Bethnal Green - A village outside the City walls

There is little doubt that there was a small settlement on the site of the original green as far back as the Roman occupation of Britain. Green Street (renamed Roman Road in the 1950’s) showed buried artifacts from the period, when the Central Line was being excavated in the late thirties. As time passed a few wealthy citizens built their large mansions around the green, and over the centuries it went from pleasant countryside to the filthy overcrowded slums of the Victorian era, full of poverty and disease. It has since then improved and today, it is attracting many City people and 'luvies', as they are sometimes referred to. Property prices in the area are soaring.
Even eyesores like the moderately famous Keeling House were bringing upwards of £250,000 and more for an apartment in 2002. Not bad when you consider it was a council block condemned for being unsafe and left empty for years, before being sold for a pittance to developers.

The original village green occupied the area that Victoria Park Square now occupies, including Bethnal Green Gardens and possibly Barmy Park, With the Green Street leading up to it from the direction of Mile End village. A large house was built by the green, known as Blithe Hall. The earliest record of this is in an eighth century document. Before this there are no written references to be found, so Blithe Hall Green is for now the starting point.
With different accents, and bad handwriting taking their toll over the years, by the fourteenth century it was referred to by John Stow in his survey as Bethen Hall Green. Another hundred years and Pepys recorded his journey to Bednall Green, and on it went until it came to be known by it’s present name. On the other hand, according to Mr. Lysons, it probably derives its name from the old family of the Bathons, who had possessions in Stepney in the reign of Edward I.

The housing estate on the Roman Road, just behind the library was built on part of the original green, and on this site was once a large mansion called Bednall House. It was built by a rich merchant named John Kirby, and eventually became known as Kirby’s Castle by the rest of the villagers,.
In 1727 the mansion was turned into a private asylum for what were then classed as mental patients or ‘lunatics’. The original building stood until 1843 when it was demolished. The new asylum that was opened in it’s place went on until 1920 before being closed to make way for the housing estate mentioned earlier. The inmates were transferred to Salisbury. Even today, the park where the library stands is known locally as “Barmy Park”.

The start of the eighteenth century was also the start of major expansion for the small settlement of Bednall Green. Where once there were a few dwellings and large houses built by the wealthy around the green, now there now began the building of many smaller houses; houses that would be home to the vast influx of weavers that arrived from outside and would eventually dominate the area.
Silk workers from France had arrived in England 200 years previous, and had managed to establish what was by now a flourishing industry. Originally opening their looms in Spitalfields, they then went on to establish Mile End New Town, and the overspill from these areas headed for Bethnal Green. In time, the greatest number of weavers were based here. Who would believe that a hundred years later the area was to become full of poverty and overcrowded slums.

The photos in this general gallery have no special relevance and are in the main a bit boring, as this is a recent page to be added. They may be OK for someone living away now, who just wants to remind themselves of what places look like now, but I will gradually try to replace them with others of more interest. There are also other galleries spread around this East London section of the web site that show more specific areas or buildings.
Bethnal Green image gallery >>