Narrow Street: Difference between revisions

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== History ==
== History ==
Most archaeologists believe that Narrow Street represents the line of the medieval river wall.  The wall was built to reclaim riverside marshland and to protect it from the tides.  Houses were built, on the wall itself at first, but then outwards onto the foreshore by a process of encroachment. The eastern end of Narrow Street was previously known as Fore Street.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Excavation of Post-Medieval Wharfside Buildings, Dunbar Wharf, Narrow Street, Limehouse, 1996|last=Divers|first=David|journal=Industrial Archaeology Review|volume=XXII|issue=1|year=2000|pages=53–62|doi=10.1179/iar.2000.22.1.53|s2cid=110154113}}</ref>
Most archaeologists believe that Narrow Street represents the line of the medieval river wall.  The wall was built to reclaim riverside marshland and to protect it from the tides.  Houses were built, on the wall itself at first, but then outwards onto the foreshore by a process of encroachment. The eastern end of Narrow Street was previously known as Fore Street.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Excavation of Post-Medieval Wharfside Buildings, Dunbar Wharf, Narrow Street, Limehouse, 1996|last=Divers|first=David|journal=Industrial Archaeology Review|volume=XXII|issue=1|year=2000|pages=53–62|doi=10.1179/iar.2000.22.1.53|s2cid=110154113}}</ref>
{{main|Embanking of the tidal Thames#Encroachment into the stream}}
{{main|Embanking of the tidal Thames#Encroaching into the stream}}


A combination of [[tides]] and currents made this{{fcitation needed|date=October 2023}} point on the Thames a natural landfall for ships, the first [[wharf]] being completed in 1348. [[Lime (mineral)|Lime]] kilns or [[oast]]s ("lymehostes") used in the production of [[Mortar (masonry)|mortar]] and [[pottery]] were built here{{citation needed|date=October 2023}} in the fourteenth century.
The area supplied ships with ropes and other necessities; pottery was also made here for the ships. [[Ship chandler]]s settled here building wooden houses and [[wharves]] in the cramped space between street and river. Narrow Street may take its name from the closeness of the original buildings.  An 1865 report to Parliament noted that no part of Narrow Street was wider than 25 feet.<ref>{{cite book|first1=John Henry|last1=Fawcett|first2=R. D. M.|last2=Littler|title=A treatise on the Court of Referees in Parliament, containing chapters on the practice and jurisdiction of the court, on the locus standi of petitioners in the House of Commons, and reports of the cases decided in the court during last session, reprinted by permission (with additions) from "The Law Times"|year=1866 |page=54|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo1.ark:/13960/t5j96qs2g&view=1up&seq=122|access-date=21 July 2019}}</ref>
 
The area grew rapidly in [[Elizabethan era|Elizabethan times]] as a centre for world trade and by the reign of [[James I of England|James I]] nearly half of the area's 2,000 population{{citation needed|date=October 2023}} were [[sailor|mariners]]. The area supplied ships with ropes and other necessities; pottery was also made here for the ships. [[Ship chandler]]s settled here building wooden houses and [[wharves]] in the cramped space between street and river. Narrow Street may take its name from the closeness of the original buildings.  An 1865 report to Parliament noted that no part of Narrow Street was wider than 25 feet.<ref>{{cite book|first1=John Henry|last1=Fawcett|first2=R. D. M.|last2=Littler|title=A treatise on the Court of Referees in Parliament, containing chapters on the practice and jurisdiction of the court, on the locus standi of petitioners in the House of Commons, and reports of the cases decided in the court during last session, reprinted by permission (with additions) from "The Law Times"|year=1866 |page=54|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo1.ark:/13960/t5j96qs2g&view=1up&seq=122|access-date=21 July 2019}}</ref>


