016|publisher=Office for National Statistics|work=Neighbourhood Statistics}}</ref>
| static_image_name         = {{Photomontage
| photo1a = St. Dunstan's Church, Stepney, East London - geograph.org.uk - 608397.jpg
| photo1b = Stepney Green Station.jpg
| photo2a = Half Moon, Stepney, E1 (3171916542).jpg
| photo2b = Genesis, Stepney, E1 (14210132458).jpg
| photo3a = Stepney Green - geograph.org.uk - 786480.jpg
| photo3b = Docklands Buses E218 & E217 on Route 135, Stepney Arbour Square (17451484524).jpg
| color=transparent
| spacing=1
| border=0
| size = 250}}
| static_image_caption      = Clockwise from top left: St. Dunstan's Church; Stepney Green tube station; Genesis cinema; route 135 at Arbour Square; Stepney Green; the Half Moon pub.
| charingX_distance_mi      = 3.6
| charingX_direction        = WSW
}}

'''Stepney''' is an area in the [[London Borough of Tower Hamlets]] in the [[East End of London]]. Stepney is no longer officially defined, and is usually used to refer to a relatively small area. However, for much of its history the place name was applied to a much larger manor and parish, which covered most of the inner East End.

[[Stepney Green]] is a remnant of a larger area of Common Land formerly known as Mile End Green.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/middx/vol11/pp7-13|title=Stepney: Communications &#124; British History Online|website=british-history.ac.uk|access-date=18 September 2022}}</ref>

The area was built up rapidly during the 19th century, mainly to accommodate immigrant workers and poor families displaced from London. It developed a reputation for poverty, overcrowding, violence and political dissent.<ref name=London>{{cite book|author1=Christopher Hibbert|author2=Ben Weinreb|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wN_H-__MBpYC&pg=PA877|title=The London Encyclopaedia|page=877|publisher=Pan Macmillan|date=2008|isbn=978-1-4050-4924-5|access-date=20 May 2010}}</ref> It was severely damaged during [[the Blitz]], with over a third of housing destroyed; and then, in the 1960s, [[Slum clearance in the United Kingdom|slum clearance]] and development replaced most residential streets with [[tower block]]s and modern housing estates. Some [[Georgian architecture]] and [[Victorian era]] terraced housing remain such as [[Arbour Square]], the eastern side of Stepney Green, and the streets around Matlock Street.<ref name=London/><ref name=timeout>{{cite web|url=https://www.timeout.com/london/property/features/3397/Hot_neighbourhoods-Stepney_E1.html|title=Hot neighbourhoods: Stepney, E1 – Time Out London|work=Time Out|access-date=19 May 2010|archive-date=21 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231021131507/https://www.timeout.com/london/property/features/3397/hot_neighbourhoods-stepney_e1.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==History – Origin and scope==
===Toponymy===
The first surviving record of the place name is from around 1000&nbsp;AD as ''Stybbanhyð'', "Stybba's hyð"; hyð developed into [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/hithe#English hithe] (meaning landing-place) in modern English, so  "Stybba's landing-place". The parish of [[Stebbing]] in [[Essex]] also appears to have taken its name from an individual called Stybba.<ref>The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Place-names</ref>
The hithe itself is thought to have been at [[Ratcliff]], just under {{convert|1/2|mi|m|abbr=off|spell=in}} south of [[St Dunstan's, Stepney|St Dunstan's Church]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/middx/vol11/pp13-19|title=Stepney: Settlement and Building to c.1700 &#124; British History Online|website=british-history.ac.uk|access-date=18 September 2022}}</ref>

===Changing scope===
Historically, Stepney was a very large [[Lord of the manor|manor]] and [[Civil parish#Ancient parishes|Ancient Parish]] which covered most of what would become the East End. From 1900 to 1965 the place-name was applied to the [[Metropolitan Borough of Stepney]], which in 1965 became the south-west part of the new [[London Borough of Tower Hamlets]] which currently administers the area.<ref name=London/>
There is currently a Stepney episcopal area in the Anglican [[Diocese of London]], which covers the London boroughs of [[London Borough of Hackney|Hackney]], [[London Borough of Islington|Islington]] and [[Tower Hamlets]], and has its own [[suffragan bishop]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.london.anglican.org/StepneyArea|title=Stepney Episcopal Area|website=The Diocese of London|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050830021059/http://www.london.anglican.org/StepneyArea|archive-date=30 August 2005|access-date=10 May 2007}}</ref>

The area of Stepney has had no local government definition since 1965, but is used to refer to the whole former parish and also to a relatively small area within it.

===Manor and ancient parish===
For hundreds of years the term Stepney referred to the [[Lord of the manor|Manor]] and [[Civil parish#Ancient parishes|Ancient Parish]] of Stepney, with the first contemporary record of the Manor around the year 1000. The Manor covered an area stretching from the eastern edge of the [[City of London]] to the [[River Lea|Lea]] and from [[Stamford Hill]] down to the [[Thames]]; in this way covering an area equivalent to the modern borough of [[Tower Hamlets]], as well as the district of [[Hackney, London|Hackney]] (in the wider modern borough of the same name).

