Canning Town
Canning Town is a district in the London Borough of Newham, East London. The district is located to the north of the Royal Victoria Dock, and has been described as the "Child of the Victoria Docks" as the timing and nature of its urbanisation was largely due to the creation of the dock. The area was part of the ancient parish of West Ham, in the hundred of Becontree, and part of the historic county of Essex. It forms part of the London E16 postcode district.
The area, the location of the Rathbone Market, is undergoing significant regeneration as of 2012[update]. According to Newham Council: "The Canning Town and Custom House Regeneration Programme includes the building of up to 10,000 new homes, creation of thousands of new jobs and two improved town centres. This £3.7 billion project aims to transform the area physically, socially and economically."[2]
History
Prior to the 19th century, the district was largely marshland, and accessible only by boat, or a toll bridge. In 1809, an
The area is thought to be named after the first
The opening of the
"Canning Town is the child of the Victoria Docks. The condition of this place and of its neighbour prevents the steadier class of mechanics from residing in it. They go from their work to Stratford or to Plaistow. Many select such a dwelling place because they are already debased below the point of enmity to filth; poorer labourers live there, because they cannot afford to go farther, and there become debased. The Dock Company is surely, to a very great extent, answerable for the condition of the town they are creating. Not a few of the houses in it are built by poor and ignorant men who have saved a few hundred pounds, and are deluded by the prospect of a fatally cheap building investment."
— Londoners over the Border, Household Words[7]
The industries around the dock were often unhealthy and dangerous. As trade unions and political activists fought for better living conditions and the dock area became the centre of numerous movements with
From the late 19th century, a large African mariner community was established in Canning Town as a result of new shipping links to the
Notable black people from Canning Town include footballers
In 1917 50 tons of
In the 1930s the
The slum clearances and the devastation of
Slum housing
Victorian era
In 1857 Henry Morley published a detailed description of the area in Charles Dickens' Household Words entitled "Londoners over the Border", writing:
"...by the law there is one suburb on the border of the Essex marshes which is quite cut off from the comforts of the Metropolitan Buildings Act;-in fact, it lies just without its boundaries, and therefore is chosen as a place of refuge for offensive trade establishments turned out of the town, - those of oil boilers, gut spinners, varnish makers, printers ink makers and the like. Being cut off from the support of the Metropolitan Local Managing Act, this outskirt is free to possess new streets of houses without drains, roads, gas, or pavement."[7]
Describing the
"Rows of small houses, which may have cost for their construction eighty pounds a piece, are built designedly and systematically with their backs to the marsh ditches; ...to or three yards of clay pipe "drain" each house into the open cess pool under its back windows, when it does not happen that the house is built as to overhang it... In winter time every block becomes now and then an island, and you may hear a sick man, in an upper room, complain of water trickling down over his bed. Then the flood cleans the ditches, lifting all their filth into itself, and spreading it over the land. No wonder that the stench of the marsh in Hallsville and Canning Town of nights, is horrible. A fetid mist covers the ground... the parish surgeon... was himself for a time invalided by fever, upon which ague followed.
small pox caused, in spite of vaccination, an epidemic of confluent small pox, which remained three or four months upon the spot."[7]
Morley also describes efforts to improve the housing conditions in the area:
"Two years ago, when application was made by more than a tenth of the rate payers of the parish of West Ham for an inquiry into the sanitary condition of the district, with a view to bringing it under the conditions of the Public Health Act, Mr Alfred Dickens was the civil engineer sent by the general Board of Health as an inspector. His report and the evidence at his inquiry is before us as we write, and it dwells very much upon the state of Canning Town and Hallsville. We learn from this report that the area of the ditches in the parish amounted to not less than one hundred and fifty acres, according to a surveyors book upwards of thirty five years old, and that area has been increased by side cuttings at the railway and new cuttings of open sewer. Disease had cost the parish six hundred pounds in the year previous to the inquiry. There was then, of course, as now, no drainage or paving in Canning Town; the roads in winter were impassable; but the inhabitants were paying (for what they did not get) an eighteen penny rate under the Commissioners Act, not for works done in accordance with it, but "for the expenses of the act". Also, although the parish did not take charge of their roads, they were paying a highway rate for the parishioners elsewhere. One horrible detail in Mr Dickens report has, happily, to be omitted from our sketch. Two years ago, there was in Hallsville and Canning Town no water supply. Good water is now laid on. In all other respects, the old offences against civilised life cleave to the district. The local Board of Health which the inhabitants of the parish sought and obtained, whatever it may have done for Stratford, seems to have done nothing for Hallsville, unless it be considered something to indulge it with an odd pinch of deodorising powder."[7]
Alfred Dickens highlighted the severe overcrowding suffered by many of the slum inhabitants as a result of landlord charging high rents and households relying on casual work.[14]
20th century
The 1890 Housing Act made the local council responsible for providing decent accommodation, and in the 1890s some of the first council houses were built in Bethell Avenue. However, many of the
Today
According to Newham London Borough Council, Canning Town and Custom House are among the five per cent most deprived areas in the UK. Residents suffer from poor health, low education and poverty. 17 per cent of the working age population have a limiting long-term illness, 17.5 per cent claim income support and 49.7 per cent of 16- to 74-year-olds have no formal qualifications.[16]
Regeneration project
The consultation and governance mechanism of the currently ongoing regeneration project is underpinning by a partnership between councillors, residents, local businesses and other "partners".[16] According to Newham council:
"The views of residents and businesses is central to the development and delivery of the regeneration initiative and developers will be expected to continue with extensive community consultation and engagement as part of their remit."[16]
Newham council is currently attempting to encourage "re-interpretations" of
The area is at the western end of the Thames Gateway zone and is currently undergoing a £2.7 billion regeneration project, which includes:
- demolishing 2,750 homes and building 10,000 new homes
- creating 500,000 square metres of floor-space in a revitalised town centre
- providing community facilities, including a library, a health centre
- undertaking improvements to primary schools
The Olympic Uniform Distribution and Accreditation Centre, which was located in Canning Town, was due to be demolished and replaced with a new industrial estate as part of the Olympic Legacy programme.[17]
Politics and local government
The area falls within the parliamentary constituency of West Ham. The local Member of Parliament is Lyn Brown from Labour. The ward is located in the London Borough of Newham.