The [[Limehouse Cut]] for barges, which ran under Narrow Street and led to the [[Lee Navigation]], was established in 1766. [[Limehouse Basin]] was built in 1820, to [[lightering|transship]] goods to barges on the [[Regent's Canal]].
The [[Limehouse Cut]] for barges, which ran under Narrow Street and led to the [[Lee Navigation]], was established in 1766. [[Limehouse Basin]] was built in 1820, to [[lightering|transship]] goods to barges on the [[Regent's Canal]].
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In 1977 the north side of the street was demolished.  Until then it was half its present width.<ref>Rozelle Raynes, ''Limehouse Lil''., Catweasel Publishing, 2004, 183.</ref>
In 1977 the north side of the street was demolished.  Until then it was half its present width.<ref>Rozelle Raynes, ''Limehouse Lil''., Catweasel Publishing, 2004, 183.</ref>
== Chinatown ==
In the eighteenth century a small group of Chinese sailors from [[Guangdong|Canton]] and Southern China settled along the old [[Limehouse Causeway]] creating the original London [[Chinatown]]. The Chinese community later moved to [[Soho]] following [[the Blitz]].


== Historic buildings ==
== Historic buildings ==
[[File:Hemy (1841-1917).jpg|thumb|Charles Napier Hemy: ''The Limehouse Barge-Builders (Narrow Street from the river)'']]
[[File:Hemy, The Barge Builders.jpg|thumb|[[Charles Napier Hemy]]:''The Limehouse Barge-Builders'' (Narrow Street from the river)]]
On the south side of Narrow Street is a rare example of an early [[Georgian architecture|Georgian]] brick terrace. With the exception of the westernmost property ([[The Grapes, Limehouse|The Grapes]] [[public house]]) it was standing derelict and abandoned, but in 1964 the writer [[Andrew Sinclair]] bought and saved one<ref>No. 88: Rozelle Raynes, ''Limehouse Lil'', Catweasel Publishing, 2004</ref> of the houses<ref>Andrew Sinclair, ''Down Under Milk Wood: of Burton and Taylor, O'Toole and Others, Dylan and Me'', 2014, Timon Films Ltd.</ref> and persuaded his Cambridge friends to buy the others. (Early Georgian houses can be distinguished from late ones in the way that the windows are not set back from the brick frontage.) The Grapes (formerly The Bunch of Grapes, and known to the young [[Charles Dickens]]) was notably bought in 2011 by actor Sir [[Ian McKellen]], director [[Sean Mathias]] and ''[[Evening Standard]]'' owner [[Evgeny Lebedev]].<ref name=grapes>"[http://thegrapes.co.uk/history.php The Grapes, History]", thegrapes.co.uk.</ref>
On the south side of Narrow Street is a rare example of an early [[Georgian architecture|Georgian]] brick terrace. With the exception of the westernmost property ([[The Grapes, Limehouse|The Grapes]] [[public house]]) it was standing derelict and abandoned, but in 1964 the writer [[Andrew Sinclair]] bought and saved one<ref>No. 88: Rozelle Raynes, ''Limehouse Lil'', Catweasel Publishing, 2004</ref> of the houses<ref>Andrew Sinclair, ''Down Under Milk Wood: of Burton and Taylor, O'Toole and Others, Dylan and Me'', 2014, Timon Films Ltd.</ref> and initiated the rebuilding of five other waterfront houses, all bombed.<ref name="Sinclair1993">{{cite book|last=Sinclair|first=Andrew|year=1993|title=Francis Bacon: His Life & Violent Times|publisher=Crown Publisher|location=New York|isbn=0-517-58617-7}}, pp.191-2.</ref>  (Early Georgian houses can be distinguished from late ones in the way that the windows are not set back from the brick frontage.) The Grapes (formerly The Bunch of Grapes, and known to the young [[Charles Dickens]]) was notably bought in 2011 by actor Sir [[Ian McKellen]], director [[Sean Mathias]] and ''[[Evening Standard]]'' owner [[Evgeny Lebedev]].<ref name=grapes>"[http://thegrapes.co.uk/history.php The Grapes, History]", thegrapes.co.uk.</ref>