The origins of the Manor (and [[Vill]]) are not known, but its large size, relatively rich soils and position so close to the walls of London have led to suggestions that the manor was the foundation grant of land made to the Bishop of London to support the creation of the new diocese of London (the [[East Saxon]] [[Episcopal see|see]]) at the time of the establishment of [[St Paul's Cathedral]] in 604 AD.<ref name=BHO>{{cite web|url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/middx/vol11/pp19-52|title=Stepney:Manors and Estates pages 19–52|website=British History Online|access-date=16 September 2019}}</ref><ref name="Highgate Wood p67">The Roman Pottery site in Highgate Wood, AE Brown and HL Sheldon p67</ref>

St Dunstan's church is recorded as being founded (or more likely rebuilt<ref>on Dunstan probably rebuilding, rather than founding, the church of the manor and parochia: ''Medieval London Suburbs'', Kevin McDonnell, p136</ref>) by [[Dunstan]] himself in 952, and as the first church in the manor, will have served the whole of that landholding. The proto-parish of Stepney will therefore have covered the same area as the manor.

[[Hackney, London|Hackney]] appears to have been an early [[Hackney (parish)|daughter parish]] of Stepney; a [[St Augustine's Tower, Hackney|church at Hackney]] is first mentioned in 1275 but is likely to have been in place before then. From the 1100s, the development and improvement in enforcement of [[Canon law]] made it difficult to form new parishes,<ref>Churches in the landscape, Richard Morris, 169–171</ref> so Hackney seems likely to have formed an independent parish in the 12th century, with the district remaining a sub-manor of Stepney.

It was usual for one or more manors to form a parish, but the manor of Stepney's great size meant that this was reversed, with two parishes (Stepney and [[Hackney (parish)|Hackney]]) serving the single manor of Stepney. For local government purposes, the parish sub-divided into [[Civil parish#Sub-divisions|hamlets]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/middx/vol11/pp63-70|title=Stepney: Local Government &#124; British History Online}}</ref>

====Manor====
The [[Domesday Book]] survey of 1086 gives the name as ''Stibanhede'' and says that the land was held by the [[Bishop of London]] and was 32 [[Hide (unit)|hides]] large, mainly used for ploughing, meadows, woodland for 500 pigs, and 4 mills. The survey recorded 183 households; 74 of [[villeins]] who ploughed the land, 57 of [[Serfdom#Cottagers|cottars]] who assisted the villeins in return for a hut or cottage and 52 of bordars. This is estimated to have given the manor a total population of around a thousand people.<ref>Medieval London Suburbs, Pillimore Publishing, Kevin McDonnell p16</ref>

<blockquote>
Bishop William held this land in [[demesne]], in the manor of Stepney, on the day on which King Edward was alive and dead. In the same vill [[Ranulph Flambard]] holds 3½ hides of the bishop.<ref>''Domesday Book – A Complete Translation'' Folio 127V: MIDDLESEX. Penguin Books. Nov 2002. {{ISBN|0-14-100523-8}}</ref></blockquote>

The Bishop of London held many other estates around London, and one of them, heavily wooded Hornsey, was attached to Stepney as a remote [[exclave]] for a time (it was common practice for wooded exclaves to be attached to more intensely farmed and densely populated estates in that period). The sub-manor of Hornsey was not part of the original territory of Stepney but was subsequently attached as an administrative convenience, and detached once more around the late 13th century.<ref name="Highgate Wood p67"/> The earliest record of the district's Manor house, is from 1207, but the Bishop may have had a home in the Manor long before. The house was first known as [[Bethnal Green mulberry tree#The site|Bishopswood, and later Bishops Hall or Bonner Hall]], and was on a site in [[Bethnal Green]] later occupied by the [[London Chest Hospital]].<ref name="BHO" /> [[Edward VI]] passed Stepney to the [[Baron Wentworth|Wentworth]] family, and thence to their descendant, the [[Earl of Cleveland]]. The Manors of Stepney and Hackney were linked, until they passed into separate ownership in the 1660s.<ref name="BHO" />

The system of [[copyhold]], whereby land was leased to tenants for terms as short as seven years, prevailed throughout the manor. This severely limited scope for improvement of the land and new building until the estate was broken up in the 19th century.<ref name=Stepney>[http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=45083 ''Stepney, Old and New London: Volume 2'' (1878), pp. 137–142] accessed: 17 November 2007</ref>

====Church and parish====
{{main|Stepney (parish)}}
[[St Dunstan's, Stepney|St Dunstan's Church]] was founded (or rebuilt) around 952, by [[St Dunstan]] himself when he was [[Bishop of London]], and therefore also Lord of the Manor of Stepney. Many bishops lived in the manor and Dunstan may have done the same. The church was dedicated to Dunstan after he was canonised in 1029, making him the [[patron saint]] of Stepney.<ref>The Metropolitan Borough of Stepney Official Guide – 10th Edition – 1961 – Published by Ed J Burrow and Co Ltd p29</ref> The bells of the church, cast at the [[Whitechapel Bell Foundry]], appear in the [[nursery rhyme]], [[Oranges and Lemons]]

{{blockquote|''" 'When will that be'? say the bells of Stepney"''}}

The church is known as "The Mother Church of the [[East End]]"<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.stdunstanstepney.com/|title=St Dunstan and All Saints Stepney|website=stdunstanstepney.com|access-date=18 September 2022}}</ref> as the very large parish covered most of what would become inner East London, before population growth led to the creation of a large number of daughter parishes. It is also known as "The Church of the High Seas" due to its traditional maritime connections. In 1720 the historian [[John Strype]] wrote that Stepney (together with its daughter parishes) should be esteemed a province rather than a parish, due to its large population, area and the diversity of urban, rural and maritime industries.<ref>A survey of the Cities of London and Westminster Book 4, Chapter 5, p47</ref>

Stepney formed a [[Stepney (parish)|large Ancient Parish]] in the [[Tower division]] of the [[Ossulstone]] hundred of [[Middlesex]]. The parish included the hamlets of [[Mile End Old Town]], [[Mile End New Town]], [[Ratcliff]], [[Wapping-Stepney]], [[Bow, London|Bow]], [[Shadwell]], [[Bethnal Green]], [[Limehouse]] and [[Poplar, London|Poplar]]. The Hamlets were territorial sub-divisions (as opposed to small villages), which ultimately became independent daughter parishes.

