Mile End Park is a park located in the

London Borough of Tower Hamlets The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London boroughs, London borough covering much of the traditional East End of London, East End. It was formed in 1965 from the merger of the former Metropolitan boroughs of the County of London, metropol ...

. It is a linear park of some , and was created on industrial land devastated 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

bombing. Some of the park is within Limehouse and Globe Town/Bethnal Green, with the park lying on land to the east of the

Regent's Canal Regent's Canal is a canal across an area just north of central London, England. It provides a link from the Paddington Arm of the Grand Union Canal, north-west of Paddington Basin in the west, to the Limehouse Basin and the River Thames in e ...

. In the north, it is separated from the southern edge of Victoria Park by the

Hertford Union Canal The Hertford Union Canal or Duckett's Cut, just over long, connects the Regent's Canal to the Lee Navigation in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in East London. It was opened in 1830 but quickly proved to be a commercial failure. It was ...

. It is open 24 hours a day. Mile end green bridge 1

A plan existed from the end of the war to create the park, but extensive development did not begin until the end of the millennium. A pedestrian bridge, opened in July 1999, was built over the Mile End Road, which bisects the park, near

Mile End tube station Mile End is a London Underground station in Mile End, London. It is served by the Hammersmith & City, District and Central lines. This station features a cross-platform interchange in both directions, District and Hammersmith & City lines stop ...

. The bridge was designed by Piers Gough. Prior to the park's construction, '' 193 Grove Road'' - at the edge of the park - was transformed by sculptor Rachel Whiteread into a cast of its interior. This work won her the

Turner Prize The Turner Prize, named after the English painter J. M. W. Turner, is an annual prize presented to a British visual artist. Between 1991 and 2016, only artists under the age of 50 were eligible (this restriction was removed for the 2017 award). ...

in 1993. In 1381, 60,000 ''Men of Essex'' camped here and met

Richard II Richard II (6 January 1367 – ), also known as Richard of Bordeaux, was King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. He was the son of Edward the Black Prince, Prince of Wales, and Joan, Countess of Kent. Richard's father ...

at Mile End, on 14 June 1381, during the

Peasants' Revolt The Peasants' Revolt, also named Wat Tyler's Rebellion or the Great Rising, was a major uprising across large parts of England in 1381. The revolt had various causes, including the socio-economic and political tensions generated by the Blac ...

. The park now consists of a number of elements (running north–south): ''The Play Arena'' - for children, ''The Ecology Park'' - including a lake, an ecology building, wind turbine and

climbing wall A climbing wall is an artificially constructed wall with grips for hands and feet, usually used for indoor climbing, but sometimes located outdoors. Some are brick or wooden constructions, but on most modern walls, the material most often used i ...

, ''The Arts Park'', ''The Green Bridge'', ''The Terraced Garden'', ''The South Park'', ''Adventure Park'', ''Sports Park'' - including the

Mile End stadium Mile End Stadium, also known as the East London Stadium, is a multi-sports stadium in Mile End and situated in the park of the same name, East London, England. The stadium comprises an athletics stadium and a number of floodlit Astroturf foot ...

, ''Kirk's Place'' and ''The Children's Park''. Nearby are an extreme sports centre and an electric Go kart track. The park has an active Friends group
The Friends of Mile End Park
'' The Ragged School Museum opened in 1990 in three canal side former warehouses in Copperfield Road. It faces the western edge of the park south of Mile End Road. The buildings previously housed Dr Barnado's Copperfield Road

Ragged School Ragged schools were charitable organisations dedicated to the free education of destitute children in 19th century Britain. The schools were developed in working-class districts. Ragged schools were intended for society's most destitute childre ...

. The park has been awarded the ''London First Award'', the Green bridge the ''

Institution of Civil Engineers The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) is an independent professional association for civil engineers and a charitable body in the United Kingdom. Based in London, ICE has over 92,000 members, of whom three-quarters are located in the UK, whi ...

Award of Merit'', a commendation at the '' British Construction Industry Awards'' and a special commendation from the ''Prime Minister's Award''.

Mile End Stadium

Mile End Stadium Mile End Stadium, also known as the East London Stadium, is a multi-sports stadium in Mile End and situated in the park of the same name, East London, England. The stadium comprises an athletics stadium and a number of floodlit Astroturf foot ...

, situated at the south end of the park, underwent refurbishment which was completed in 2005. A new sport and fitness centre, the Mile End Park Leisure Centre was built adjacent to the Stadium and opened in 2006. It houses a four- court sports hall, two swimming pools (including one competition standard pool), state-of-the-art fitness studios, and a health suite and sauna. The Mile End Climbing Wall is also located in Mile End Park.

References

External links

Mile End park (LB Tower Hamlets)Mile End park Audio Tour featuring Joanna Lumley (LB Tower Hamlets)
{{LB Tower Hamlets Parks and open spaces in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets Linear parks Mile End Limehouse Old Ford