== Redevelopment ==
== Redevelopment ==
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:narrowstreet1827.jpg|thumb|left|300px|Narrow Street 1827]] -->
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:narrowstreet1827.jpg|thumb|left|300px|Narrow Street 1827]] -->
<!--  Commented out: [[File:narrowstreet1993.jpg|thumb|left|300px|Narrow Street 1993]] -->
<!--  Commented out: [[File:narrowstreet1993.jpg|thumb|left|300px|Narrow Street 1993]] -->
The late twentieth century brought much development to the area, with the erection of the [[Canary Wharf]] tower close by. Since the 1990s, many new apartment complexes have been built around the Limehouse Basin as well as [[Victorian architecture|Victorian]] [[Loft#Loft apartment|warehouse conversions]], with Limehouse now being one of the most sought after property sites in London. Its close proximity to the River Thames has made property prices around Limehouse and the [[London Docklands|Docklands]] soar over the last decade. However, a 2001 Census listed 5.4 per cent of homes in [[Poplar, London|Poplar]] and Limehouse as being without central heating and/or private bathroom.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/guide/seat-profiles/poplarandlimehouse|title=Poplar and Limehouse|work=UK Polling Report|accessdate=1 July 2017}}</ref>
The late twentieth century brought much development to the area, with the erection of the [[Canary Wharf]] tower close by. Since the 1990s, many new apartment complexes have been built around the Limehouse Basin as well as [[Victorian architecture|Victorian]] [[Loft#Loft apartment|warehouse conversions]], with Limehouse now being one of the most sought after property sites in London. Its close proximity to the River Thames has made property prices around Limehouse and the [[London Docklands|Docklands]] soar over the last decade. However, a 2001 Census listed 5.4 per cent of homes in [[Poplar, London|Poplar]] and Limehouse as being without central heating and/or private bathroom.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/guide/seat-profiles/poplarandlimehouse|title=Poplar and Limehouse|work=UK Polling Report|accessdate=1 July 2017|archive-date=9 February 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080209012721/http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/guide/seat-profiles/poplarandlimehouse|url-status=dead}}</ref>


The street is home to a number of pubs and restaurants, including ''The Narrow'', a [[gastropub]] run by [[Gordon Ramsay]]. Booty's Riverside Bar, which closed in 2013, was an independently owned pub dating to the 16th century. In the 18th century Booty's was an engineering shop for the barge builders, Sparkes. In the 19th century it was re-fronted, and by the 1870s it was a licensed bar called The Waterman's Arms owned by Taylor Walker. It was absorbed by Woodward Fisher, a [[lighterage]] firm run by Anne Fisher, popularly known as ''[[Tugboat Annie]]''. She was a real-life London version of the protagonist in the film of that name. One of the great [[East End]] characters, she commanded a fleet of 200 barges.
The street is home to a number of pubs and restaurants, including ''The Narrow'', a [[gastropub]] run by [[Gordon Ramsay]]. Booty's Riverside Bar, which closed in 2013, was an independently owned pub dating to the 16th century. In the 18th century Booty's was an engineering shop for the barge builders, Sparkes. In the 19th century it was re-fronted, and by the 1870s it was a licensed bar called The Waterman's Arms owned by Taylor Walker. It was absorbed by Woodward Fisher, a [[lighterage]] firm run by Anne Fisher, popularly known as ''[[Tugboat Annie]]''. She was a real-life London version of the protagonist in the film of that name. One of the great [[East End]] characters, she commanded a fleet of 200 barges.
Line 43: Line 38:
==Residents==
==Residents==


