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History of West Ham in 1863
PLAISTOW, one of the three wards of West Ham parish, is a
large village on the Barking road, 5 miles E. of Whitechapel, and comprises
about 2000 acres of land, including a level tract of marshes on the north side
of the Thames, now traversed hy the North Woolwich,
and the Stratford and Thames Junction Railways. It has many good houses in
Balaam street, Greengate street, Broadway, Richmond street, and other parts of
the ward. Barking road crosses the river Lea by an iron bridge, built in 1810,
and on which foot passengers are still charged 1/2d. each. Near this bridge is
Barking Road Station, on the line from London to the Victoria, Docks and North
Woolwich. Plaistow had its name from the Playz family, who were anciently lords
of the manor, which is now held by Sir J. H. Pelly, Bart. Barking Road Station,
Canning Town, Silver Town, Hallsville, and the Victoria Docks are in Plaistow
Ward, which has more than trebled its population during the last 10 years, owing
chiefly to the construction of the Victoria Docks, as already noticed. PLAISTOW
CHURCH (St. Mary) is a handsome building in the Tudor Gothic style, erected in
1829-30, at the cost of £4800, raised by subscription, and a grant from the
Church Building Society. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of
the vicar of West Ham, and incumbency of the Rev. R. W. B. Marsh, M.A.,whose
income is derived from the seat-rents, which can never amount to more than .£173
per annum, at the rents fixed by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. The clerk has
a salary of £10 a-year, out of the seat-rents of Stratford Church.
ST. MARK'S CHURCH, for the Victoria Docks District, is a handsome structure,
which was consecrated August 7th, 1862, and cost about £7000, raised by
subscription, chiefly through the exertions of the Rev. Herman Douglas, M.A.,
who was appointed minister of
this now populous district a few years ago, when an iron church and schools were
built, at the cost of about £2500, for temporary use. The Dock Company gave the
site of the present church, and three or four acres of land for the parsonage,
schools, and general church purposes. BARKING ROAD CHURCH DISTRICT, for which a
church was built by subscription in 1862, is under the ministry of the Rev.
Maurice Meyrick, who has for some time performed divine service in the National
School. This newly-formed ecclesiastical district includes Canning Town, Barking
Road Station, &c. SILVERTOWN CHURCH DISTRICT has a neat church, built in 1862;
and the Rev. H. M. Baker is the minister. These three church
districts are in Plaistow Ward, and are in the patronage of the Vicar of West
Ham. Plaistow has a neat Friends' Meeting House, built of white brick, in 1844,
at the cost of £1.500; and a handsome Congregational Church, built in 1860, in
the Gothic style, at the cost of about £3000, in lieu of the old Independent
Chapel. It is now under the ministry of the Rev. John Curwen. There is a Baptist
Chapel in Barking road, and there are other dissenting places of worship and
public schools in various parts of Plaistow Ward. In Swancombe street is an
Independent Ohapel, built in 1859, and a Primitive Methodist Chapel, erected in
1888. Plaistow has a TEMPERANCE HALL, and a numerous society of teetotalers, who
erected a public drinking fountain in 1861. Plaistow National and Public Schools
are attended by more than 400 children. The latter are supported chiefly by
dissenters. The PUBLIC ROOMS, in
North Woolwich road, are used for Lectures, &c., on week days, and as a
Congregational Chapel on Sundays.
STRATFORD, or STRATFORD-LANGTHORNE, 3 miles E. by N. of Whitechapel, is now a
town of about 14,000 inhabitants, on the east side of the river Lea, opposite
Bow, or Stratford-le-Bow, on the Middlesex side of the river, which is sometimes
called Bow creek, and is navigable from the Thames for barges, &c. Stratford is
the most populous of the three wards of West Ham parish, though it comprises
only about 700 acres of land, exclusive of the building sites, roads, &c. It has
increased its population since 1841 from 7690 to upwards of 13,000, chiefly
owing to the Eastern Counties Railway having here a large Station and an
extensive factory. In the latter the Railway Company employ about 1000 men and
boys, and neaf it they built, in 1847-'8, STRATFORD NEW TOWN, which was
originally called "Hudson Town," from the great "railway king," as he was then
popularly styled. This new town is chiefly occupied by the families of the
Company's workmen, and it is at the north-eastern end of Stratford, which
extends more than a mile along the high road from Bow Bridge. The ancient
bridge, which here crossed the river Lea by three arches, was said to have been
the first arched stone bridge erected in this part of the country, but it has
given place to a handsome bridge of one oblate arch, erected in 1838-9, at the
cost of £11,000. The old bridge had been so often, repaired that it was
impossible to ascertain how much of the original structure remained. Stowe,
Leland, and other writers, are agreed in attributing its first erection to
Matilda, or Maud, Queen of Henry I., who observing the ford to be dangerous, and
being herself "well washed" in crossing it, caused this and another bridge, over
a branch of the same river, to be erected, and also raised the highway with
gravel between the two bridges; for the reparation of which she gave " Wiggen
mill," and certain manors to the abbess of Barking. In 1135, Wm. de Montfichet
founded STRATFORD ABBEY, and endowed it with the manor of West Ham, &c., and
procured for it a royal grant of the mill and manors which had been given to
Barking Abbey for the reparation of Bow Bridge.
