East Ham
Encyclopedia
East Ham is a suburban district of London
, England, and part of the London Borough of Newham
. It is a built-up district located 8 miles (12.8 km) east-northeast of Charing Cross
. The area is identified in the London Plan
as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.
as Hame. It is formed from Old English 'hamm' and means 'a dry area of land between rivers or marshland', referring the location of the settlement within boundaries formed by the rivers Lea, Thames
and Roding
and their marshes.
of Essex and was incorporated as a borough on 10 August 1903. As a result of popular pressure East Ham sought and obtained county borough
status; becoming, in modern terms, a unitary authority on 1 April 1915 and remaining such until 1965 when it was abolished and its former area was merged with that of the County Borough of West Ham
to form the London Borough of Newham.
The principal offices of Newham Council were located at the junction of Barking Road and High Street South in the former East Ham Town Hall, a Grade II listed Edwardian structure designed by A. H. Campbell, H. Cheers and J. Smith, and including a landmark clock tower. Built between 1901 and 1903, the Town Hall was opened by Passmore Edwards on 5 February 1903. The council moved to Newham Dockside (Building 1000, Dockside Road E16) in 2009.
constituency East Ham
, which covers East Ham and neighbouring areas. The current Member of Parliament
is Stephen Timms
.
and Edwardian terraced town houses, often in tree-lined avenues, which radiate from the High Street. West Ham United FC
is located on the western border of East Ham and the eastern border of Upton Park, in the Tudor district of the town.
There are many green spaces in the otherwise bustling and urbanised area of East Ham. The graveyard of the Norman
St Mary's church, is maintained as a nature reserve, the largest of its kind in Greater London. Central Park (Central Park Road) and Plashet Park (Plashet Grove) are the two largest parks in East Ham, and both combine open space with playgrounds and cafés. There are also smaller play areas and parks, including Priory Park (Grangewood Street) and Flanders Field, where England football captain Bobby Moore
played as a child during the late 1940s and early 1950s. Flanders Fields is currently the home ground of Flanders FC and other is used by Bonny Downs Community Assiciation (BDCA) and other community groups.
has now closed for good.
and bus
services which form a hub near the Town Hall. To the north of East Ham is Manor Park
and Little Ilford
, to the east over the North Circular Road
is Barking
, to the west is Upton Park and to the south over the A13 is Beckton
and London City Airport
.
extraction, there are two Hindu
temples in the area. One is dedicated to Goddess Mahalakshmi and the other to Lord Muruga. The latter temple was recently rebuilt with a larger prayer hall and traditional temple tower as is typical of Tamil temples in South Asia
. Due to a very large Muslim community, East Ham also has many mosques(masjids). East Ham is a very multicultural area.
was dissolved in 2001 when it merged into Barking & East Ham United
. The merged club was dissolved in 2006.
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England, and part of the London Borough of Newham
London Borough of Newham
The London Borough of Newham is a London borough formed from the towns of West Ham and East Ham, within East London.It is situated east of the City of London, and is north of the River Thames. According to 2006 estimates, Newham has one of the highest ethnic minority populations of all the...
. It is a built-up district located 8 miles (12.8 km) east-northeast of Charing Cross
Charing Cross
Charing Cross denotes the junction of Strand, Whitehall and Cockspur Street, just south of Trafalgar Square in central London, England. It is named after the now demolished Eleanor cross that stood there, in what was once the hamlet of Charing. The site of the cross is now occupied by an equestrian...
. The area is identified in the London Plan
London Plan
The London Plan is a planning document written by the Mayor of London, England in the United Kingdom and published by the Greater London Authority. The plan was first published in final form on 10 February 2004 and has since been amended. The current version was published in February 2008...
as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.
Toponymy
A settlement in the area named Ham is first recorded as Hamme in an Anglo-Saxon charter of 958 and then in the 1086 Domesday BookDomesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
as Hame. It is formed from Old English 'hamm' and means 'a dry area of land between rivers or marshland', referring the location of the settlement within boundaries formed by the rivers Lea, Thames
River Thames
The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
and Roding
River Roding
The River Roding is a river in England that rises near Dunmow, flows through Essex and forms Barking Creek as it reaches the River Thames in London....
and their marshes.
Economic development
In 1859 East Ham railway station opened and, although in 1863 the area was still being described as a "scattered village" the availability of transport resulted in increasing urbanisation, especially from 1890 onwards. The electric services of the District Railway first served East Ham in 1908.Local government
From 1894 East Ham formed the East Ham Urban DistrictCounty Borough of East Ham
East Ham was a local government district in the far south west of Essex from 1878 to 1965. It extended from Wanstead Flats in the north to the River Thames in the south and from Green Street in the west to Barking Creek in the east...
of Essex and was incorporated as a borough on 10 August 1903. As a result of popular pressure East Ham sought and obtained county borough
County borough
County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland , to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control. They were abolished by the Local Government Act 1972 in England and Wales, but continue in use for lieutenancy and shrievalty in...
status; becoming, in modern terms, a unitary authority on 1 April 1915 and remaining such until 1965 when it was abolished and its former area was merged with that of the County Borough of West Ham
County Borough of West Ham
West Ham was a local government district in the extreme south west of Essex from 1886 to 1965, forming part of the built-up area of London, although outside the County of London...
to form the London Borough of Newham.
The principal offices of Newham Council were located at the junction of Barking Road and High Street South in the former East Ham Town Hall, a Grade II listed Edwardian structure designed by A. H. Campbell, H. Cheers and J. Smith, and including a landmark clock tower. Built between 1901 and 1903, the Town Hall was opened by Passmore Edwards on 5 February 1903. The council moved to Newham Dockside (Building 1000, Dockside Road E16) in 2009.