Famous residents include or have included the inventor [[Richard Trevithick]],<ref>{{cite book|last=Trevithick|first=Francis|year=1872|title=Life of Richard Trevithick|volume=I|publisher=E. & F.N. Spon|location=London|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.$b661591&seq=339|access-date=28 August 2024}},  p.293.  The eastern end of Narrow Street was then called Fore Street, taking its present name in 1878.</ref> the poet [[Ernest Dowson]],<ref>{{cite book|editor1-last=Flower|editor1-first=Desmond|editor2-last=Maas|editor2-first=Henry|title=The Letters of Ernest Dowson|year=1967|publisher=Farleigh Dickinson University Press|page=14|isbn=9780838667477| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3FygQsGAzY8C}}</ref> actors [[Sir Ian McKellen]], [[Steven Berkoff]] and [[Cleo Rocos]], the politician [[David Owen, Baron Owen|Lord Owen]], and the authors [[Matthew Parris]] and [[Andrew Sinclair]].  The writer, photographer and television presenter [[Daniel Farson]] lived at number 92 for several years. It was also the home of the film director [[Sir David Lean]].
Famous residents include or have included the inventor [[Richard Trevithick]],<ref>{{cite book|last=Trevithick|first=Francis|year=1872|title=Life of Richard Trevithick|volume=I|publisher=E. & F.N. Spon|location=London|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.$b661591&seq=339|access-date=28 August 2024}},  p.293.  The eastern end of Narrow Street was then called Fore Street, taking its present name in 1878.</ref> the poet [[Ernest Dowson]],<ref>{{cite book|editor1-last=Flower|editor1-first=Desmond|editor2-last=Maas|editor2-first=Henry|title=The Letters of Ernest Dowson|year=1967|publisher=Farleigh Dickinson University Press|page=14|isbn=9780838667477| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3FygQsGAzY8C}}</ref> actors [[Sir Ian McKellen|Ian McKellen]], [[Steven Berkoff]] and [[Cleo Rocos]], the politician [[David Owen, Baron Owen|David Owen]], and the authors [[Matthew Parris]] and [[Andrew Sinclair]].  [[Francis Bacon (artist)|Francis Bacon]] lived and painted at number 80 (below); and the writer, photographer and television presenter [[Daniel Farson]] lived at number 92 for several years. In the mid 1980's film director [[Sir David Lean|David Lean]] created a residence (Sun Wharf) from several derelict warehouses,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Champlin |first1=Charles |title=The Phenomenal Persistence of David Lean : At 81, the director fields several honors and awaits the start of his next project--Conrad’s ‘Nostromo’ |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-12-31-ca-258-story.html |access-date=2 December 2025 |work=Los Angeles Times |date=31 Dec 1989}}</ref> living there until his death in 1991.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Lister |first1=David |title=Unworldly director's ideal home for sale: Lean's architectural 'delight' offered for pounds 3m |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/unworldly-director-s-ideal-home-for-sale-lean-s-architectural-delight-offered-for-pounds-3m-1432858.html |access-date=2 December 2025 |work=The Independent |date=31 March 1994}}</ref>


== Art and literature ==
== Art and literature ==
[[File:Limehouse Sixteen etchings of scenes on the Thames and other subjects (serietitel), RP-P-1989-226.jpg|thumb|Thames side of Narrow Street ([[James McNeil Whistler]], ''Limehouse'', 1859)]]
Its picturesque buildings and atmospheric location [[abut]]ting onto the River Thames attracted artists and writers.
Its picturesque buildings and atmospheric location [[abut]]ting onto the River Thames attracted artists and writers.
*[[Charles Dickens]]' godfather Christopher Huffam ran his sail-making business from Newell Street, Limehouse.
*[[Charles Dickens]]' godfather Christopher Huffam ran his sail-making business from Newell Street, Limehouse.
*[[James McNeill Whistler]] and [[Charles Napier Hemy]] sketched and painted at locations on Narrow Street's river waterfront.
*[[James McNeill Whistler]] and [[Charles Napier Hemy]] sketched and painted at locations on Narrow Street's river waterfront.
*Francis Bacon lived and painted at 80, Narrow Street and was the subject of several rooftop photographs taken  by [[Peter Beard]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Francis Bacon on his roof at 80 Narrow Street, London |url=https://onlinecollection.hughlane.ie/objects/13880/francis-bacon-on-his-roof-at-80-narrow-street-london |website=onlinecollection.hughlane |publisher=Hugh Lane Gallery |access-date=2 December 2025}}</ref>  According to Andrew Sinclair, Bacon made it an ascetic ambience with "stripped boards, even in his bedroom", but found the light too bright to paint.  He afterwards sold the house, which was to be a life-long regret.<ref name="Sinclair1993"/>