====Ties with Shoreditch====
The origin of the neighbouring parish of Shoreditch is obscure, but it primarily served the manors of [[Hoxton]] and [[Haggerston]], both manors recorded at Domesday in 1086,<ref>{{cite web|title=Hoxton|url=https://opendomesday.org/place/TQ3383/hoxton/|website=Open Domesday}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Haggerston|url=https://opendomesday.org/place/TQ3483/haggerston/|website=Open Domesday}}</ref> together with a part of the Manor of Stepney.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/vol8/pp5-14|title=Historical introduction: Shoreditch High Street, east side &#124; British History Online|website=british-history.ac.uk|access-date=18 September 2022}}</ref> The parish church, [[St Leonard's, Shoreditch]], was built on land that was part of the Manor of Stepney. Parcels of land in [[Hackney Marshes]] (within the Manor of Stepney) long had a role in maintaining a lamp at St Leonards church.<ref>'The Church of St. Leonard, Shoreditch', in Survey of London: Volume 8, Shoreditch, ed. James Bird (London, 1922), British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/vol8/pp91-125 [accessed 25 March 2025].</ref>

The manor of [[Hoxton]], or a manor called Hoxton, was in Shoreditch, yet in 1352 is recorded as part of the parish of Hackney.<ref>Medieval London suburbs, K McDonnell, p30</ref>
It is not clear if or how these links led to the inclusion of the parish of Shoreditch in the [[Tower Division]].

====Customs and obligations====
The Manor of Stepney was held by the Bishop of London, but the [[Constable of the Tower of London]] had important rights and responsibilities in the area. The Constable had responsibilities for the [[Thames]] below the Tower and for the care of parts of the [[River Lea|Lea]]. In return the people of the area helped garrison the Tower. The early origin of these arrangements is obscure and the first surviving record of the military obligation dates from 1554, but is thought to be much older, with varying estimates in the post-Norman medieval period.<ref>The Metropolitan Borough of Stepney Official Guide – 10th Edition – 1961 – Published by Ed J Burrow and Co Ltd p26 – The publication gave the view that the arrangement dated from the Norman or early Plantagenet</ref><ref>East London Papers. Volume 8 Paper 2. M. J. Power – the author noted that some believed the arrangement was around the time of the conquest, but suggested a later medieval date was more likely due to the higher local population.</ref> These arrangements evolved into the creation of the [[Tower division|Tower Division, also known as the Tower Hamlets]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/middx/vol11/pp1-7|title=Stepney: Early Stepney &#124; British History Online|website=british-history.ac.uk|access-date=18 September 2022}}</ref>

The manor was unusual in practising the [[gavelkind]] method of inheritance,<ref name="Genuki">{{cite web|title=Stepney History|url=https://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/MDX/Stepney/StepneyHistory|website=Genuki|access-date=16 September 2019}}</ref> a custom largely limited to [[Kent]].

St Dunstan's has a long association with the sea, with the parish of Stepney being responsible for registration of British maritime births, marriages and deaths until the 19th century. From the Tudor era onwards, the parish-level was responsible for mitigating the poverty of people born in the area. Stepney's additional responsibility for those born at sea was something of a burden.<ref name="Genuki" />

This maritime association is remembered in the old rhyme:
{{blockquote|''"He who sails on the wide sea, is a parishioner of Stepney"''}}

====Break-up of the ancient parish====
The rapid growth in population meant that over time the parish was broken up. Hackney is thought to have become independent in the 12th century, [[Whitechapel]] in the 14th and [[Bromley-by-Bow|Bromley]] in the 16th. Some sub-divisions for instance those that form [[Bethnal Green]], [[Bow, London|Bow]] and [[Poplar, London|Poplar]] are known to have been based on pre-existing hamlets forming new daughter parishes. Such parish divisions were unusual and required an act of Parliament.{{Citation needed|date=March 2025}}

From 1819 the rump of Stepney consisted of three hamlets; Mile End New Town (which was detached from the rest), Ratcliffe and Mile End Old Town (which included St Dunstan's church). This residual parish was {{convert|830|acres}} in extent.<ref name=early>{{cite web|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=22731|author=T.F.T. Baker|year=1998|title=Stepney: Early Stepney, A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 11: Stepney, Bethnal Green}}</ref> 
[[File:Stepney Civil Parish Map 1870.png|thumb|left|upright 1.2|A map showing the 1870 boundaries of parishes which had been split from Stepney (excluding Hackney)]]

Until 1837, the boundaries of English civil and Church of England ecclesiastical boundaries were identical, but after that the Church of England sub-divided its parishes to suit local needs and circumstances, especially in densely populated areas such as Stepney, and the civil and ecclesiastical boundaries differed from that point on. By 1890 the ancient parish was divided between 67 ecclesiastical parishes (a number later greatly reduced) which had little relation to the civil parish boundaries.

