View source for Wapping

{{Short description|District of East London, England}}
{{about|the district in East London|other articles associated with the name|Wapping (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2023}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2013}}
{{Infobox UK place
| country                  = England
| region                   = London
| official_name            = Wapping
| static_image_name        = Wapping Old Stairs and the Town of Ramsgate-geograph-2486369.jpg
| static_image_caption     = The Town of Ramsgate pub, between Wapping High Street and the River Thames. 
| coordinates              = {{coord|51.5073|-0.0610|display=inline,title}}
| os_grid_reference        = TQ345805
| population               = 12,411
| population_ref           = (2011 Census.St. Katharine's and Wapping Ward)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=13689092&c=Wapping&d=14&e=62&g=6338272&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&o=362&m=0&r=1&s=1476696773303&enc=1|title=Tower Hamlets Ward population 2011|access-date=17 October 2016|publisher=Office for National Statistics|work=Neighbourhood Statistics|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161021060317/http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=13689092&c=Wapping&d=14&e=62&g=6338272&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&o=362&m=0&r=1&s=1476696773303&enc=1|archive-date=21 October 2016}}</ref>
| post_town                = LONDON
| postcode_area            = E
| postcode_district        = E1W
| london_borough           = Tower Hamlets
| dial_code                = 020
| constituency_westminster = [[Poplar and Limehouse]]
}}
'''Wapping''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|w|ɒ|p|ɪ|ŋ}}) is an area in the borough of [[Tower Hamlets]] in London, England. It is in [[East London]] and part of the [[East End]]. Wapping is on the north bank of the [[River Thames]] between [[Tower Bridge]] to the west, and [[Shadwell]] to the east. This position gives the district a strong maritime character.

The area was historically composed of two parishes, [[St George in the East (parish)|St George in the East]], and the much smaller [[St John's Church, Wapping|St John's]]. Urbanisation of the shoreline began in earnest after the draining of Wapping marsh, and the consolidation of the river wall in the late 16th century. Many of the original buildings were demolished during the construction of the [[London Docks]] and Wapping was further seriously damaged during [[the Blitz]]. As the [[Port of London]] declined after the [[Second World War]], the area became run down, with the great warehouses left empty. Some were demolished, but others such as [[Tobacco Dock]] survive. The area underwent further change during the 1980s when warehouses started to be converted into luxury flats.

[[Rupert Murdoch]] moved his [[News International]] printing and publishing works into Wapping in 1986, resulting in a trade union dispute that became known as the "[[Battle of Wapping]]".

==History==
===Origins===
[[File:Stepney Civil Parish Map 1870.png|thumb|229x229px|Wapping was made up of two parishes: [[St George in the East (parish)|St-George-in-the-East]] and St John of Wapping.|left]]

Formerly, it was believed that the name ''Wapping'' recorded an Anglo-Saxon settlement linked to a personal name ''Waeppa'' ("the settlement of Waeppa's people").<ref>Waeppa's People – a History of Wapping by Madge Darby – {{ISBN|0-947699-10-4}}</ref> More recent scholarship discounts that theory: much of the area was marshland, where early settlement was unlikely, and no such personal name has ever been found.  It is now thought that the name may derive from ''wapol'', a marsh.<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: Victoria County History, 1998), 13–19.  ''British History Online'', accessed 1 May 2017, {{cite web |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/middx/vol11/pp13-19 |title=Stepney: Settlement and Building to c.1700 &#124; British History Online |access-date=2017-11-24 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201032752/http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/middx/vol11/pp13-19 |archive-date=1 December 2017 }}.</ref>

Wapping was historically part of the [[Stepney#Manor and Ancient Parish|Manor and Parish of Stepney]]. By the 17th century, it formed two autonomous Hamlets, a Hamlet in this context refers to an autonomous area of a parish rather than a small village. The northern Hamlet was known as ''Wapping-Stepney'', as it was the part of Wapping within Stepney, the riverside part was known as ''Wapping-Whitechapel'' as it was the part within the parish of [[Whitechapel]], a parish which was previously also a part of the parish of Stepney.