==Transport==
==Transport==
[[Cycle Superhighway 3]] CS3 between [[Tower Gateway]] to [[Barking, London|Barking]] and is one of London's first [[Cycle Superhighways]]. Some residents raised a petition calling for CS3 to be moved from Narrow Street onto the A13 [[Commercial Road]], arguing that the street was too narrow and that incidents of abuse and aggression had risen sharply since the route was introduced. [[Transport for London]] (TfL) said they had no plans to move it. Mayor [[Boris Johnson]] defended the choice as a road that was already popular with cyclists to and from the [[City of London|City]].<ref>[http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23891780-our-street-is-too-narrow-for-a-cycle-superhighway.do Our street is too narrow for a cycle superhighway] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101110213714/http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23891780-our-street-is-too-narrow-for-a-cycle-superhighway.do |date=10 November 2010 }}, Evening Standard, 27 October 2010</ref> The [[London Cycling Campaign]] supported the route but called for improvements.<ref>[http://www.lcc.org.uk/index.asp?PageID=2118 Do you think Narrow Street is wide enough for bicycles?], London Cycling Campaign, November 2010</ref> In 2011, TfL agreed to remove logos from the road surface, but not to change the route.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.docklands24.co.uk/news/narrow_street_cycle_highway_logos_to_be_removed_after_campaign_1_795887 |title=Narrow Street cycle highway logos to be removed after campaign |accessdate=12 February 2011 |author=Marina Thomas |date=8 February 2011 |work=The Docklands |publisher=Archant |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727022628/http://www.docklands24.co.uk/news/narrow_street_cycle_highway_logos_to_be_removed_after_campaign_1_795887 |archivedate=27 July 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
[[Cycle Superhighway 3]] CS3 between [[Tower Gateway]] to [[Barking, London|Barking]] and is one of London's first [[Cycle Superhighways]]. Some residents raised a petition calling for CS3 to be moved from Narrow Street onto the A13 [[Commercial Road]], arguing that the street was too narrow and that incidents of abuse and aggression had risen sharply since the route was introduced. [[Transport for London]] (TfL) said they had no plans to move it. Mayor [[Boris Johnson]] defended the choice as a road that was already popular with cyclists to and from the [[City of London|City]].<ref>[http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23891780-our-street-is-too-narrow-for-a-cycle-superhighway.do Our street is too narrow for a cycle superhighway] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101110213714/http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23891780-our-street-is-too-narrow-for-a-cycle-superhighway.do |date=10 November 2010 }}, Evening Standard, 27 October 2010</ref> The [[London Cycling Campaign]] supported the route but called for improvements.<ref>[http://www.lcc.org.uk/index.asp?PageID=2118 Do you think Narrow Street is wide enough for bicycles?]{{Dead link|date=July 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, London Cycling Campaign, November 2010</ref> In 2011, TfL agreed to remove logos from the road surface, but not to change the route.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.docklands24.co.uk/news/narrow_street_cycle_highway_logos_to_be_removed_after_campaign_1_795887 |title=Narrow Street cycle highway logos to be removed after campaign |accessdate=12 February 2011 |author=Marina Thomas |date=8 February 2011 |work=The Docklands |publisher=Archant |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727022628/http://www.docklands24.co.uk/news/narrow_street_cycle_highway_logos_to_be_removed_after_campaign_1_795887 |archivedate=27 July 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref>


The [[National Trail]] [[Thames Path]] for walkers runs along Narrow Street and it is also included in the London Marathon course.
The [[National Trail]] [[Thames Path]] for walkers runs along Narrow Street and it is also included in the London Marathon course.
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==External links==
==External links==
* [http://www.lddc-history.org.uk/wapping LDDC]
* [http://www.lddc-history.org.uk/wapping LDDC]
* [http://www.portcities.org.uk/london/server/show/ConNarrative.127/chapterId/2614/Chinese-in-the-Port-of-London.html Chinatown]
* [http://www.portcities.org.uk/london/server/show/ConNarrative.127/chapterId/2614/Chinese-in-the-Port-of-London.html Chinatown] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120716221157/http://www.portcities.org.uk/london/server/show/ConNarrative.127/chapterId/2614/Chinese-in-the-Port-of-London.html |date=16 July 2012 }}
* Taylor Walker & Co http://www.quaffale.org.uk/php/brewery/746
* Taylor Walker & Co http://www.quaffale.org.uk/php/brewery/746
* Limehouse https://web.archive.org/web/20051226021110/http://www.eolfhs.org.uk/parish/limehouse.htm
* Limehouse https://web.archive.org/web/20051226021110/http://www.eolfhs.org.uk/parish/limehouse.htm