In 1866 the rump civil parish of Stepney came to an end when its three component hamlets (Mile End New Town, Ratcliff and Mile End Old Town) became independent civil parishes.

==History – Events==
===Stepney Parliament===
In 1299, during the reign of [[Edward I]], a parliament was held in Stepney at the home of [[Henry le Walleis]]. The location of his home is uncertain but is thought to be close to St Dunstan's church.<ref>'Stepney: Settlement and Building to c.1700', in A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 11, Stepney, Bethnal Green, ed. T F T Baker (London, 1998), British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/middx/vol11/pp13-19 [accessed 9 March 2025].</ref> The Stepney Parliament confirmed and reissued the [[Magna Carta]] (also known as the Charter of Liberties), and it is the Stepney version of Magna Carta that is in the modern [[statute book]].<ref>Weinreb and Hibbert, The London Encyclopaedia, p516 (under Mile End)</ref>

===Stepney Feasts===
The 1600s and 1700s saw a long annual tradition known as the '''Cockney's Feast''', later also known as the '''Stepney Feast'''. The event, managed by the Stepney Society was a way of raising money to apprentice Stepney boys into the maritime trades, for instance as sailors. The area was regarded as producing exceptional seamen, as the historian [[John Strype]] noted:

{{Blockquote|"It is further to be remarked that the Parish of Stepney, on the Southern Parts of it especially, that it is one of the greatest Nurseries of Navigation and Breeders of Seamen in England, the most serviceable Men in the Nation; without which England could not be England for they are its Strength and Wealth."|[[John Strype]]<ref>Extracts from Tower Hamlets' Local History Library and Archives https://www.mernick.org.uk/thhol/stepney1.html</ref>}}

The event was typically held on a convenient Saturday on or around 19 May, the feast day of [[St Dunstan]], the patron saint of Stepney.<ref>Rules and Orders of the Stepney Society https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_rules_and_orders_of_the_Stepney_soci/-hIIAAAAQAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22Stepney+Feast%22&pg=PA56&printsec=frontcover</ref> The meal was preceded by a service at [[St Dunstan's, Stepney|St Dunstan's church]].

In his 'A Survey of the Cities of London and Westminster' of 1720, the historian and clergyman [[John Strype]] described the course of the event in his day. Eight Stewards would be chosen each year, sometimes men who as a boy had benefitted from the charity. At the initial church service, a sermon would be given by a locally born clergyman – Strype said that he had had the honour on several occasions.

There was then a procession led by beneficiaries of the scheme and "the eight Stewards and the rest of the Natives commonly take a Walk with Officers and Musick playing before them, through [[Limehouse]] and [[Ratcliff]], and so return back to the King's Head overagainst the Church; and there dine plentifully and friendly together"<ref name="auto">John Strype, A Survey of the Cities of London and Westminster 1720, https://www.dhi.ac.uk/strype/TransformServlet?page=app1_101</ref> Strype thought that Stepney was an unusually charitable place with more alms houses than any parish he knew of.<ref name="auto"/>

The event was discontinued in 1784 after the fundraising was taken on by the [[Marine Society]], a charity which had the resources to apprentice boys beyond the East End.<ref>Notes and Queris 1871 https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Notes_and_Queries/f9gEAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22Cockneys+Feast%22&pg=PA511&printsec=frontcover</ref>

An annual [[Barbados]] equivalent of the Feast was also held, with invitations limited to those born within the sound of [[Bow Bells]].<ref>West Indies Quarterly https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/West_Indian_Quarterly/EpwyAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22Cockneys+Feast%22&pg=PA431&printsec=frontcover</ref>

===Urban development===
{{More citations needed section|date=March 2025}}
At the turn of the 16th century Stepney was largely rural. The theologian and [[Christian humanism|humanist]] philosopher [[Erasmus]] was a friend of [[John Colet]], the vicar of St Dunstans's church, who was a great influence on him. Ahead of a stay with Colet, Erasmus wrote of Stepney "I come to drink your fresh air, to drink yet deeper of your rural peace". About the same time [[Sir Thomas More]] wrote "wheresoever you look, the earth yieldeth you a pleasant prospect."<ref>Our Flag Stays Red – p11, Phil Piratin, Lawrence and Wishart, London 2006, {{ISBN|1-905007-28-0}}</ref>

Much of the subsequent urbanisation of the area was driven by the maritime trades along the river, as well as ribbon development along the [[Mile End Road]]. Other factors included the development of London's docks and railways, combined with slum clearance, which pushed the displaced poor and various immigrants looking for work into cheap housing being built in the area.

The [[Trinity Green Almshouses]] were built in 1695 to provide housing for retired sailors. They are the oldest almshouses in [[Central London]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/row-over-sainsburys-scheme-for-tower-near-whitechapel-almshouses-a3172771.html|title=Row over Sainsbury's scheme for tower near Whitechapel almshouses|last1=Prynn|first1=Jonathan|last2=Bourke|first2=Joanna|work=Evening Standard|location=London|date=4 February 2016|access-date=12 May 2016}}</ref>