These Hamlets later became independent parishes, with ''Wapping-Stepney'' becoming known as [[St George in the East (parish)|St-George-in-the-East]] (in 1729) and ''Wapping-Whitechapel'' known as St John of Wapping (in 1694). The latter occupied a very narrow strip along nearly all of Wapping's riverside.<ref>'Stepney: Early Stepney', in A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 11, Stepney, Bethnal Green, ed. T F T Baker (London, 1998), pp. 1–7. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/middx/vol11/pp1-7 [accessed 9 September 2022].</ref>

The Wapping parishes were part of the [[Historic counties of England|historic (or ancient) county]] of [[Middlesex]], but military and most (or all) civil county functions were managed more locally, by the [[Tower division|Tower Division (also known as the Tower Hamlets)]].

The role of the ''Tower Division'' ended when Wapping became part of the new [[County of London]] in 1889. The County of London was replaced by Greater London in 1965.

===Riverside development===

The draining of Wapping Marsh, and the consolidation of a river wall along which houses were built, were finally achieved by 1600 after previous attempts had failed. (See [[Embanking of the tidal Thames#East London|Embanking of the tidal Thames]]). The settlement developed along that river wall, hemmed in by the river to the south and the now-drained Wapping Marsh to the north This gave it a peculiarly narrow and constricted shape, consisting of little more than the axis of Wapping High Street and some north–south side streets. [[John Stow]], the 16th-century historian, described it as a "continual street, or a filthy strait passage, with alleys of small tenements or cottages, built, inhabited by sailors' victuallers".<ref name="brit">[http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=45082 'The Thames Tunnel, Ratcliff Highway and Wapping', Old and New London: Volume 2 (1878), pp. 128–37] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927223040/http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=45082 |date=27 September 2007 }} accessed: 29 March 2007</ref> A chapel to [[St. John the Baptist]] was built in 1617, and it was here that [[Thomas Rainsborough]] was buried. Wapping was constituted as a [[parish]] in 1694.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Maddocks|first=Sydney|title=Wapping|journal=The Copartnership Herald|date=December 1932|volume=II|issue=22|url=http://www.mernick.org.uk/thhol/wapping.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104075143/http://www.mernick.org.uk/thhol/wapping.html|archive-date=4 November 2012}}</ref>

Wapping's proximity to the river gave it a strong maritime character for centuries, well into the 20th century. It was inhabited by sailors, mastmakers, boatbuilders, blockmakers, instrument-makers, victuallers and representatives of all the other trades that supported the seafarer. Wapping was also the site of '[[Execution Dock]]', where [[pirates]] and other water-borne criminals faced [[execution]] by [[hanging]] from a [[gibbet]] constructed close to the low water mark. Their bodies would be left dangling until they had been submerged three times by the tide.<ref name=brit/>

[[File:Wapping 1889.jpg|thumb|222x222px|Part of [[Charles Booth (philanthropist)|Charles Booth]]'s [[poverty map]] showing Wapping in 1889, published in ''[[Life and Labour of the People in London]]''. The red areas are "well-to-do"; the blue areas are "Intermittent or casual earnings" and black areas are the "lowest class...occasional labourers, street sellers, loafers, criminals and semi-criminals".]]The Bell Inn, by the execution dock, was run by Samuel Batts, whose daughter, [[Elizabeth Batts Cook|Elizabeth]], married [[James Cook]] at [[St Margaret's Church, Barking]], Essex on 21 December 1762, after the [[Royal Navy]] captain had stayed at the Inn.<ref>''Famous 18th century people of Barking and Dagenham'' Info Sheet #22, LB Barking & Dagenham</ref> The couple initially settled in [[Shadwell]], attending [[St Paul's Church, Shadwell|St Paul's church]], but later moved to [[Mile End]]. Although they had six children together, much of their married life was spent apart, with Cook absent on his voyages and, after his murder in 1779 at [[Kealakekua Bay]], she survived until 1835.

Said to be England's first, the [[Marine Police Force]] was formed in 1798 by magistrate [[Patrick Colquhoun]] and a Master Mariner, [[John Harriott (sailor)|John Harriott]], to tackle theft and looting from ships anchored in the [[Pool of London]] and the lower reaches of the river. Its base was (and remains) in Wapping High Street and it is now known as the [[Marine Support Unit]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20080311191342/http://www.met.police.uk/msu/history.htm History of the Marine Support Unit (Met)] accessed 24 January 2007</ref> The Thames Police Museum, dedicated to the history of the Marine Police Force, is currently housed within the headquarters of the Marine Support Unit, and is open to the public by appointment.<ref>[http://www.thamespolicemuseum.org.uk/museum.html Thames Police Museum] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100922120300/http://www.thamespolicemuseum.org.uk/museum.html |date=22 September 2010 }} Retrieved 1 June 2010</ref>