Latest revision as of 21:01, 8 December 2025

Template:Short description Script error: No such module "For". Template:Use British English Template:Use dmy dates

File:Limehouse terrace 1.jpg
Early Georgian terrace on Narrow Street, with The Grapes public house to the right

Narrow Street is a narrow road running parallel to the River Thames through the Limehouse area of east London, England. It used to be much narrower, and is the oldest part of Limehouse, with many buildings originating from the eighteenth century.[1]

File:Docklands-Narrow Street.jpg
Looking the other way from the above picture shows four of the high rise buildings of Canary Wharf, Sept. 2007.

History

Most archaeologists believe that Narrow Street represents the line of the medieval river wall. The wall was built to reclaim riverside marshland and to protect it from the tides. Houses were built, on the wall itself at first, but then outwards onto the foreshore by a process of encroachment. The eastern end of Narrow Street was previously known as Fore Street.[2] Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote".

The area supplied ships with ropes and other necessities; pottery was also made here for the ships. Ship chandlers settled here building wooden houses and wharves in the cramped space between street and river. Narrow Street may take its name from the closeness of the original buildings. An 1865 report to Parliament noted that no part of Narrow Street was wider than 25 feet.[3]

The Limehouse Cut for barges, which ran under Narrow Street and led to the Lee Navigation, was established in 1766. Limehouse Basin was built in 1820, to transship goods to barges on the Regent's Canal.

In 1661, Samuel Pepys wrote in his diary of a visit to a porcelain factory in Narrow Street alighting via Duke Shore Stairs[4][5] while en route to view work on boats being built for herring fishing. The Limehouse area fitted out, repaired and resupplied ships. In 1772, Smith & Sykes ran a sugar house, a small factory that baked and refined sugar.[6]

Limehouse Cut was redirected into Limehouse Basin, which was one of the first docks to close in the late 1960s. Nicholas Hawksmoors' Church St Anne's Limehouse was designated a conservation area by the London Docklands Development Corporation in the 1980s.

For much of the 20th century the area was dominated by the tall chimney of Stepney Power Station at Blyth Wharf, which has since been demolished.

Access to the area was always difficult, with the dock standing to the north, and the entrance to the Rotherhithe Tunnel at one end. In 1993 the Script error: No such module "convert". Limehouse Link tunnel was completed, further restricting traffic to the riverside area. The Narrow Street swing bridge is sited between Limehouse Basin and the Thames.

In 1977 the north side of the street was demolished. Until then it was half its present width.[7]

Historic buildings

File:Hemy, The Barge Builders.jpg
Charles Napier Hemy:The Limehouse Barge-Builders (Narrow Street from the river)

On the south side of Narrow Street is a rare example of an early Georgian brick terrace. With the exception of the westernmost property (The Grapes public house) it was standing derelict and abandoned, but in 1964 the writer Andrew Sinclair bought and saved one[8] of the houses[9] and initiated the rebuilding of five other waterfront houses, all bombed.[10] (Early Georgian houses can be distinguished from late ones in the way that the windows are not set back from the brick frontage.) The Grapes (formerly The Bunch of Grapes, and known to the young Charles Dickens) was notably bought in 2011 by actor Sir Ian McKellen, director Sean Mathias and Evening Standard owner Evgeny Lebedev.[11]

Redevelopment

The late twentieth century brought much development to the area, with the erection of the Canary Wharf tower close by. Since the 1990s, many new apartment complexes have been built around the Limehouse Basin as well as Victorian warehouse conversions, with Limehouse now being one of the most sought after property sites in London. Its close proximity to the River Thames has made property prices around Limehouse and the Docklands soar over the last decade. However, a 2001 Census listed 5.4 per cent of homes in Poplar and Limehouse as being without central heating and/or private bathroom.[12]

The street is home to a number of pubs and restaurants, including The Narrow, a gastropub run by Gordon Ramsay. Booty's Riverside Bar, which closed in 2013, was an independently owned pub dating to the 16th century. In the 18th century Booty's was an engineering shop for the barge builders, Sparkes. In the 19th century it was re-fronted, and by the 1870s it was a licensed bar called The Waterman's Arms owned by Taylor Walker. It was absorbed by Woodward Fisher, a lighterage firm run by Anne Fisher, popularly known as Tugboat Annie. She was a real-life London version of the protagonist in the film of that name. One of the great East End characters, she commanded a fleet of 200 barges.