[[Malplaquet House]] is named after the [[Battle of Malplaquet]], one of the main battles of the [[War of the Spanish Succession]], which took place in France in 1709. However, it is not known whether this naming came from the Jewish widow of the London merchant, who made his living selling war salvage, or from a later resident, the military surgeon Edward Lee.<ref name=Classicist>{{cite web|title=Malplaquet House|url=http://tdclassicist.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/malplaquet-house.html|work=The Devoted Classicist|date=14 March 2013|access-date=4 December 2013}}</ref> It was home to a variety of small businesses including a bookmaker and a printer, before being occupied in 1910 by the Union of Stepney Ratepayers.<ref name="GreatHouses2012">{{cite book|last=Stourton|first=James|author-link=James Stourton|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=42aXuAAACAAJ|title=Great Houses of London|location=London, England|publisher=[[Frances Lincoln#Frances Lincoln Publishers|Frances Lincoln]]|year=2012|others=Photographs by Fritz von der Schulenburg|edition=Illustrated 1st|isbn=978-0-7112-3366-9|page=112}}</ref>

The [[Leonard A. Montefiore|Leonard Montefiore]] memorial fountain on Stepney Green is named for a young writer and philanthropist, Leonard Montefiore, who at the time of his death in 1879 was known for his philanthropic work in the East End of London. Montefiore attended [[Balliol College, Oxford]], where his posthumous memoir reports that he was a devotee of [[John Ruskin]]. Whilst at Balliol he became a friend of [[Oscar Wilde]], who after Montefiore's death allegedly proposed to his sister Charlotte.<ref>The Secret Life of Oscar Wilde, Neil Mckenna, Random House, 2011-02-28</ref> He was also influenced by [[Arnold Toynbee (historian, born 1852)|Arnold Toynbee]] and [[Benjamin Jowett]]. Montefiore was chief assistant to [[Samuel Barnett (reformer)|Samuel Barnett]] in his work regarding the extension of Oxford University to London, and was secretary of the [[Tower Hamlets]] branch of the Society for the Extension of University Teaching.<ref>Essays and Letters by Leonard A. Montefiore, in Memoriam, Page 10, Privately Printed, Chiswick Press; C Whittingham and Co. London 1881</ref> The Jewish Encyclopedia<ref name="jewishencyclopedia">{{cite web|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/10960-montefiore|title=MONTEFIORE|website=JewishEncyclopedia.com|access-date=2017-10-07}}</ref> says "Montefiore was associated with many philanthropic movements, especially with the movement for women's emancipation." Montefiore died at Newport, Rhode Island, aged 27. According to the Women's rights activist [[Emily Faithfull]] in her book "Three Visits to America" published in 1884 Montefiore died "''While he was visiting the United States, in order to see for himself what could be learned from the political and social condition of the people, must ever be deplored. The world can ill afford to lose men of such deep thought and energetic action.''"<ref name="Faithfull">{{cite book|last1=Faithfull|first1=Emily|title=Three Visits to America|url=http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/faithfull/america/america.html|date=1884|publisher=Fowler & Wells Co., Publishers|location=New York}}</ref> The memorial fountain has the following poem engraved on its side:

<poem>''"Clear brain and sympathetic heart,''
''A spirit on flame with love for man,''
''Hands quick to labour, slow to part,''
''If any good since time began,''
''A soul can fashion such souls can."''</poem>

[[File:Sheet 4 (Mile End, Stepney, Shadwell, Limehouse) from the east half of the- 'Plan of the cities of London and Westminster, the borough of Southwark and parts adjoining shewing every house' RMG K0929.jpg|Map of 1792 of Stepney and around, when it was countryside|thumb]]
[[File:Stepney Area, part of Cross's New Plan Of London, 1853.jpg|Map of 1853: The spread of London has reached Stepney|thumb]]

In 1883, [[Jacob P. Adler]] arrived in London with a troupe of refugee professional actors. He enlisted the help of local amateurs, and the ''Russian Jewish Operatic Company'' made their debut at the Beaumont Hall, close to [[Stepney Green tube station]]. Within two years they were able to establish their own theatre in [[Brick Lane]].<ref>[http://www.jewishmuseum.org.uk/whatson/exhibitions/y3.asp The Jewish Museum] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051023231641/http://www.jewishmuseum.org.uk/whatson/exhibitions/y3.asp |date=23 October 2005 }} accessed on 31 March 2007</ref>

[[Stepney Green tube station|Stepney Green railway station]] was opened in 1902 by the [[Whitechapel and Bow Railway]], a joint venture between the [[District Railway]] and the [[London, Tilbury and Southend Railway]]. The station passed to London Underground in 1950.<ref name="LT transfer">{{cite news|url=http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/38824/pages/480/page.pdf|title=Transport Act, 1947|newspaper=The London Gazette|date=27 January 1950|page=480|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130730190415/http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/38824/pages/480/page.pdf|archive-date=2013-07-30|url-status=live}}</ref>

In the early 20th century, Stepney was one of the most [[Jewish]] neighbourhoods in England;<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XBqkFb7MTQ0C&q=metropolitan+borough+of+stepney&pg=PA70|title=Immigration and Social Policy in Britain|first=Catherine|last=Jones|date=27 September 2001|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9780415265003}}</ref> it was eventually superseded as such by [[Stamford Hill]].<ref>[http://www.economist.com/world/britain/displaystory.cfm?story_id=E1_SDDRGVT  ''Kosher in the country''], ''[[The Economist]]'' 1 June 2006 accessed 14 August 2007</ref>

On 31 July 1987 the [[Docklands Light Railway]], which operated over the old LBR line, commenced operations, with new platforms (platforms 3 and 4) built on the site of the old LBR platforms;{{citation needed|date=September 2019}} at Stepney East which had been renamed Limehouse on 11 May that year.<ref name="culg">{{cite web|url=http://www.davros.org/rail/culg/dockland.html|work=Clive's UndergrounD Line Guides|title=Docklands Light Railway}}</ref>