In May 2002, Canning Town South was the only ward in the Borough to return a non-Labour councillor. In 2006, residents elected three Christian Peoples Alliance candidates, one of whom was Alan Craig. In 2010, Labour gained all three seats and have held them with significant majorities since.
2022 Local Election
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Rohit Kumar Dasgupta | 630 | |||
Labour | Alan Griffiths | 585 | |||
Labour | Belgica Guana | 536 | |||
Independent | Carel Jane Buxton | 187 | |||
Green | Oliver Reynolds | 185 | |||
Green | Deb Scott | 161 | |||
Independent | Darshi Wijesinghe | 155 | |||
Conservative | Tim Gamble | 144 | |||
Conservative | Marc James Pooler | 122 | |||
Green | Benjamin Ian Smith | 106 | |||
Conservative | Rachel Nabudde | 103 | |||
CPA | Myrtle Verona Laing | 74 | |||
CPA | Sharmila Sundar Swarna | 54 | |||
CPA | Prossy Namwanje | 50 | |||
Turnout | |||||
Labour hold | Swing | ||||
Labour hold | Swing | ||||
Labour hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Alan Griffiths* | 1,991 | |||
Labour | Rohit K Dasgupta
|
1,965 | |||
Labour | Belgica Guana | 1,693 | |||
Liberal Democrats | Caroline Carey | 652 | |||
Conservative | Marc Pooler | 643 | |||
Conservative | Mark Seymour | 559 | |||
Green | Danny Keeling | 464 | |||
Conservative | Mahyar Tousi | 378 | |||
CPA | Myrtle Laing | 222 | |||
CPA | Sharmila Swarna | 145 | |||
CPA | Prossy Namwanje | 144 | |||
Turnout | 28.2 | ||||
Registered electors | 11,749 | ||||
Labour hold | Swing | ||||
Labour hold | Swing | ||||
Labour hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Bryan Collier | 1,896 | |||
Labour | Alan Griffiths | 1,600 | |||
Labour | Sheila Thomas | 1,581 | |||
UKIP | Kay McKenzie | 657 | |||
Conservative | Abul Mohammed | 632 | |||
Conservative | Gareth Knight | 537 | |||
Conservative | Jaja Rachel | 420 | |||
CPA | Faith Johnson | 387 | |||
CPA | Benjamin Stafford | 279 | |||
CPA | Ethel Odiete | 237 | |||
Turnout | 33.0 | ||||
Registered electors | 10,170 | ||||
Labour hold | Swing | ||||
Labour hold | Swing | ||||
Labour hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Bryan Collier | 2,263 | |||
Labour | Alan Taylor | 2,074 | |||
Labour | Michael Nicholas | 2,028 | |||
CPA | Alan Craig | 1,399 | |||
CPA | Denise Stafford | 1,004 | |||
CPA | Hamilton Amachree | 892 | |||
Conservative | Christopher Buckwell | 858 | |||
Conservative | Gareth Knight | 794 | |||
Conservative | Abul Kashem | 721 | |||
Turnout | 43.8 | ||||
Registered electors | 9,187 | ||||
Labour gain from CPA | Swing | ||||
Labour gain from CPA | Swing | ||||
Labour gain from CPA | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
CPA | Alan Craig | 1,536 | |||
CPA | Denise Stafford | 1,170 | |||
CPA | Simeon Ademolake | 1,091 | |||
Labour | Bryan Collier | 927 | |||
Labour | Alan Griffiths | 887 | |||
Labour | Julie Sussex | 855 | |||
Conservative | Christopher Buckwell | 332 | |||
Conservative | Abul Abdul | 306 | |||
Respect
|
Khadija Hassan | 225 | |||
Conservative | Bakary Ceesay | 193 | |||
Respect
|
Mohammed Abdur Rob | 193 | |||
Respect
|
Berlyne Hamilton | 192 | |||
Turnout | 32.8 | ||||
Registered electors | 8,661 | ||||
CPA hold | Swing | ||||
CPA gain from Labour | Swing | ||||
CPA gain from Labour | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
CPA | Alan Craig | 959 | |||
Labour | Alan Taylor | 946 | |||
Labour | Maureen Jones | 887 | |||
Labour | Simon Tucker | 808 | |||
CPA | Benjamin Stafford | 739 | |||
CPA | Rose Irtwangejibril | 525 | |||
Turnout | 26.2 | ||||
Registered electors | 7,601 | ||||
CPA gain from Labour | Swing | ||||
Labour hold | Swing | ||||
Labour hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Clive Furness | 797 | |||
Labour | Robert Wales | 617 | |||
Liberal Democrats | Kathleen Chater | 267 | |||
Conservative | Brendan Morley | 191 | |||
