Waterlow Estate History

Documenting the history of the Waterlow Estate in Bethnal Green, East London. Comprising Wilmot, Corfield, Ainsley and Finnis Street the Waterlow Estate was built by the Improved Industrial Dwellings Company starting in 1869.

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Photographs of Corfield and Finnis Street

December 31, 2016 / / 11 Comments

In a recent post (Memories of growing up on Corfield Street) I mentioned that I have come across a number of photographs of Corfield Street before the blocks on Western side of the Street were demolished. As promised here are the photographs (with sources where available).

Corfield Street 1968.

Source: London and Middlesex Archaeological Society Journal Vol22 part1 (http://www.lamas.org.uk/transactions-archive/Vol%2022.pdf)

Corfield Street, looking North from Three Colts Lane. c1970

Source: unknown

The rest are a series of photographs by Andrew Scott which were posted on the Spitalfields Life website.

Looking north up Corfield Street. The blocks on the left are boarded up ready for demolition.

Inside one of the Corfield Street flats.

Below I’ve posted a couple of images showing Corfield Street today, both are taken looking South to North.

Returning now to Andrew Scott’s photographs, but this time showing Finnis Street.

This is a guess but I think this photograph is taken from the rear of the now demolished Western side blocks on Corfield Street looking North West toward the rear of Finnis Street buildings with the Wilmot Street blocks in the far distance.

This is looking North towards Ainsley Street somewhere between Finnis and Corfield Street. By the looks of things this is during the demolition of the Corfield and Finnis Street blocks seen in the earlier photograph. You can also see a portion of what is now the Hague School on the left (this school used to be known as Wilmot Street Primary, and the Hague school was situated in the building which still stands on Mape Street). The blocks on the right are the rear of the now demolished western Corfield blocks.

This is a similar angle looking up through Finnis Street today.

Finally an image of Three Colts Lane with Ron’s Saloon to the right (also mentioned here). This photograph is by Tony Hall and is featured on Spitalfields Life.

If you look at the plans below (from the Metropolitan Archive) you can get an idea of where these photographs could have been taken.

 

Bethnal Green Police Station

December 18, 2016 / / 15 Comments

On the corner of Ainsley Street and Bethnal Green Rd sits an interesting building. Numbered 458 Bethnal Green Road, it is now the home of Providence Row Housing Association who work in the local area helping people at risk of homelessness. However it was once Bethnal Green Police Station.

Bethnal Green Police Station c1984

I’m unsure when the Police Station closed but I’ve managed to find two pieces of video footage showing the Station when it was up and running. The first seems to be some exterior library shots for Thames TV News from the 1980s.

The second is more extensive and is a collection of footage and photographs from someone who worked in CID. The video is captioned as being shot in 1991.

Historically the station was home to the J Division from around 1868 until 1933 when it fell under the H or Whitechapel division. There’s a fairly detailed breakdown of the history of the station on Bryn Elliot’s Police history site.

Bethnal Green Police Station c1907

There is also a mention in the London Echo of extra police patrols during the era of Jack the Ripper:

During the month of August, and up to the 8th instant, when Annie Chapman was killed, the following beats were covered by the men of the J Division quartered at Bethnal green, these forming what is known as the “Second Section night duty.” The first police constable would commence his two beats at Wilmot street, three Colt land, Cheshire street, Mape street, Bethnal green road, to Wilmot street, and the interior, this consisting of a few streets, courts, passages, &c. The second constable would cover Three Colt lane, Collingwood street, Darling row, Dog row, Whitechapel road, Brady street, to Three Colt lane, and the interior, this consisting of about twenty streets, courts, passages

You can read the full article here.

Unfortunately I’ve been unable to find much more about the Police Station. I’d love to hear from anyone that knows about it’s history. Please get in touch via the comments.

further links:

 

Updates and a new domain

November 29, 2016 / / 9 Comments

This site now has a new domain (wilmotst.com) along with a rework of the design and layout. Over the coming months I’ll be reworking some of the older posts with more detailed information and updated research. I’ll also be hopefully adding some new posts on a few topics that I’ve been researching.

The mission of this site is to collect together as much information as possible about the 135 year history of the Waterlow Estate. Over the years I’ve dug up various small details and facts that are scattered through books, archives and other websites, I’m collecting them together here for others to enjoy.

