Ratcliff

This article is about the former hamlet in England. For other uses, see Ratcliffe (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with West Smithfield, home of the homonymous meat market in the City of London.
Ratcliff
Ratcliff
 Ratcliff shown within Greater London
London borough Tower Hamlets
Ceremonial county Greater London
RegionLondon
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post town LONDON
Postcode district E1
Dialling code 020
Police Metropolitan
Fire London
Ambulance London
EU Parliament London
London Assembly City and East
List of places
UK
England
London

Coordinates: 51°30′43″N 0°02′20″W / 51.512054°N 0.038946°W / 51.512054; -0.038946

Ratcliff or Ratcliffe is a former hamlet lying by the north bank of the River Thames between Shadwell and Limehouse. It is now a district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, and is located to the south of Stepney.

History

Etymology

The name Ratcliffe derives from the small sandstone cliff that stood above the surrounding marshes, it had a red appearance, hence Red-cliffe.

History

A map showing the civil parish boundaries in 1870.
A map showing the Ratcliffe ward of Stepney Metropolitan Borough as it appeared in 1916.

Ratcliffe in earlier times was also known as "sailor town", originally known for shipbuilding but from the fourteenth century more for fitting and provisioning ships.[1] In the sixteenth century various voyages of discovery were supplied and departed from Ratcliffe, including those of Willoughby and Frobisher.[1] By the early seventeenth century it had the largest population of any village in Stepney, with 3500 residents.[1]

It was again a site of shipbuilding in the seventeenth century - a number of sailing warships were built for the Royal Navy here, including one of the earliest frigates, the Constant Warwick in 1645. Located on the edge of Narrow Street on the Wapping waterfront it was made up of lodging houses, bars, brothels, music halls and opium dens. This overcrowded and squalid district acquired an unsavoury reputation with a large transient population. In 1794 approximately half of the hamlet was destroyed in a fire (see below) but, even so, it continued as a notorious slum well into the nineteenth century.

From the late sixteenth century Ratcliffe and surrounding areas were notable areas for non-conformist Christianity. John Penry preached in the area in 1592/3, until he was spotted by the local vicar at Ratcliffe and subsequently hanged. By 1669 around 200 Presbyterians were worshipping at a warehouse at Ratcliffe Cross and there was a purpose built Quaker meeting house in Schoolhouse Lane, which was demolished by soldiers in 1670.[2]

In late 1811 seven murders took place in Ratcliffe Highway (more recently St. George's Street), committed by a sailor named Williams, who committed suicide after being captured. The murders were later fictionalised in an account by De Quincey.[3]

The hamlet was divided between the parishes of Limehouse and Stepney until 1866, when it was constituted a separate civil parish (as Ratcliffe). From 1855 it was administered by Limehouse District Board of Works, and in 1900 became part of the Metropolitan Borough of Stepney.[4] By the latter half of the nineteenth century the condition of the area had improved somewhat - the 1868 'National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland' describes Ratcliffe as inhabited by persons connected with shipping and having extensive warehouses, with the area 'well paved, lighted with gas, and supplied with water from the reservoir at Old Ford'.[5]

The parish church of Ratcliffe, St. James in Butcher Row, was built in 1838 and served the area until 1951 (it was damaged during the Second World War), when the parish was merged with St. Paul, Shadwell.[6] In 1948 the church site became (and remains) the East London home of the Royal Foundation of St. Katharine.[7]

The Ratcliffe Fire

The Ratcliffe Fire was the largest fire disaster in London between the Great Fire of 1666 and the Blitz in 1940. The fire took place in July 1794 when a smaller fire ignited a barge loaded with saltpetre. The conflagration that followed destroyed over 400 homes and 20 warehouses and left 1000 people homeless. Following the fire tents were set up near to St. Dunstan's Church whilst the area was rebuilt.[8]

Population and area

The hamlet of Ratcliffe covered 111 acres (0.4 km2) and had a Census population of:

Hamlet of Ratcliffe 1801-1901

Year[9] 1801 1811 1821 1831 1841 1851 1861 1871 1881 1891 1901
Population 5,666 6,998 6,973 9,741 11,874 15,212 16,874 16,131 16,107 14,928 14,810

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 http://www.eolfhs.org.uk/parish/ratcliff.htm accessed 20 April 2008
  2. ↑ http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=22739 accessed 21 April 2008
  3. ↑ http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=45082 accessed 20 April 2008
  4. ↑ http://exploringeastlondon.co.uk/Shadwell/Shadwell.htm accessed 20 April 2008
  5. ↑ http://homepages.gold.ac.uk/genuki/MDX/Stepney/StepneyHistory.html accessed 20 April 2008
  6. ↑ http://homepages.gold.ac.uk/genuki/MDX/Stepney/churches.htm#step31 accessed 20 April 2008
  7. ↑ http://www.stkatharine.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=37&Itemid=40 accessed 20 April 2008
  8. ↑ F A Youngs, Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, Vol.I, London, 1979
  9. ↑ Statistical Abstract for London, 1901 (Vol. IV) - Census tables for the hamlet of Ratcliffe 1801-1901
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