BNP | Michael Davidson | 186 | |||
Conservative | Simon Pearce | 145 | |||
Turnout | 22.8 | ||||
Registered electors | 5,483 | ||||
Labour hold | Swing | ||||
Labour hold | Swing |
Culture
Thames Ironworks F.C., the works team of the nearby Ironworks, went on to become West Ham United F.C. after turning professional.
The Bridge House, a
Education
Transport
Route D3 starts/ends at Leamouth[23] and route 276 runs on Barking Road, and 325 route at Canning Town Recreation Ground and Custom House,[24][25] and route 473 and school route 678 start at Prince Regent bus station.
References
- ^ Newham Wards population 2021.
- ^ 2QU, London Borough of Newham, Newham Dockside/Docklands, 1000 Dockside Road, London, E16. Canning Town and Custom House regeneration.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ a b "West Ham: Rivers, bridges, wharfs and docks". A History of the County of Essex: Volume 6. 1973. pp. 57–61. Retrieved 29 May 2008 – via British History Online.
- ^ "West Ham: Transport and postal services". A History of the County of Essex: Volume 6. 1973. pp. 61–63. Retrieved 16 January 2008 – via British History Online.
- ^ a b c d "West Ham: Domestic buildings". A History of the County of Essex: Volume 6. 1973. pp. 50–57. Retrieved 17 January 2008 – via British History Online.
- ^ a b c d e "The Royal Docks – a short history". Royal Docks Trust. Archived from the original on 11 August 2017. Retrieved 28 June 2010.
- ^ a b c d Morley, Henry (1857). Dickens, Charles (ed.). "Londoners over the Border" (PDF). Household Words. XVI (390) – via Dickens Journals Online.
- ^ Bell, Geoffrey (2002). The other Eastenders: Kamal Chunchie and West Ham's early black community. Stratford: Eastside Community Heritage.
- ^ Brewer's Dictionary of London Phrase and Fable, Russ Willey, Chambers, 2009
- ^ Heritage Project around black history in Canning Town http://www.irokotheatre.org.uk/projects/6.pdf
- ^ Article on Jack leslie's career https://www.whufc.com/news/articles/2021/october/25-october/jack-leslie-east-londoner-who-should-have-been-englands-first
- ^ Article on the meeting between Gandhi and Chaplin https://www.royaldocks.london/articles/when-chaplin-met-gandhi-in-canning-town-royal-docks-history
- ^ Calder, Simon (20 November 2017). "Blitz: The bombs that changed Britain". The Independent. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
- ^ "Conditions in Canning Town in Victorian Times". Archived from the original on 29 August 2008. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
- ^ "Housing in Canning Town in Victorian Times". Archived from the original on 21 August 2008. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
- ^ a b c d "Canning Town and Custom House regeneration". Newham Council. 2009. Archived from the original on 16 December 2010. Retrieved 2 December 2010.
- ^ "Stephenson Report" (PDF). London Borough of Newham.
- ^ "London Borough Council Elections 3 May 2018" (PDF). London Datastore. London Residuary Body. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
- ^ a b Statement as to persons nominated - Canning Town South Archived 16 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine (LB Newham) accessed 12 April 2010
- ^ Terence Murphy The Bridge House, Canning Town: Memoires of a Legendary Rock and Roll Hangout (2007)
- ^ "Bridge House 2". timeout.com. 9 October 2015. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
- ^ "Canning Town - Transport for London". Tfl.gov.uk. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
- ^ "Leamouth / Orchard Place - Transport for London". Tfl.gov.uk. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
- ^ "Canning Town Recreation Ground - Transport for London". Tfl.gov.uk. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
- ^ "Custom House Station - Transport for London". Tfl.gov.uk. Retrieved 9 May 2020.