In 1811, the [[Ratcliff Highway murders]] took place nearby at [[The Highway (London)|The Highway]] and Wapping Lane.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070927200419/http://website.lineone.net/~fight/Stepney/marr.htm Stepney Murders: The Ratcliffe Highway Murders] accessed 21 January 2007</ref>

===London Docks===
The area's strong maritime associations changed radically in the 19th century when the [[London Docks]] were built to the north and west of the High Street. Wapping's population plummeted by nearly 60% during that century, with many houses destroyed by the construction of the docks and giant warehouses along the riverfront. Squeezed between the high walls of the docks and warehouses, the riverside area became isolated from the rest of London, although some relief was provided by Brunel's [[Thames Tunnel]] to [[Rotherhithe]]. The opening of [[Wapping tube station]] on the [[East London line]] in 1869 provided a direct rail link to the rest of London.<ref name="Rose">{{harvnb|Rose|2007}}</ref><ref name="Day 1979 32">{{harvnb|Day|1979|p=32}}</ref>

===Migration===
Wapping's position by the Thames has meant it has long attracted people from around the world. In the 15th century, the population of the area included a number of foreigners, in particular seamen from the [[Low Countries]].<ref>Waeppa's People – a History of Wapping by Madge Darby, p28 – {{ISBN|0-947699-10-4}}</ref>

There was a sizeable Irish presence in Wapping from the 16th century onward.<ref>My East End, A History of cockney London. Gilda o'Neill p54-55</ref> It is probably under their influence a stretch of [[Cable Street]], and the area around it, become called ''Knock Fergus''.<ref>Waeppa's People – a History of Wapping by Madge Darby, p54 – {{ISBN|0-947699-10-4}}</ref> The [[Irish Language|Irish]] name of ''Knock Fergus'' (sometimes spelled ''Knock Vargis'') is first known to be recorded in 1597<ref>The Place Names of Middlesex – English Place name Society – Vol 18 – Gover Maw and Stenton – Cambridge University Press – p157 – 1942</ref> and continued to be  recorded in Stepney parish rolls in the 1600's.<ref>Overview and map of the place name Knock Fergus https://www.theundergroundmap.com/article.html?id=65458</ref> ''Knock Fergus'' (the hill of Fergus) is an old name for [[Carrickfergus]] in [[County Antrim]]. In the 20th century Irish migration to Wapping slowed and by the middle of the century the local Irish community had been assimilated.<ref>East London Papers, Volume 6, Number 2, The Irish in East London, December 1963, John A Jackson.</ref>

In 1702, a French-speaking church established at Milk Alley, next to St Johns Church, close to the shore in western Wapping. The church was established to support a community of French speaking seafarers originating in [[Jersey]] and [[Guernsey]] who had been joined by [[Huguenot]] refugees from France. There seems to have been a good relationship with the rest of the population as it received financial support from the Rector of St Johns, when it was in financial difficulty, and its long term future was settled by an intervention from Queen Anne who provided it with an allowance.<ref>Waeppa's People – a History of Wapping by Madge Darby, p50 – {{ISBN|0-947699-10-4}}</ref>

Starting in the 16th century, and accelerating later, parts of Wapping attracted large number of German migrants, with many of these people, and their descendants working in the sugar industry. The area north of [[The Highway, London|The Highway (formerly St George's Highway)]] and west of Cannon Street became known – together with neighbouring parts of [[Whitechapel]] – as ''Little Germany''.<ref>East London Record – No 13 – 1990 https://www.mernick.org.uk/elhs/Record/ELHS%20RECORD%2013%20(1990).pdf</ref>

There appears to have been a considerable [[Black British people|black]] presence in late 18th century Wapping, on account of the many black and mulatto (mixed race) people, often seamen, being baptised at the two parish churches of St John's and in particular St George in the East.<ref>Waeppa's People – a History of Wapping by Madge Darby, p52-3 – {{ISBN|0-947699-10-4}}</ref> There appears to also have been a sizeable black population in the areas to the west, the parish of [[St Botolph without Aldgate]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Britain's first black community in Elizabethan London |work=BBC News |date=20 July 2012 |access-date=5 May 2025 |url= https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-18903391 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=History |work=stgitehistory.org.uk |access-date= |url= http://www.stgitehistory.org.uk/history.html }}</ref> (both the [[Portsoken]] and [[East Smithfield]] areas of the parish, and possibly also in [[Royal Foundation of St Katharine#Precinct|St Katharine's Precinct]], a densely populated little district that was swept away to build [[St Katharine Docks]].