Governance
East Ham is also the name of a parliamentary House of CommonsBritish House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
constituency East Ham
East Ham (UK Parliament constituency)
East Ham is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, in the London Borough of Newham...
, which covers East Ham and neighbouring areas. The current Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
is Stephen Timms
Stephen Timms
Stephen Creswell Timms is a British Labour politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for East Ham since 1994. He is a former Cabinet Minister having served as Chief Secretary to the Treasury from 2006 to 2007...
.
Geography
Housing in East Ham consists principally of VictorianVictorian architecture
The term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...
and Edwardian terraced town houses, often in tree-lined avenues, which radiate from the High Street. West Ham United FC
West Ham United F.C.
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current...
is located on the western border of East Ham and the eastern border of Upton Park, in the Tudor district of the town.
There are many green spaces in the otherwise bustling and urbanised area of East Ham. The graveyard of the Norman
Norman architecture
About|Romanesque architecture, primarily English|other buildings in Normandy|Architecture of Normandy.File:Durham Cathedral. Nave by James Valentine c.1890.jpg|thumb|200px|The nave of Durham Cathedral demonstrates the characteristic round arched style, though use of shallow pointed arches above the...
St Mary's church, is maintained as a nature reserve, the largest of its kind in Greater London. Central Park (Central Park Road) and Plashet Park (Plashet Grove) are the two largest parks in East Ham, and both combine open space with playgrounds and cafés. There are also smaller play areas and parks, including Priory Park (Grangewood Street) and Flanders Field, where England football captain Bobby Moore
Bobby Moore
Robert Frederick Chelsea "Bobby" Moore, OBE was an English footballer. He captained West Ham United for more than ten years and was captain of the England team that won the 1966 World Cup...
played as a child during the late 1940s and early 1950s. Flanders Fields is currently the home ground of Flanders FC and other is used by Bonny Downs Community Assiciation (BDCA) and other community groups.
Demography
East Ham is a multi-cultural area, with a majority of South Asians, African /Caribbean and eastern Europeans resident. As of 2010, East Ham has the fourth highest level of unemployment in Britain, with 16.5% of its residents registered unemployed. Around 7 in 10 children living in East Ham are from low income families, making it one of the worst areas in the country for child poverty.Economy
There are many stores and restaurants specialising in ethnic tastes. There are also still traditional East End eateries. The century-old Robin's, which specialised in the traditional East End dish of pie, mash and jellied eelsJellied eels
Jellied eels is a traditional English dish that originated in the 18th century, primarily in London's East End. The dish consists of chopped eels boiled in a spiced stock that is allowed to cool and set, forming a jelly...
has now closed for good.
Transport
Mass transport is provided by East Ham tube stationEast Ham tube station
East Ham tube station is a London Underground station on the District and Hammersmith and City lines, located in East Ham, east London. It is in both Zone 3 and Zone 4. The station exit is on High Street North....
and bus
Bus
A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...
services which form a hub near the Town Hall. To the north of East Ham is Manor Park
Manor Park, London
Manor Park is the name of an area in the London Borough of Newham, as well as of the local railway station and cemetery. There is another railway station - Woodgrange Park...
and Little Ilford
Little Ilford
Little Ilford is a district of London, England in the London Borough of Newham and the name of a ward in that borough.-Locale:It is located near to Ilford in the London Borough of Redbridge...
, to the east over the North Circular Road
A406 road
The A406 or the North Circular Road is a road which crosses North London, UK, linking West and East London. It, together with the South Circular Road, forms a ring road through the inner part of Outer London...
is Barking
Barking
Barking is a suburban town in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, in East London, England. A retail and commercial centre situated in the west of the borough, it lies east of Charing Cross. Barking was in the historic county of Essex until it was absorbed by Greater London. The area is...
, to the west is Upton Park and to the south over the A13 is Beckton
Beckton
Beckton is part of the London Borough of Newham, England, located east of Charing Cross.Its boundaries are the A13 trunk road to the north, Barking Creek to the east, the Royal Docks to the south, and Prince Regent Lane to the west. The area around Prince Regent Lane is also known as Custom House...
and London City Airport
London City Airport
London City Airport is a single-runway airport. It principally serves the financial district of London and is located on a former Docklands site, east of the City of London, opposite the London Regatta Centre, in the London Borough of Newham in east London. It was developed by the engineering...
.
Religion
There are numerous places of worship for many different religions, ranging from St. Michael's Church to Kensington Avenue Temple. The Parish Church of St Mary Magdalene dates to the first half of the 12th century and is claimed to be the oldest parish church still in use in Greater London. It contains a memorial to an Edmond Nevill, who laid claim to the attainted title of Earl of Westmoreland in the 17th century. Due to the significant minority of South Indians, particularly people of TamilTamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
extraction, there are two Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
temples in the area. One is dedicated to Goddess Mahalakshmi and the other to Lord Muruga. The latter temple was recently rebuilt with a larger prayer hall and traditional temple tower as is typical of Tamil temples in South Asia
South Asia
South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east...
. Due to a very large Muslim community, East Ham also has many mosques(masjids). East Ham is a very multicultural area.
Sport
The local football club, East Ham UnitedEast Ham United F.C.
East Ham United F.C. was an English football club based in East Ham, Greater London. The club played at the Manorway.-History:The club was established in 1933. They played in the London League until joining the Aetolian League in 1962 but after two seasons the league merged into the Greater London...
was dissolved in 2001 when it merged into Barking & East Ham United
Barking & East Ham United F.C.
Barking & East Ham United FC was a football club that formed in 2001 after the merger of Barking and East Ham United. The club initially played in Division One of the Isthmian League, and then Division One North after league reorganisation in 2002. In 2004 they transferred to Division One East of...
. The merged club was dissolved in 2006.