Residents

Famous residents include or have included the inventor Richard Trevithick,[13] the poet Ernest Dowson,[14] actors Ian McKellen, Steven Berkoff and Cleo Rocos, the politician David Owen, and the authors Matthew Parris and Andrew Sinclair. Francis Bacon lived and painted at number 80 (below); and the writer, photographer and television presenter Daniel Farson lived at number 92 for several years. In the mid 1980's film director David Lean created a residence (Sun Wharf) from several derelict warehouses,[15] living there until his death in 1991.[16]

Art and literature

File:Limehouse Sixteen etchings of scenes on the Thames and other subjects (serietitel), RP-P-1989-226.jpg
Thames side of Narrow Street (James McNeil Whistler, Limehouse, 1859)

Its picturesque buildings and atmospheric location abutting onto the River Thames attracted artists and writers.

  • Charles Dickens' godfather Christopher Huffam ran his sail-making business from Newell Street, Limehouse.
  • James McNeill Whistler and Charles Napier Hemy sketched and painted at locations on Narrow Street's river waterfront.
  • Francis Bacon lived and painted at 80, Narrow Street and was the subject of several rooftop photographs taken by Peter Beard[17] According to Andrew Sinclair, Bacon made it an ascetic ambience with "stripped boards, even in his bedroom", but found the light too bright to paint. He afterwards sold the house, which was to be a life-long regret.[10]

Transport

Cycle Superhighway 3 CS3 between Tower Gateway to Barking and is one of London's first Cycle Superhighways. Some residents raised a petition calling for CS3 to be moved from Narrow Street onto the A13 Commercial Road, arguing that the street was too narrow and that incidents of abuse and aggression had risen sharply since the route was introduced. Transport for London (TfL) said they had no plans to move it. Mayor Boris Johnson defended the choice as a road that was already popular with cyclists to and from the City.[18] The London Cycling Campaign supported the route but called for improvements.[19] In 2011, TfL agreed to remove logos from the road surface, but not to change the route.[20]

The National Trail Thames Path for walkers runs along Narrow Street and it is also included in the London Marathon course.

Docklands Light Railway stations are Limehouse (for National Rail as well) and Westferry.

The London River Services pier is Canary Wharf Pier.

See also

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Notes

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  1. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  2. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  3. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  4. ↑ Saturday 19 October 1661 (Pepys' Diary)
  5. ↑ Public stairs on the Thames – 18th Century London
  6. ↑ wapping
  7. ↑ Rozelle Raynes, Limehouse Lil., Catweasel Publishing, 2004, 183.
  8. ↑ No. 88: Rozelle Raynes, Limehouse Lil, Catweasel Publishing, 2004
  9. ↑ Andrew Sinclair, Down Under Milk Wood: of Burton and Taylor, O'Toole and Others, Dylan and Me, 2014, Timon Films Ltd.
  10. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1"., pp.191-2.
  11. ↑ "The Grapes, History", thegrapes.co.uk.
  12. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  13. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1"., p.293. The eastern end of Narrow Street was then called Fore Street, taking its present name in 1878.
  14. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  15. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  16. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  17. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  18. ↑ Our street is too narrow for a cycle superhighway Template:Webarchive, Evening Standard, 27 October 2010
  19. ↑ Do you think Narrow Street is wide enough for bicycles?Script error: No such module "Unsubst"., London Cycling Campaign, November 2010
  20. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

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The Anglo-Saxon word tirl, means 'narrow street' or a 'gate' to keep horses and other cattle out of the city.

External links

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