===Modern times===
[[File:Heinkel_over_Wapping.jpg|thumb|[[Heinkel He 111]] bomber over the [[Surrey Commercial Docks|Surrey docks]] and Wapping in the [[East End of London]] on 7 September 1940]]

Wapping was devastated by [[The Blitz|German bombing]] in the [[Second World War]]<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories/20/a1143820.shtml My Mum's War: Life in the East End – BBC WW2 People's War] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110211233214/http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories/20/a1143820.shtml |date=11 February 2011 }} accessed 1 April 2007</ref> and by the post-war closure of the docks. It remained a run-down and derelict area into the 1980s, when the area was transferred to the management of the [[London Docklands Development Corporation]], a government [[quango]] with the task of redeveloping the Docklands. The London Docks were largely filled in and redeveloped with a variety of commercial, light industrial and residential properties.

[[St John's Church, Wapping]] (1756) was located on what is now Scandrett Street. Only the tower and shell survived wartime bombing, and have now been converted to housing.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.london-footprints.co.uk/wkshadwapproute.htm |title=A Shadwell & Wapping Walk |url-status=live |access-date=14 August 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130113020351/http://www.london-footprints.co.uk/wkshadwapproute.htm |archive-date=13 January 2013 }}</ref>

==Wapping dispute==
{{Main|Wapping dispute}}
The "Wapping dispute" or "Battle of Wapping" was, along with the [[miners' strike of 1984–85]], a significant turning point in the history of the [[trade union]] movement and of UK industrial relations. It started on 24 January 1986 when some 6,000 newspaper workers went on strike after protracted negotiation with their employer, [[News International]] (parent of Times Newspapers and News Group Newspapers, and chaired by [[Rupert Murdoch]]). News International had built and clandestinely equipped a new printing plant for all its titles in Wapping, and when the print unions announced a strike it activated this new plant with the assistance of the [[Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union]] (EETPU).

The plant was nicknamed "Fortress Wapping" when the sacked print workers effectively besieged it, mounting round-the-clock pickets and blockades in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to thwart the move. In 2005, News International announced the intention to move the print works to regional presses based in [[Broxbourne]] (the world's largest printing plant, opened March 2008),<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7299941.stm|title=World's biggest print plant opens|date=17 March 2008|publisher=BBC News}}</ref> [[Liverpool]] and [[Glasgow]]. The editorial staff were to remain, however, and there was talk of redeveloping the sizeable plot that makes up the printing works.<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2006/02/09/cnmurd09.xml&menuId=242&sSheet=/money/2006/02/09/ixcitytop.html ''Daily Telegraph Money'' 9 February 2006] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070311060434/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fmoney%2F2006%2F02%2F09%2Fcnmurd09.xml&menuId=242&sSheet=%2Fmoney%2F2006%2F02%2F09%2Fixcitytop.html |date=11 March 2007 }} accessed 5 May 2007</ref>

==Landmarks==
[[File:Wapping old stairs 1.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Wapping Old Stairs]]

Perhaps Wapping's greatest attraction is the Thames foreshore itself and the venerable public houses that face onto it. A number of the '[[watermen's stairs]]', such as Wapping Old Stairs and Pelican Stairs (by the Prospect of Whitby), give public access to a [[littoral]] zone (for the Thames is tidal at this point) littered with flotsam, jetsam and fragments of old dock installations. The area is popular with amateur archaeologists and treasure hunters. This activity is known as [[mudlark]]ing; the term for a shore scavenger in the 18th and 19th centuries was a mudlark.

''St George in the East'', on Cannon Street Road, is one of six [[Hawksmoor]] churches in London, built from 1714 to 1729, with funding from the [[Commission for Building Fifty New Churches]]. The church was hit by a bomb during [[the Blitz]] and the original interior was destroyed by the fire, but the walls and distinctive ''pepper-pot'' towers remained intact.  In 1964, a modern church interior was constructed inside the existing walls for the active congregation and a new flat built under each corner tower. Behind the church lies St George's Gardens, the original cemetery, which was passed to Stepney Council to maintain as a public park in mid-Victorian times. At the outbreak of the Second World War, the [[crypt]] of the church was used as a [[Air-raid shelter|public air raid shelter]] and was fully occupied when the aforementioned bomb struck; there were no casualties and everyone was evacuated safely, thanks to the [[Air Raid Warden|air raid wardens]] and [[fire brigade]].