==Governance==
[[File:St George's Town Hall, E1 - geograph.org.uk - 1145481.jpg|thumb|The former [[St George's Town Hall|Stepney Town Hall]], completed in 1860]]
The [[Lord-Lieutenant of Greater London|Lord-Lieutenant]] [[Ken Olisa]] is [[Charles III|His Majesty]]'s [[Official|representative]] for Greater London, including Stepney. He has no political role and holds no office in any political party. The Lord Lieutenancy is purely an honorary titular position.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://greaterlondonlieutenancy.com/about-us/our-people/lord-lieutenant/|title=Her Majesty's Lord-Lieutenant of Greater London|website=greaterlondonlieutenancy.com|access-date=18 September 2022}}</ref>
 
Stepney is in the constituency of [[Bethnal Green and Stepney]], represented in the [[House of Commons]] of the [[UK Parliament]] since 2010 by [[Rushanara Ali]] of the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.parliament.uk/biographies/commons/rushanara-ali/4138|title=Rushanara Ali MP|website=UK Parliament}}</ref>
 
London overall has a directly elected executive [[Mayor of London]], currently [[Sadiq Khan]], and the [[City and East]] seat in the [[London Assembly]] is held by the Labour Party's [[Unmesh Desai]].
 
[[Tower Hamlets London Borough Council]] is the local authority and also has a directly elected executive mayor, the [[Mayor of Tower Hamlets]] [[John Biggs (London politician)|John Biggs]]. Stepney has local councillors from three wards, St Dunstan's, Bethnal Green and Stepney Green.

==Geography==
[[File:Stepney Green, Stepney Green Court, E1 - geograph.org.uk - 786319.jpg|Stepney Green, Stepney Green Court|right|thumb]]

The Stepney Green Conservation Area was designated in January 1973, covering the area previously known as [[Mile End Old Town]]. It is a large Conservation Area with an irregular shape that encloses buildings around Mile End Road, Assembly Passage, Louisa Street and Stepney Green itself. It is an area of exceptional architectural and historic interest, with a character and appearance worthy of protection and enhancement. It is situated just north of the medieval village of Stepney, which was clustered around St. Dunstan's Church.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/idoc.ashx?docid=c559f8cb-acd0-4ef7-8d69-d201d1ae0d8a&version=-1|title=Archived copy|access-date=2013-07-30|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120316085854/http://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/idoc.ashx?docid=c559f8cb-acd0-4ef7-8d69-d201d1ae0d8a&version=-1|archive-date=16 March 2012}}</ref>

Stepney Green developed as a street of residential housing off the [[Mile End Road]] in the 15th century, and now refers to the area in north Stepney.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=22732|title=Stepney – Communications|publisher=British History Online|access-date=21 May 2010}}</ref><ref name=Conservation>[http://moderngov.towerhamlets.gov.uk/mgConvert2PDF.aspx?ID=7773 Stepney Green Conservation Area] towerhamlets.gov.uk</ref> A brewery was founded in 1738 that developed into [[Charrington Brewery|Charrington and Co.]] in 1897. The brewery building, the Anchor Brewery, was on the north side of [[Mile End Road]], opposite Stepney Green; and is now the site of the Anchor Retail Unit, owned by [[Henderson Global Investors]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.completelyretail.co.uk/scheme/3658/index.html|title=Anchor Retail Park – Scheme Overview on Completely Retail|publisher=completelyretail.co.uk|access-date=20 May 2010}}</ref> though the [[Adams House (East London)|Brewery Offices]] still remain on the corner of [[Mile End Road]] and Cephas Avenue.<ref name=Conservation/>

===Nearest places===
{{div col|colwidth=12em}}
* [[Bethnal Green]]
* [[Limehouse]]
* [[Mile End]]
* [[Shadwell]]
* [[Whitechapel]]
* [[Bow, London|Bow]]
{{div col end}}

==Community==
The Stepney Community Trust, a community-led charity with a long history of local action, was set up in 1982 as the St Mary's Centre to respond to the severe housing and social deprivation in the area. The name was later changed to Stepney Community Trust.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stepney.org.uk/welcome.html|title=welcome|publisher=Stepney Community Trust}}</ref>

[[Stepney City Farm]] is a city farm which provides a number of community services, such as guided tours, workshops and other activities.,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://stepneycityfarm.org/at-the-farm/community-groups/?doing_wp_cron=1540313145.3181309700012207031250|title=Community Groups – Stepney City Farm|date=21 January 2013}}</ref> was founded in 1979 by Lynne Bennett; at that time it was called Stepping Stones. Local residents, schools, churches and community groups were consulted and wasteland left after a [[World War II]] bomb destroyed the Stepney Congregational Church in 1941 was secured for the farm's use.<ref name="WinfieldNigel">{{cite book|last=Winfield|first=Nigel|title=Stepping Stones: Community Farm Project in Stepney, East London|year=1986|publisher=British Association of Settlements and Social Action Centres|location=UK|isbn=0950345253|page=32}}</ref>

The Stepney Historical Trust was set up in 1989 to advance the public's education on the history of Stepney and the surrounding areas. It is based in the London Dockers Athletic and Social Club<ref>{{cite web|title=London Dockers Social & Athletic Club|url=http://www.itowerhamlets.co.uk/profile/clubs-and-associations-social-leisure-and-cultural/42647/London-Dockers-Social-and-Athletic-Club.html|website=Tower Hamlets|access-date=28 November 2016}}</ref> and has installed a series of plaques on sites of historic interest.<ref>{{cite web|title=Stepney Historical Trust|url=http://openplaques.org/organisations/stepney_historical_trust|website=Open Plaques|access-date=28 November 2016}}</ref>