As ever I’m really keen to hear from anyone who lived in the Estate in the past, I’m sure that people must have photographs of the buildings (both interior and exterior) which I would be really excited to see and hopefully share on this site.

Please get in touch via the comments with any information or corrections.

More from the Archives

August 12, 2010 / / 16 Comments

Here’s some pages from the Register of Estates :

Looking at the plans below of the Estate as it stood in 1870 it seems that there were once blocks on either side of Corfield Street, where the Barrett style houses and Ainsley Gardens are now situated.

A close up of the signed and dated text :

There’s a page missing here, I wonder if that had featured the layout of the blocks on Corfield Street ? :

I think this is the layout of the blocks on the West side of Wilmot Street :

And this the plans for the blocks on the East :

Pictures from the Archives

August 12, 2010 / / 0 Comments

As mentioned in another post, I visited the Metropolitan Archive a little while ago and managed to get a look at two IIDC documents. There was a book of land valuations and another of plans for various blocks around London. Both books seemed to be very old or at least featured original plans and documents that were very old (the drawings are dated 1870).

Firstly here’s some images from the valuation book :



The Improved Industrial Dwelling Company

August 11, 2010 / / 0 Comments

There were a number of philanthropic organisations coming into being from 1860 onwards, set up in reaction to the squalid conditions many of the working classes experienced in areas such as Bethnal Green’s notorious Jago (now the Boundary Estate).

Sir Sydney Waterlow proclaimed of his Improved Industrial Dwelling Company that

“We build for the future and look forward to the time when no family need be compelled to live in a single room. It is impossible that either sanitary or moral conditions can ever be satisfied under such a system. No proper feeling of decency or self-respect can be cultivated in families living in a single room”.

The Improved Industrial Dwellings Company started in 1863 by constructing the Langbourn Buildings in Mark Street, Finsbury (now demolished). Other than the Waterlow Estate other notable developments include the Leopold Buildings on the corner of Columbia and Hackney Road and Clarendon Flats in Mayfair. The company lasted until the 1960s by which point they owned around 6000 tenements in and around London.

The IIDC operated on a freemarket basis, although the profits were limited to 5%, the rest of the money being reinvesting into further properties and developments. Waterlow also encouraged investment from others, unlike Peabody who seemed to fashion a legacy for himself as much as he wanted to help the poor.

Links about the IIDC :
Workhouses – A site about the various Victorian philanthropic organisations.
Five per Cent Philanthropy by John Nelson Tarn

The Waterlow Estate

August 10, 2010 / / 9 Comments

The Waterlow Estate is the collective name for the Victorian blocks of flats lining Wilmot, Ainsley and Corfield Streets in Bethnal Green, London. It was constructed from 1869 to 1890 by Sir Sydney Waterlow’s Improved Industrial Dwellings Company. The two blocks nearest Bethnal Green Rd were built first, they would have been surrounded by the old weavers cottages which were eventually cleared as the road layout was progressively altered.

This quote gives a pretty clear picture of the order in which the Estate was constructed :

“The first blocks, in the north, opened in 1869. Homes for 72 families had been completed by 1871 and for another 130 by 1873 and 90 by 1875. The School Board for London purchased ½ a. between Wilmot and Finnis streets in 1873 and work began on 21 blocks (for 210 families) in the rest of Finnis Street in 1875 and on 12 blocks for 295 families in Corfield Road in 1878. The estate, later called Waterlow, complete by 1890 and the largest built by the company, was grim and canyon-like in appearance.”

Source : A History of the County of Middlesex by T.F.T. Baker

The photograph below is taken from what is now Finnis street (then Pettits Walk) looking northwest towards Bethnal Green Rd.

Looking at the scaffolding I’m assuming it was taken during the construction of the first two blocks. It’s interesting to see that the blocks weren’t quite the shape they are now, with the top floor being set back a little.

I visited the Metropolitan Archive recently and found a number of original IIDC documents. I’ll post a few more of them in the future but this plan shows the layout of the estate on the completion of the first blocks.

Extra bits,
A chapter about the establishment and layout of Bethnal Green Streets

Maps showing the development of the nearby road layout

1853

1882

1952

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