[[St John's Church, Wapping]], the oldest church in Wapping, built in 1756 by Joel Johnson, was also hit by a bomb during [[WWII]]. The distinctive lead-topped tower remains and the former churchyard is a public park. Adjoining the church is St John's Old School, founded c.1695 for the new parish and rebuilt together with the church in 1756.

[[File:Wapping gibbet 1.jpg|thumb|right|Though [[Execution Dock]] is long gone, this gibbet is still maintained on the Thames foreshore by the Prospect of Whitby public house]]

The ''[[Execution Dock]]'' was located on the [[Thames]]. It was used by the [[Admiralty (United Kingdom)|Admiralty]] for over 400 years (as late as 1830) to hang [[pirates]] that had been convicted and sentenced to death by the [[Admiralty court]]. The Admiralty only had jurisdiction over crimes on the sea, so the dock was located within their jurisdiction by being located far enough offshore as to be beyond the low-tide mark. It was used to kill the notorious [[Captain Kidd]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.shadwatch.co.uk/wapping_history_01.htm|title=Wapping History|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090315000501/http://www.shadwatch.co.uk/wapping_history_01.htm|archive-date=15 March 2009}}</ref> Many prisoners would be executed together as a public event in front of a crowd of onlookers after being paraded from the [[Marshalsea Prison]] across [[London Bridge]] and past the [[Tower of London]] to the dock.

[[File:PirateWapping.JPG|thumb|Wax figure of a pirate hanged at [[Execution Dock]]. [[Madame Tussauds]], London]]

[[Tobacco Dock]] is a [[Listed building|Grade I listed]] warehouse, adjacent to The Highway. It was constructed in approximately 1811 and served primarily as a store for imported tobacco. In 1990, it was converted into a shopping centre at a development cost of £47 million with the intention to create the "[[Covent Garden]] of the East End"; the scheme was unsuccessful though and went into administration. Since the mid-1990s, the building has been almost entirely unoccupied; it is now occasionally used for filming, and for large corporate and commercial events.

Three venerable [[public house]]s are located near the Stairs. By Pelican Stairs is the ''[[Prospect of Whitby]]'', formerly the Devil's Tavern,<ref>{{cite book|last=Lincoln|first=Margarete|title=Trading in War: London's Maritime World in the Age of Cook and Nelson|year=2018|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=9780300235388|page=16}}</ref> which has a much-disputed claim to be the oldest Thames-side public house still in existence.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.timeout.com/london/bars-pubs/prospect-of-whitby|title=Prospect of Whitby|work=Time Out London|date=25 March 2015 |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150727071146/http://www.timeout.com/london/bars-pubs/prospect-of-whitby|archive-date=27 July 2015}}</ref> Be that as it may, there has been an inn on the site since the reign of [[Henry VIII]] and it is certainly one of the most famous public houses in London. It is named after a then-famous collier that used to dock regularly at Wapping. A replica of the old Execution Dock gibbet is maintained on the adjacent foreshore, although the actual site of Execution Dock was nearer to the ''[[Town of Ramsgate]]''. This also is on the site of a 16th-century inn and is located next to Wapping Old Stairs to the west of the ''Prospect''; by Wapping Pier Head – the former local headquarters of the [[HM Customs and Excise|Customs and Excise]].

Situated halfway between the two is the ''[[Captain Kidd (pub)|Captain Kidd]]'', named after the [[Scotland|Scottish]] privateer [[William Kidd]]. He was hanged on the Wapping foreshore in 1701 after being found guilty of murder and piracy.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.historytoday.com/richard-cavendish/execution-captain-kidd|title=Execution of Captain Kidd|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180515192928/https://www.historytoday.com/richard-cavendish/execution-captain-kidd|archive-date=15 May 2018}}</ref> Although the pub occupies a 17th-century building, it was only established in the 1980s.