Jewish Care was created in 1990 by the merger of two previous charities to care for the community needs cost-effectively. It is based at the Brenner Centre in Raine House.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.jewishcare.org/how-we-can-help-you/community/44-stepney-jewish-community-centre|title=Stepney Jewish Community Centre – Community – Jewish Care|website=jewishcare.org}}</ref>

The [[City Gateway]] Women Programmes were established to provide opportunities for local women in Stepney to gain independence, grow in confidence and access employment and develop skills in a supportive community environment.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://home.citygateway.org.uk/women-and-families/womens-programmes/|title=City Gateway – Women's Programmes|website=home.citygateway.org.uk}}</ref>

==Demographics==
{{Further|Demographics of London}}
Due to the availability of cheap housing, the [[East End of London]] and London Borough of Stepney has been home to various immigrants who have contributed to the culture and history of the area, such as the French [[Huguenot]]s in the 17th century,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=22743|title=Bethnal Green: Settlement and Building to 1836 – British History Online|website=british-history.ac.uk}}</ref> the Irish in the 18th century,<ref>''Irish in Britain'' John A. Jackson, p. 137–9, 150 (Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1964)</ref> [[Ashkenazi Jews]] fleeing [[pogroms]] in Eastern Europe towards the end of the 19th century,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=22113|title=The Jews – British History Online|website=british-history.ac.uk}}</ref> and the [[British Bangladeshi|Bangladeshi]] community settling in the East End from the 1960s onwards.<ref>[http://www.spacesyntax.tudelft.nl/media/prcdngsabstracts/izaaftab.pdf ''The Spatial Form of Bangladeshi Community in London's East End'' Iza Aftab] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080227015929/http://www.spacesyntax.tudelft.nl/media/prcdngsabstracts/izaaftab.pdf |date=27 February 2008 }} (UCL)</ref> The area still contains a range of immigrants, particularly young Asian families, as well as elderly East Enders, some students, and the beginnings of a young middle class.<ref name=timeout/> The 2011 UK Census revealed that 47% of the population was Bengali; the highest percentage of Bengalis in Southern England.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ukcensusdata.com/st-dunstans-and-stepney-green-e05000584#sthash.YrmkVUG7.dpbs|title=St Dunstan's and Stepney Green – UK Census Data 2011|first=Good Stuff IT|last=Services|website=UK Census Data}}</ref> [[White British]] people comprise just over a quarter of the ward of St. Dunstan's and Stepney Green.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ukcensusdata.com/st-dunstans-and-stepney-green-e05000584|title=St Dunstan's and Stepney Green – UK Census Data 2011|first=Good Stuff IT|last=Services|website=UK Census Data|access-date=18 September 2022}}</ref>

==Education==
{{Further|List of schools in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets}}

[[Stepney All Saints School]] is a [[Church of England]] [[voluntary aided school]] that was opened in 1710 by Sir [[John Cass]] as the Sir John Cass School.  It merged with the Redcoat Secondary School in 1966 and took the name of Sir John Cass's Foundation and Red Coat School that year. It took its current name in 2020.<ref>[https://stepneyallsaints.school ''Stepney All Saints School''] accessed 7 September 2020</ref>

[[Stepney Green Maths, Computing and Science College]] is a [[Community school (England and Wales)|community school]] for boys, the curriculum is broad, there is a wide range of extra-curricular activities offered before, during and after school.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stepneygreen.towerhamlets.sch.uk/|title=Mulberry Stepney Green – Maths, Computing and Science College}}</ref>

==Sports==
Stepney F.C. is a [[non-league]] [[association football]] team which currently plays in the Tower Hamlets-based [[Inner London Football League]].<ref name="ILFL">{{cite web|title=Stepney FC|url=http://www.ilfl.org/pages/clubs.php?year=2017&club=27&div=0|publisher=Inner London Football League|access-date=6 June 2017}}</ref>

The district's Senrab Street gave its name to [[Senrab F.C.]], a youth team now based in [[Wanstead Flats]] and notable for producing many future professional players.<ref name="londonist">{{cite web|author=Alex|title=All Aboard|url=http://londonist.com/2005/08/all_aboard.php|publisher=Londonist|date=4 August 2005|access-date=5 June 2017}}</ref>

==Transport==
[[File:Stepney Green.jpg|thumb|[[Stepney Green tube station]].]]

Stepney is connected to the [[London Underground]] at [[Stepney Green tube station]] on the [[Hammersmith & City]] and [[District line]]s.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://hidden-london.com/gazetteer/stepney-green/|title=Stepney Green – Hidden London|website=hidden-london.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://tfl.gov.uk/hub/stop/940GZZLUSGN/stepney-green-underground-station/|title=Stepney Green Underground Station|website=Transport for London}}</ref>

The area overall is covered by [[London Buses]] services, mostly west–east by the [[London Buses route 25|25]], 205, N25, N205 on Mile End Road<ref>{{cite web|url=https://tfl.gov.uk/bus/stop/490G00220E1/stepney-green-station|title=Stepney Green Station|website=Transport for London}}</ref> and [[London Buses route 15|15]], 115, [[London Buses route 135|135]] and N550 on Commercial Road,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://tfl.gov.uk/bus/stop/490012669E/stepney-methodist-church?lineId=n15|title=Stepney Methodist Church|website=Transport for London}}</ref> the 309 and 339 via Ben Johnson Road.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://tfl.gov.uk/bus/stop/490003897W/harford-street|title=Harford Street|website=Transport for London}}</ref>

An automatic air monitoring site in nearby [[Mile End]] recorded a 2017 annual average of 48 μg/m<sup>3</sup>. Alternative monitoring sites on Mile End Road also failed to meet air quality objectives with a site at the junction with Globe Road recorded 52 μg/m<sup>3</sup> as a 2017 average.{{citation needed|date=September 2019}}

==Notable people==
{{category see also|People from Stepney}}{{More citations needed section|date=March 2025}}
[[Richard Mead]], a physician responsible for advances in the understanding of [[transmissible diseases]], was born in Stepney.

