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Cambridge Heath
Human settlement in England From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Cambridge Heath is an area in the London Borough of Hackney and Tower Hamlets approximately 5.7 km (3.5 mi) north east of Charing Cross. Cambridge Heath emerged from the small village which developed around Mare Street and Hackney Road. Cambridge Heath was in the parish of Hackney but due to both boundaries charges with the construction of the Regent's Canal and urban development, the settlement grew further southwards into the parish and later borough of Bethnal Green.
The area is served by Cambridge Heath railway station, operated by London Overground.
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Toponymy
The earliest written use of the name was by a scribe in the era of great orthographic variety, as Camprichthesheth, in 1275; other manifold variations soon followed.[1] It could be unconnected with Cambridge instead from an Old English plant (such as comfrey) or unusual-form man's name. The area was once marshland and forest which, as Bishopswood, lingered in the east until the 16th century.[2]
History
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In the 1200s, the pastureland known today as London Fields was recorded as being as Cambridge Heath and was used by farmers to pasture their livestock before taking them off to Smithfield Market, with Cambridge Heath being one of the last official livestock grazing sites before entering the City of London. Since the mid-16th century, the common land has been referred to as London Fields.
Cambridge Heath was a small village within the historic parish of Hackney centred around the southern end of modern Mare Street and to the further south around Vyner Street.
By the mid-18th century, the village was mostly agricultural up as dwellings began to sprout. A second, more active period of construction commenced in the 19th century with terraced residences, factories, and chapels.
Trustees of Parmiters purchased a part of the west side of Cambridge Road, on either side of Hackney Road in the then Bethnal Green parish. Several cottages had been built in what became an extension of Cambridge Heath. More sustained activity began in 1786, when six more houses were built. By 1800, Cambridge Place formed the north-western boundary.[3]
The Bethnal Green gasworks in Cambridge Heath, named after the then-Metropolitan Borough of Bethnal Green were built in 1866 and 1889 by designer, John Clark. Prior to the 1960s the sites were used to manufacture and store town gas made from coal. Following the discovery of natural gas in the North Sea in the 1960s, the gas holders continued to be used to store natural gas.[4]
During the Second World War, the Luftwaffe began The Blitz on 7 September 1940. Cambridge Heath was in "Target Area A" along with the rest of the East End of London.[5]
The Hare public house opened before 1900. An ex-Truman establishment, it is now a free house.[6][7] The Hare was described as the epitome of a 'good, honest pub' by the Evening Standard and listed as one of the best 50 in London in 2019.[8]
The Wilkinson Gallery opened on Cambridge Heath Road in 1998 before moving to Vyner Street in 2007. The gallery became known as one of the first in London to have exhibitions by major female artists such as Joan Jonas, Dara Birnbaum and Laurie Simmons.[9] However the Wilkinson Gallery closed in 2017.[9]
By around 2005, Vyner Street had become a hub of the East London art scene.[10][11] Between 2005 and 2008, the EEL established the Vyner Street Festival with the local Victory Pub as a family festival with local bands, artists and market traders, this has a different theme every year, with the Red Arrows performing flyover in 2008.[12] By 2012, however, many artists had moved out due to the effects of the Great Recession as well as the 2012 Olympics.[11] A documentary film was released in the same year titled Vyner Street: this was a short observational piece about two different worlds living inconspicuously and side by side in the same place.[13]
The Oval Space hosted Catfest in 2018, with guests having the chance to take photos with cats as well as sample street food and meet shelter kittens.[14][15]
Cambridge Heath station was chosen in 2018 for a historic trial with a pay-by-face system that may end the need for station barriers, due to its low passenger volumes and having no gates.[16]
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Governance
The Hackney borough part of Cambridge Heath is in the Hackney South and Shoreditch constituency, represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2005 by Meg Hillier of the Labour Party and of the Co-operative Party, while the parts of Cambridge Heath in the Tower Hamlets borough are in the Bethnal Green and Stepney constituency represented by the Labour Party's Rushanara Ali (since 2024) in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament.[17]
London overall has a directly elected, executive Mayor of London, currently Sadiq Khan with strong powers in transport, construction planning and long-term strategies. The mayor is scrutinised, and can be steered by the London Assembly; both Mayor and Assembly face regular elections. The Hackney borough side of Cambridge Heath forms part of the North East constituency that is held by returned Sem Moema and the City and East seat in the Tower Hamlets part of Cambridge Heath is held by Labour's Unmesh Desai.
Geography
Cambridge Heath is located in the southern-central end of the historic ancient parish of Hackney, and in the 19th century due to boundary charges as a result of the construction of the Regent's Canal, Cambridge Heath formed part of the Metropolitan Borough of Hackney and neighbouring Bethnal Green.[18] Cambridge Heath was incorporated into the newly created Hackney and London Borough of Tower Hamlets in 1965.
It is north and west of Bethnal Green, east of Haggerston, south-west of Hackney and west of Victoria Park.[19]
It is largely part of the wider Regents Canal Conservation Area, established in 2008, the streetside buildings seem neglected but form part of the industrial heritage and character of Vyner Street and also Wadeson Street, which contains a row of three-storey Victorian workshops mostly converted to residential use. Both types contribute to the character of the area.[20]
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Art and memorials
A documentary film was released that was titled Vyner Street, this was a short observational piece about two different worlds living inconspicuously and side by side on Vyner Street which celebrated Cambridge Heath art scene.[21][22][11]
Filmography
Religious buildings
St Casimir's is the earliest church for London's Lithuanian Catholics and masses are held in Lithuanian and English. It was opened by Cardinal Bourne on 10 March 1912.[25][26]
In the Church of England, west of the Overground railway is the parish of St Peter; the church is on its so-named Close and one-limb, remnant square opposite Ion Square Gardens. East[27] of the viaduct, west of Russia Lane, is the north part of the parish of St John on Bethnal Green;[28] east of Russia Lane and Wadeson Street is St James The Less.[29]
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Education
Cambridge Heath has one primary school Mowlem Primary School.[30]
Martial arts
Jiu jitsu and other martial arts have a large size, professionally-taught club.[31]
Transport
The neighbourhood main arterial route for motor vehicles and cyclists is the A107 Cambridge Heath Road from Mile End Gate in Stepney and Mare Street from Hackney Central which runs north–south from the two borough boundaries over the Regents Canal. Hackney Road is the main arterial road for Central London.
London Overground; Cambridge Heath railway station, opened on 27 May 1872 in the southern end of the neighbourhood, is served by Overground Enfield Town/Cheshunt-London Liverpool Street Line.[32][33]
A number of London Buses contacted routes serve the area, the 26, 48, 55, N26, N55 on Hackney Road which in turn go towards Mare Street, while the 106, 254, 388, D6 and N253 run on Cambridge Heath Road and Mare Street. The D6 finishes and restarts near Ash Grove since 2014.[34]
References
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