Blackwall, London facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Blackwall |
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 Virginia Quay, the line that runs down the centre of the avenue marking the prime meridian |
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 Blackwall
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| Population | 19,461 (2011 Census. Blackwall and Cubitt Town Ward) |
| OS grid reference | TQ385805 |
| London borough | |
| Ceremonial county | Greater London |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | LONDON |
| Postcode district | E14 |
| Dialling code | 020 |
| Police | Metropolitan |
| Fire | London |
| Ambulance | London |
| EU Parliament | London |
| UK Parliament |
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| London Assembly | |
Blackwall is an area of Poplar, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, East London. The neighbourhood includes Leamouth and the Coldharbour conservation area.
The area takes its name from a historic stretch of riverside wall built along an outside curve of the Thames, to protect the area from flooding. While mostly residential, the Poplar Dock and Blackwall Basin provide moorings for vessels.
Contents
History
The small district by Blackwall Stairs was known as Blackwall by at least the 14th century. This presumably derives from the colour of the river wall, constructed in the Middle Ages. The area lay in a sheltered loop of the river next to Poplar's East Marsh, where the East India Docks were constructed at the beginning of the 19th century. The area has never had its own Anglican church so for services such as road maintenance organised by a vestry and poor relief it relied upon its ecclesiastical parish (of All Saints) Poplar. Indeed the whole Isle of Dogs was until the late 20th century referred to as being Poplar or the Poplar District.
The Isle excludes the symmetrical part (that is its north west forming the parish of Limehouse) and comprises:
the ancient hamlet of Poplar itself, the old shipbuilding centre of Blackwall, and the former industrial districts of Millwall and Cubitt Town. Poplar’s story is one of development and redevelopment on both the grand and the comparatively small scale, driven in the nineteenth century by mercantile interests and manufacturing, and after the Second World War by de-industrialization and the obsolescence of the Thames-side docks...
...[in recent times] a major subject is public housing, which includes the famous Lansbury Estate, built in association with the 1951 Festival of Britain.
Contrary to expectations, the River Thames landmark named Blackwall Point is not located in Blackwall district but on the northern tip of Greenwich Peninsula, which is south of the Thames. It is so named after the Blackwall Reach of the Thames.
Blackwall gives its name to the partially underlying Blackwall Tunnel, which passes south under the adjacent River Thames to North Greenwich.
Historic port
Blackwall was a significant ocean-going port in past centuries and was connected with important voyages. On 7 June 1576, financed by the Muscovy Company, Martin Frobisher set sail from Blackwall, seeking the North West Passage. Walter Raleigh had a house at Blackwall, and in the early years of the 17th century the port was the main departure point of the English colonization of North America and the West Indies launched by the London Company.
Transport
- Historic
The former London and Blackwall Railway ran from Minories to Blackwall by way of Stepney, a distance of three and half miles. This was authorised in 1836 as "The Commercial Railway", running close to Commercial Road in the East End of London to the Blackwall railway station.
- Contemporary
The areas major roads; the A1261 (Aspen Way) and the A102 Blackwall Tunnel Approach Road bring a significant degree of air pollution and community severance.
London Buses routes D3 on west-east Blackwall Way, and D6, D7 and N550 on north-south Preston Road give local access to neighbouring Poplar, Leamouth, the Isle of Dogs and Canary Wharf.
The Thames Path (north bank) National Trail which opened in 1996 is connected to Blackwall, it enters the district at the South Dock Entrance and goes via Coldharbour and Blackwall Way and rejoins the River Thames at Virginia Wharf till the East India Dock at Blackwall Point.
Images for kids
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The earliest Thames Ironworks F.C. photo, taken in 1895. The club would be reformed as West Ham United.
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Blackwall Yard from the Thames, by Francis Holman
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Coldharbour, looking north. The column of glazed bricks on the right marks the site of the Fishing Smack pub, linked to Charles Dickens.
See also
In Spanish: Blackwall para niños