==Education==
{{For|details of education in Wapping|List of schools in Tower Hamlets}}

==Transport==
===Railway===
[[File:ThamesTunnelFromWapping.jpg|thumb|The [[Thames Tunnel]], the world's first underwater tunnel, which carries the East London Line to Rotherhithe]]

The local station is [[Wapping railway station|Wapping]] on the [[London Overground]]'s [[East London line]]; it is in [[London fare zone 2]].<ref>{{harvnb|Baker|2007|loc=p. 22, section B1}}</ref> There are regular direct services to {{Stnlnk|Dalston Junction}}, [[Highbury & Islington]], [[West Croydon station|West Croydon]], {{Stnlnk|Crystal Palace}}, {{Stnlnk|New Cross}} and {{Stnlnk|Clapham Junction}}.<ref>{{Cite web |title=London Overground Timetables |date=May 2023 |access-date=4 June 2023 |url= https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/london-overground/london-overground-timetables |quote=}}</ref>

The narrowness of the platforms means that the station does not fully meet the safety standards for an underground station, but is permitted to operate under a derogation from [[His Majesty's Railway Inspectorate]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://moderngov.towerhamlets.gov.uk/Data/Public%20Transport%20Forum/20030128/Minutes/Future%20of%20Wapping%20Ldn%20U'Ground%20Station.pdf |title=The Future of Wapping London Underground station |publisher=[[Tower Hamlets London Borough Council]] |date=28 January 2003 |access-date=14 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304084204/http://moderngov.towerhamlets.gov.uk/Data/Public%20Transport%20Forum/20030128/Minutes/Future%20of%20Wapping%20Ldn%20U'Ground%20Station.pdf |archive-date=4 March 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Formerly on the [[London Underground]], the [[Metropolitan Railway|Metropolitan]] and the [[District Railway]]s were the first lines to serve the station on 1 October 1884,<ref name="Rose"/> but the station was last served by District trains on 31 July 1905.<ref name=Rose/><ref name="Day 1979 32"/> The East London line closed as an Underground route on 22 December 2007; it was rebranded and reopened on 27 April 2010 when it became part of the Overground system.

===Buses===
[[London Buses|London bus services]] are operated by [[London Central]] and [[Stagecoach London]]. Routes include the [[London Buses route 100|100]], [[London Buses route D3|D3]] and night bus N551; these connect Wapping with [[East London|East]] and [[Central London]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Stops in Wapping, London|work=Bus Times |date=2023 |access-date=4 June 2023 |url= https://bustimes.org/localities/wapping-london |quote=}}</ref>

===Roads===
Wapping is connected to the [[Roads in the United Kingdom|National Road Network]] by [[The Highway (London)|The Highway]] [[A1203]] east–west, which passes to the north of the area.

===Cycling, walking and waterways===
The [[Thames Path]] passes west–east through Wapping for cyclists and walkers.

[[Thames River Services]] operate a sightseeing boat route between [[Westminster]] and [[Greenwich]], which call at Wapping.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Thames River Sightseeing|work=Bus Times |date=2023 |access-date=4 June 2023 |url= https://bustimes.org/services/thames-river-services-westminster-st-katherines-gr |quote=}}</ref>

The Ornamental Canal runs through the area, mostly in the centre, to [[Shadwell Basin]].

==Notable people==
People who were born in Wapping include:
* [[John Newton]], [[Anglican]] [[clergyman]] and author of many [[hymn]]s including ''[[Amazing Grace]]''<ref>[http://www.secret-london.co.uk/Wapping_2.html John Newton] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111217051120/http://secret-london.co.uk/Wapping_2.html |date=17 December 2011 }} Retrieved 7 February 2012</ref>
* [[Thomas Rainsborough]] (1610–1648), Parliamentarian soldier and [[Leveller]].
* [[Walter Kennedy (pirate)|Walter Kennedy]], a notorious early 18th century pirate
* [[Godscall Paleologue]], last heir of the [[Eastern Roman Empire]], born in Wapping and baptised at [[St Dunstan's, Stepney]] in 1694.<ref name="Hall 2015">{{Cite book|last=Hall|first=John|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nhETDQAAQBAJ|title=An Elizabethan Assassin: Theodore Paleologus: Seducer, Spy and Killer|publisher=The History Press|year=2015|isbn=978-0750962612|location=Stroud}}</ref>
* [[Arthur Orton]], the [[Tichborne Claimant]]
* [[Les Reed (football manager)|Les Reed]], football coach and former manager of [[Charlton Athletic]]

People who lived in Wapping:

[[File:Wapping on Thames by James McNeill Whistler, 1860-1864, oil on canvas - National Gallery of Art, Washington - DSC00089.JPG|thumb|''Wapping'' by [[James McNeill Whistler]] ]]
* [[Theodorious Paleologus]], [[Barbados]] born [[privateer]], and heir to the [[Eastern Roman Empire]], lived in Wapping.<ref name="Hall 2015"/> 
* Daniel Day (1682-1767), marine engineer and founder of the [[Fairlop#Fairlop Fair|Fairlop Fair]], ran a business in Wapping.
* The [[United States|American]] painter [[James McNeill Whistler]], well known for his [[Thames]] views, painted ''Wapping'' (1860–1864) after returning to London from [[Paris]] in May 1859. Whistler took lodgings in Wapping where he explored the Thames to the east of the [[City of London]].<ref>[http://www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/gallery/whistler/london.html Fitzwilliam Museum] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150313050854/http://www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/gallery/whistler/london.html|date=13 March 2015}} Retrieved 16 June 2015</ref> The painting is permanently displayed at the [[National Gallery of Art Washington]].
* During the 1990s, Wapping was home to American singer and actress [[Cher]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/property/expat-property/8864994/Homes-with-celebrity-connections-for-sale.html?image=12|title=Homes with celebrity connections for sale|work=The Daily Telegraph|location=London|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925032339/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/property/expat-property/8864994/Homes-with-celebrity-connections-for-sale.html?image=12|archive-date=25 September 2015}}</ref>
* TV presenter [[Graham Norton]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/graham-norton-i-had-ambition-40-seems-have-gone-8215540.html|title=Graham Norton: 'I had ambition at 40. That seems to have gone'|date=19 October 2012|website=The Independent}}</ref>
* Actress [[Helen Mirren]] lives in Wapping.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/hp/front/my-london-helen-mirren-6319138.html|title=My London: Helen Mirren | date=12 April 2012 |access-date=19 September 2022}}</ref>
* The [[Dead End Kids (firefighters)]] lived in Wapping during [[World War II]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2005-07-18 |title=LONDON FIRE JOURNAL British Fire History: BLITZ OF 1940-1941 |url=https://londonfirejournal.blogspot.com/2005/07/world-war-ii.html |access-date=2025-07-24 |website=LONDON FIRE JOURNAL British Fire History}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Parson |first=Ian |date=15 December 2015 |title=The 'Dead End Kids' of the London Blitz |url=https://thehistorypress.co.uk/article/the-dead-end-kids-of-the-london-blitz/ |access-date=2025-07-24 |website=The History Press |language=en-GB}}</ref>

==In popular culture==
[[File:Wapping Woods (01).jpg|thumb|right|Wapping Woods, a park in Wapping]]
Wapping has been used as the setting for a number of works of fiction, including:
* ''[[The Long Good Friday]]'';
* The ''[[Doctor Who]]'' episode "[[The Talons of Weng-Chiang]]";<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.doctorwholocations.net/locations/wappingoldstairs|title=Wapping Old Stairs – The Locations Guide to Doctor Who, Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures|work=The Locations Guide to Doctor Who, Torchwood, and the Sarah Jane Adventures|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090315094149/http://www.doctorwholocations.net/locations/wappingoldstairs|archive-date=15 March 2009}}</ref> 
* The ''Ruby in the Smoke'' novel in the [[Sally Lockhart]] series by Phillip Pullman;<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.damaris.org/content/content.php?type=1&id=197|title=Damaris.org|access-date=16 September 2008|archive-date=12 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120212213331/http://www.damaris.org/content/content.php?type=1&id=197|url-status=dead}}</ref> 
* The [[BBC]] sitcom ''[[Till Death Us Do Part]]'', in which the central character, [[Alf Garnett]], shares his name with Garnet Street in Wapping;<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jbutler.org.uk/London/TowerHamlets/Wapping.shtml|title=Wapping|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070912194058/http://www.jbutler.org.uk/London/TowerHamlets/Wapping.shtml|archive-date=12 September 2007}}</ref> 
* Season 4, episode 23 of ''[[Friends]]'', "[[The One with Ross's Wedding]]", which features [[St John's Church, Wapping]]
* The brothel in ''[[The Threepenny Opera]]'', in which [[Mack the Knife]] is betrayed by [[Jenny Diver]].
* ''The Darlings of Wapping Wharf Launderette'' is a compilation album by [[East End]] [[Musical group|group]] the [[Small Faces]].<ref>[https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00000IWQV Darlings of Wapping Wharf Launderette] Retrieved 16 September 2008</ref>
* The plot of [[Alfred Hitchcock]]'s 1934 film ''[[The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934 film)|The Man Who Knew Too Much]]'' included the gangsters' hideout, which was set in Wapping.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Man Who Knew Too Much|url=http://old.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/review/195|website=British Film Institute/Sight and sound|access-date=24 November 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201153902/http://old.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/review/195|archive-date=1 December 2017}}</ref> 
* A house left standing after the London Blitz, the nearby River Thames and a notional priory house (which was used as a temporary prison) feature prominently in [[Jack Higgins]]' sequel to [[The Eagle Has Landed (novel)|''The Eagle Has Landed'']] titled ''[[The Eagle Has Flown]]''.
* The 1967 film ''[[To Sir, with Love]]'' was shot in Wapping, where the action in [[E. R. Braithwaite]]'s 1959 [[autobiographical novel]] [[To Sir, With Love (novel)|of the same name]] was set, based on his experience teaching at St George-in-the-East Central School (now the Mulberry House apartments),<ref>{{cite web |title=St George-in-the-East Church {{!}} Board Schools {{!}} Cable Street |website=stgitehistory.org.uk |url=http://www.stgitehistory.org.uk/media/schools.html |access-date=2024-04-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231209191925/http://www.stgitehistory.org.uk/media/schools.html |archive-date=2023-12-09 |url-status=live |quote=After the Second World War it became a secondary modern school, St George-in-the-East Central School… and has now been converted into 34 luxury apartments as 'Mulberry House'.}}</ref> adjacent to the north side of [[St George in the East]] church.<ref>{{cite web |title=To Sir, With Love {{!}} 1967 |website=movie-locations.com |url=https://movie-locations.com/movies/t/To-Sir-With-Love.php |access-date=2024-04-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231004204026/https://movie-locations.com/movies/t/To-Sir-With-Love.php |archive-date=2023-10-04 |url-status=live}}</ref>
* In the Monty Python skit "The Gumby Cherry Orchard," the narrator informs us that "Mr. L.N. Gumby is now appearing in the Thames near Wapping Steps."

