Bow Common was an area of

common land Common land is land owned by a person or collectively by a number of persons, over which other persons have certain common rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect wood, or to cut turf for fuel. A person who has a ...

, that lay on Bow Common Lane in what is now the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Despite the name, the common lay just inside Mile End's parish boundary with Bromley by Bow, and not in the parish of Bow which was further to the north. The term is also used to refer to the locale around the former common, on both sides of the parish boundary.

The Common

Bow Common was a small common which lay on either side of part of Bow Common Road. In the Middle Ages it was known as ''Furseyheath'', presumably due to Furze (also known as Gorse) growing there. In 1720 it was recorded as ''Pesthouse Common'' and in 1745 as '' Brumley (ie Bromley) Common''. From the 1770s onward it was known as ''Bow Common''. It was destroyed in the mid 1800s. Ropery Street approximates to the northern edge of the Common with Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park laid out on adjoining land to the north.

The district

The term Bow Common has been applied to areas around the Common from soon after urbanisation; the earliest reference to Bow Common as a neighbourhood rather than as an area of common land is from 1847. The area includes the

housing estates A housing estate (or sometimes housing complex or housing development) is a group of homes and other buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to country. Popular throughout the United States ...

of Burdett and Lincoln Estates.

History

Bow Common was an industrial district producing and supplying London's

town gas Coal gas is a flammable gaseous fuel made from coal and supplied to the user via a piped distribution system. It is produced when coal is heated strongly in the absence of air. Town gas is a more general term referring to manufactured gaseous ...

demands – the former Victorian Gas works site at Bow CommonWilley, Russ. ''Chambers London Gazetteer'', p 53-4. is one of a few remaining following the surrounding area's ongoing transformation. In 1883 anti-poverty campaigner Andrew Mearns commented on the lack of

church attendance Church attendance is a central religious practice for many Christians; some Christian denominations, such as the Catholic Church require church attendance on the Lord's Day (Sunday); the Westminster Confession of Faith is held by the Reformed ...

amongst locals, and Charles Booth described it as 'worse than almost any district in London.' Slums were cleared during the course of the 20th century, most hastened by bomb damage in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

when Bow was targeted for it being an important artery to feed the demands of the city at that time. St Paul's Church was rebuilt in the fashionable 'new brutalism' style of 1960 (replacing one damaged in the war) and is now a Grade II* listed building.

Contemporary

The

Spratt's Complex Spratt's Complex is a housing development in Poplar, London. The former pet food factory was converted into approximately 150 live-work units beginning in 1985. This was one of the first such warehouse conversions in London. The complex is on ...

was redeveloped and split into studio workshops (live/work units) and sold by JJAK (Construction) Ltd for leaseholders to fit out. The first building to be converted was Limehouse Cut, varying in size between . The building was featured in the ''Sunday Times'' in June 1986 and again in 1989. A new site for the local

Irish Travellers Irish Travellers ( ga, an lucht siúil, meaning "the walking people"), also known as Pavees or Mincéirs (Shelta: Mincéirí), are a traditionally peripatetic indigenous ethno-cultural group in Ireland.''Questioning Gypsy identity: ethnic na ...

community was built in 2008 within the Bow Triangle Business Park, after the old site was required for

Crossrail Crossrail is a railway construction project mainly in central London. Its aim is to provide a high-frequency hybrid commuter rail and rapid transit system crossing the capital from suburbs on the west to east, by connecting two major railway l ...

construction. Professor Brian Cox and Baron Mawson opened the new £500,000 Lincoln Pharmacy in 2019, featuring a robot that fulfills customer prescriptions, freeing up staff for health advice. This was part of a project to modernise Bow Common.

Transport

Bow Common has no connection to the

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The ...

, and is connected to the

Docklands Light Railway The Docklands Light Railway (DLR) is an automated light metro system serving the redeveloped Docklands area of London, England and provides a direct connection between London's two major financial districts, Canary Wharf and the City of Lo ...

Devons Road DLR station Devons Road is a Docklands Light Railway (DLR) station located in between Bromley-by-Bow and Bow Common. The station takes its name from the B140 Devons Road and is between Langdon Park and Bow Church stations and is in Travelcard Zone 2. It is ...

. Historically it had a stop on

London, Tilbury and Southend Railway The London, Tilbury and Southend Railway (LT&SR), was a British railway company, whose network connected Fenchurch Street station, in central London, with destinations in east London and Essex, including , , , Tilbury, Southend and . The company ...

called Burdett Road that opened on 11 September 1871 by the Great Eastern Railway who had leased it to the

London and Blackwall Extension Railway Originally called the Commercial Railway, the London and Blackwall Railway (L&BR) in east London, England, ran from Minories to Blackwall via Stepney, with a branch line to the Isle of Dogs, connecting central London to many of London's docks. ...

(LBER) from 1866, with the demands placed on the railway system by

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

and bomb damage in December 1940 saw the station closed for a week for emergency repairs but further damage saw the station closed on 21 April 1941. Bow Common is served several London Buses, 108, 277,

309 __NOTOC__ Year 309 ( CCCIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. In the Roman Empire, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Licinianus and Constantius (or, less frequentl ...

, 323, D6 and D7 call in the area. It is also linked to the London Night Bus network by the N277 while the 108 is a 24-hour service. The 108 uses the

Blackwall Tunnel The Blackwall Tunnel is a pair of road tunnels underneath the River Thames in east London, England, linking the London Borough of Tower Hamlets with the Royal Borough of Greenwich, and part of the A102 road. The northern portal lies just south ...

, a source of severe delays which leads to the route often being cited as amongst the least reliable in London.

References

External links

Small article about Bow Common
{{LB Tower Hamlets Districts of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets Areas of London