This abbey for Cistercian monks was dedicated to the Virgin Mary and All Saints,
and stood in the marshes, on a branch of the Lea, about three furlongs
south-west of West Ham church. Being much injured by the floods, the monks are
said to have removed to a cell
at Burgestede, near Billericay, till Richard I. or II. took the ground and abbey
into his protection, and re-edifying it, brought the monks again to Stratford.
In 1307, the abbot was summoned to parliament; and in 1335, the Earl of Hereford
and Essex was buried in the abbey. At the dissolution, its revenues were valued
at £652. 3s. 1d. per annum, and its possessions were granted by Henry VIIL to
Sir Peter Mewtis, or Meautis, who had been
ambassador to the court of France. Henry Meautis, Esq., a descendant of Sir
Peter, alienated the site of the abbey, the abbey mills, and 240A. of land, to
Sir John Nulls, in 1663. Since that period, they have passed to various owners.
Margaret, the unfortunate
Countess of Salisbury, whom the remorseless Henry VHI. caused to be beheaded in
her old age, on a charge of high treason, appears, to have resided in the abbey
about th'e time of its suppression. The site of the abbey and precincts was
moated, and contained about 16 acres of land, now partly occupied by silk
printing works. A brick gateway, and all the other remains of the monastic
buildings, were taken down many years ago, except part of the boundary wall.
When digging up most of the foundations, in the latter part of last century, a
small onyx seal, with the impression of a griffin, set in silver, was found. It
was inscribed with the legend, "Nuncio vobis guadium et salutem," and was,
perhaps, the seal of one of the abbots. Stratford has now many well-stocked
shops, and is well supplied with all sorts of provisions; with the Water Works,
&c., its streets are now well paved, drained, and lighted by the Board of Health
for West Ham parish. Stratford Town includes Broadway,
High street, Bridge road, Stratford grove and green, Maryland, Stratford New
Town, &c.
The Guerney Memorial, in Broadway, was erected in 1861, in memory of that
distinguished philanthropist, the late Samuel Gurney. Esq., of Ham House, who
died in 1856. It was built by subscription, at the cost of £570, and consists of
a handsome obelisk of grey granite, 42 feet in height, and having drinking
fountains on two sides of the base, decorated with boldly sculptured groups of
water lilies, in white marble.
STRATFORD CHURCH (St. John the Evangelist) is a large and
handsome white brick structure, which, was erected in 1833-4, at the cost of
about .£18,000, raised by subscription, and a loan advanced on the security of
the rates, except .£5000 granted by the
Church Commissioners. It is a district church for this populous part of West Ham
parish, and is in the style of architecture which prevailed in the 13th century,
having a lofty nave, with north and south aisles, and a chancel, lighted by
narrow pointed windows; and a tower at the west end, surmounted by a spire. In
1847, £600 was raised by subscription, and expended in the purchase of an organ;
the erection of a richly carved recedos of Caen stone, extending the whole width
of the chancel; in beautifying the altar window with painted glass; and in other
decorations, &c. Two other windows were enriched with painted glass about the
same year, at the expense of the Misses Kilner, of Maryland Point, and
Mrs. Mann, of the Green. The benefice is a perpetual curacy, now valued at £310
per annum, in the patronage of the Vicar of West Ham, and incumbency of the Rev.
Wm. Holloway, M.A. CHRIST CHURCH, in High street, Stratford, is a neat
structure, which was built by subscription and grants in 1852, for the western
part of the town. It cost about £5000, and its parochial district has about 4500
inhabitants. . The benefice is a perpetual curacy, in the
patronage of the Vicar of West Ham, and incumbency of the Rev. John Strickland,
M.A. There is an IRON CHUBOH (St. Paul's) at Stratford New Town, where one of
the curates of West Ham officiates. It was built in 1859, at the cost of £1200,
and its district has now more than 6000 souls. Being much too small for its
present congregation, it is about to be superseded by a permanent church, to be
erected at the cost of about £5500.
The Roman Catholic Chapel, at Stratford, was built in 1797, at the cost of
£3750, and was repaired in 1847. It is a large cemented building, and the Revs.
Jas. McQuoin, and M. P. Clifford are the priests. The Baptist Chapel, at
Stratford Grove, was built in 1854, and is under the ministry of the Rev. G. W.
Fishbourne. The United Free Methodists have a chapel in Bridge road, which was
rebuilt in 1860. The Unitarian Ohapel, near Bow Bridge, is now
occupied by the Christian Association. The Wesleyan and Primitive Methodists;
have small chapels in various parts of the parish. St. John's and Christ Church
National Schools are attended by several hundred children; and here are also
large British, Catholic, and Ragged Schools. In Angel lane is a Mechanics'
Institution, established in 1851, and now having about 600 members, and a
library of 2500 volumes.
West Ham, Stratford, and, South Essex Dispensary was established in 1861, at
Stratford Green, but funds are now (1862) being subscribed for the erection of a
more suitable building in Broadway, with accommodations for a number of
in-patients; as the nearest
infirmary to this populous part of Essex is the London Hospital, in Whitechapel
road. The late Thos. Curtis, Esq., left £1000 to this Dispensary, of which Dr.
Elliot, and Messrs. Drake, Nicholson, and Kennedy are the medical officers.
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