==See also==
* [[Stepney Historical Trust]]
* [[Tobacco Dock]]
* [[Wapping Hockey Club]]
* [[Wapping Hydraulic Power Station]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

===Bibliography===
* {{cite book |last=Baker |first=S. K. |title=Rail Atlas Great Britain & Ireland |edition=11th |date=April 2007 |orig-year=1977 |publisher=Oxford Publishing Co |location=Hersham |isbn=978-0-86093-602-2 |id=0704/K }}
* Darby, Madge, ''Waeppa's People: History of Wapping'', Connor & Butler (Dec 1988), {{ISBN|0-947699-10-4}}
* {{cite book |last=Day |first=John R. |title=The Story of London's Underground |edition=6th |year=1979 |orig-year=1963 |publisher=[[London Transport Executive (GLC)|London Transport]] |location=Westminster |isbn=0-85329-094-6 |id=1178/211RP/5M(A) }}
* Leigh, Martha, ''Memories of Wapping 1900–1960: Couldn't Afford the Eels'', The History Press Ltd (4 July 2008), {{ISBN|0-7524-4709-2}}
* National Council for Civil Liberties, ''No Way in Wapping: Effect of the Policing of the News International Dispute on Wapping Residents'', Civil Liberties Trust (May 1986), {{ISBN|0-946088-27-6}}
* {{cite book |last=Rose |first=Douglas |title=The London Underground: A Diagrammatic History |edition=8th |date=December 2007 |orig-year=1980 |publisher=Capital Transport |location=Harrow Weald |isbn=978-1-85414-315-0 }}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Wapping}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080415134527/http://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/data/discover/data/stepney-wapping/index.cfm Local government site]
*[http://www.exploringeastlondon.co.uk/eel/Wapping/Wapping.htm ExploringEastLondon – Wapping]
*[http://www.thamespolicemuseum.org.uk/index.html Thames Police Museum website]
*[http://www.whatsinwapping.co.uk/ What's in Wapping – Local community website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140607003233/http://www.whatsinwapping.co.uk/ |date=7 June 2014 }}

{{LB Tower Hamlets}}
{{London Districts}}

[[Category:Wapping| ]]
[[Category:Areas of London]]
[[Category:Districts of London on the River Thames]]
[[Category:Districts of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets]]
[[Category:Port of London]]
[[Category:Former civil parishes in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets]]
[[Category:Black British history]]