Others born in Stepney are entertainer [[Des O'Connor]],<ref>{{IMDb name|id=0640300|name=Dec O'Connor}}</ref> actor [[Steven Berkoff]],<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070107071043/http://news.independent.co.uk/people/profiles/article2124821.ece  ''Steven Berkoff: The real East Enders''], [[The Independent]] 4 January 2007 accessed 10 May 2007</ref> playwright [[Arnold Wesker]], gardener [[Rachel De Thame]], television executive [[Alan Yentob]], artist [[Frank Paton]], drummer [[Kenney Jones]], musician and writer [[Jah Wobble]],<ref>Jah Wobble, Memoirs of a Geezer, p. 1.</ref> singer [[Kenny Lynch]] and his sister [[Maxine Daniels]], singer [[Charles Coborn]], [[Association football|footballers]] [[Ledley King]], [[Ashley Cole]], [[Mark Lazarus]], [[Barry Silkman]], and [[Darren Purse]], heavyweight [[boxing|boxer]] [[William Thomas Wells|"Bombardier" Billy Wells]], former [[armed robber]] and businessman [[Roy Shaw]], former British featherweight boxing champion [[Sammy McCarthy]], sportswriter [[Norman Giller]], and [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] politician [[Wes Streeting]].

Clergymen [[John Sentamu]], formerly Bishop of Stepney, and Father Richard Wilson, founder of the ''Hoppers' Hospitals'' at [[Five Oak Green]], Kent, lived in the borough at one time.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/legacies/work/england/kent/article_4.shtml|title=The hoppers of Kent|publisher=BBC Legacies|access-date=21 December 2007}}</ref>

Actors born in Stepney include [[Matthew Garber]], [[Bernard Bresslaw]], [[Terence Stamp]], [[Craig Fairbrass]], [[Jeff Shankley]], [[John Lyons (actor)|John Lyons]], [[Eddie Marsan]], [[Ben Onwukwe]], [[Victor McLaglen]], [[Roy Marsden]], [[Ruth Sheen]], [[Anita Dobson]] and [[Nicola Walker]].

Musicians [[Monty Norman]] (composer of the [[James Bond Theme]]) and [[Lionel Bart]] (known for creating the book, 
music and lyrics to the production ''[[Oliver!]]''), were also born in Stepney, as was musician [[Wiley (musician)|Wiley]], widely considered to be the founding father of [[grime music]].

British communist [[Alf Salisbury]], who smuggled monetary funds to German anti-fascists during Hitler's rise to power, and fought in both the [[Battle of Cable Street]] and for the [[International Brigades]] during the [[Spanish Civil War]], was born in Stepney.{{Citation needed|date=March 2025}} Fellow communist [[Betty Papworth]] and activist Betty Papworth was also born in Stepney.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Obituarity: Betty Papworth|url=https://www.thecnj.com/camden/2008/072408/obit072408.html|access-date=2025-03-20|website=Camden New Journal}}</ref>

==In popular culture==
{{More citations needed section|date=March 2025}}
In her 2002 memoir [[Call the Midwife (book)|''Call the Midwife'']], [[Jennifer Worth]] gives an account of 1950s Stepney, describing poverty, condemned buildings, filth, and rampant prostitution.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Creaser|first=Miriam|date=2013-12-01|title=Call the midwife: a true story of the East End in the 1950s|url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13698036.2013.863482|journal=Infant Observation|volume=16|issue=3|pages=286–289|doi=10.1080/13698036.2013.863482|issn=1369-8036|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Worth|first=Jennifer|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KHI7F1cF8z8C|title=Call the Midwife: A Memoir of Birth, Joy, and Hard Times|date=2012-08-29|publisher=Penguin|isbn=978-1-101-61440-2|language=en}}</ref>

In the 1965 Rolling Stones song [[Play with Fire (Rolling Stones song)|Play with Fire]], it is said an heiress whose wealth has been carried off by her husband "gets her kicks in Stepney, not in [[Knightsbridge]] anymore."

Elton John refers to Stepney in the song "Bitter Fingers" which was written by Elton and Bernie Taupin.

Folk noir duo [[Ruby Throat]] released a song called "Forget Me Nots of Stepney" on their 2012 album ''O' Doubt O' Stars''.

Mentioned in [[Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels]] "Hand made in Italy, hand stolen in Stepney"

==See also==
* [[Joel Gascoyne#The parish of St Dunstan Stepney, the incipient East End of London|Joel Gascoyne]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category-inline}}

{{LB Tower Hamlets}}
{{London Districts}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Stepney| ]]
[[Category:Conservation areas in London]]
[[Category:Districts of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets]]
[[Category:Places formerly in Middlesex]]