Canning Town

Underground station, existing between 1846 and now

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MAP YEAR:18001810182018301860190019502024 
 
Underground station · * · ·
MAY
2
2015
Canning Town is a district in the West Ham area of the London Borough of Newham.

Prior to the 19th century, the district was largely marshland, and accessible only by boat, or a toll bridge. In 1809, an Act of Parliament was passed for the construction of the Barking Road between the East India Docks and Barking. A five span iron bridge was constructed in 1810 to carry the road across the River Lea at Bow Creek. This bridge was damaged by a collision with a collier in March 1887 and replaced by the London County Council (LCC) in 1896. This bridge was in turn replaced in 1934, at a site to the north and today’s concrete flyover begun in smaller form in the 1960s, but successively modified to incorporate new road layouts for the upgraded A13 road and a feeder to the Limehouse Link tunnel, avoiding the Blackwall Tunnel. The abutments of the old iron bridge have now been utilised for the Jubilee footbridge, linking the area to Leamouth, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, on the western bank of the Lea.

The area is thought to be named for the first Viceroy of India, Charles John Canning, who suppressed the Indian Mutiny about the time the district expanded. The population increased rapidly after the North London Line was built from Stratford to North Woolwich, in 1846. This was built to carry coal and goods from the docks; and when the passenger station was first built it was known as Barking Road. Speculative builders constructed houses for the workers attracted by the new chemical industries established in the lower reaches of the River Lea, and for the nearby Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company and Tate & Lyle refinery.

The opening of the Royal Victoria Dock in 1855 accelerated the development of the area creating employment and a need to house dock workers and their families. New settlements around the dock developed, starting with Hallsville, Canning Town and Woolwich, and later the areas now known as Custom House, Silvertown and West Silvertown. The new settlements lacked water supply and had no sewage system, leading to the spread of cholera and smallpox. The casual nature of employment at the docks meant poverty and squalid living conditions for many residents.

The industries around the dock were often unhealthy and dangerous. As trade unions and political activists fought for better living conditions and the dock area became the centre of numerous movements with Will Thorne, James Keir Hardie and other later becoming leading figures in the Labour Party. From the late 19th century, a large African mariner community was established in Canning Town as a result of new shipping links to the Caribbean and West Africa.[8] In 1917 50 tons of TNT exploded at the Brunner Mond & Co ammunition work in Silvertown, causing the largest explosion in London’s history and damaging more than 70,000 buildings and killing 73 people.

In the 1930s the County Borough of West Ham commenced slum clearances. New houses, clinics, nurseries and a lido were opened. Silvertown ByPass and Britain’s first flyover, the Silvertown Way, were built along with other new approach roads to the docks. Canning Town was heavily hit by the bombings in World War II and Canning Town Council’s plan to rebuild the area focused on a reduction of the population, transferring industry and the building of new housing such as the Keir Hardie Estate, which included schools and welfare services.

The slum clearances and the devastation of World War II, destroying 85% of the housing stock, led to the preponderance of council estates that characterise the area today. Post-war housing schemes followed the urban planning principles of the garden city movement. As demand for housing grew the first high rise buildings were built in Canning Town in 1961. In 1968 Ronan Point, a 22-storey tower block in Newham, collapsed and most of the tall tower blocks built in the area in the early 1960s were eventually demolished or reduced in size.

The area has been undergoing significant regeneration. According to Newham borough council: ’The Canning Town and Custom House Regeneration Programme includes the building of up to 10,000 new homes, creation of thousands of new jobs and two improved town centres. This £3.7 billion project aims to transform the area physically, socially and economically.’

Despite being a neighbour to many affluent Dockland developments, Canning Town remains among the 5 per cent most deprived areas in the UK with many long term residents suffering from poor health, low education and poverty.

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NEARBY LOCATIONS OF NOTE
Canning Town Canning Town is a district in the West Ham area of the London Borough of Newham.
Canning Town to North Greenwich walk The walk where I sneak across the Thames but not by Tube.

NEARBY STREETS
Argo Apartments, E16 Argo Apartments is a location in London (Canning Town)
Aviary Close, E16 Aviary Close is a road in the E16 postcode area
Barking Road, E16 Barking Road is one of the streets of London in the E16 postal area
Bernard Cassidy Street, E16 Bernard Cassidy Street is a road in the E16 postcode area
Bidder Street, E16 Bidder Street is one of the streets of London in the E16 postal area (Canning Town)
Blackwall Trading Estate, E14 The Blackwall Trading Estate lies along Bow Creek and off Lanrick Road (Poplar)
Botanic Square, E14 Botanic Square is a named address, park and pathway within the City Island development of Leamouth (East India)
Bowman Avenue, E16 Bowman Avenue is a road in the E16 postcode area
Bridgewater House, E14 Bridgewater House is a block on Lookout Lane (East India)
Brunel Street, E16 Brunel Street is one of the streets of London in the E16 postal area
Buchany House, E14 Buchany House is a block on Lanrick Road (Poplar)
Burke Street, E16 Burke Street is one of the streets of London in the E16 postal area
Bywell Place, E16 A street within the E16 postcode
Caxton Street North, E16 Caxton Street North is one of the streets of London in the E16 postal area
Centurion Tower, E16 Centurion Tower is a location in London
City Island Way, E14 City Island Way lies within the E14 postcode (East India)
Clarkson Road, E16 Clarkson Road is one of the streets of London in the E16 postal area
Corson House, E14 Corson House is a block, part of City Island (East India)
Discovery Tower, E16 Discovery Tower is a location in London (Canning Town)
Doune House, E14 Doune House is a block on Lanrick Road (Poplar)
Drumvaich House, E14 Drumvaich House is a block on Portree Street (Poplar)
Emily Street, E16 Emily Street, devastatingly bombed during the Second World War, is a cul-de-sac today.
Fen Street, E16 Fen Street is one of the streets of London in the E16 postal area
Fendt Close, E16 A street within the E16 postcode
Ford Street, E16 Ford Street is a road in the E16 postcode area
Formunt Close, E16 Formunt Close is one of the streets of London in the E16 postal area
Fortrose Close, E14 A street within the E14 postcode (Poplar)
Gage Road, E16 A street within the E16 postcode
George Street, E16 George Street is a road in the E16 postcode area
Glencoe House, E14 Glencoe House is a block on Lanrick Road (Poplar)
Globe House, E14 Globe House is a block on Botanic Square (East India)
Grantham House, E14 Grantham House is a block on Botanic Square (East India)
Hallsville Road, E16 Hallsville Road refers to the original name of the area
Heartwell Avenue, E16 Heartwell Avenue is location of London
Hercules House, E14 Hercules House is a block on Botanic Square (East India)
Hope Street, E14 A street within the E14 postcode (East India)
Hoy Street, E16 A street within the E16 postcode
Huntingdon Street, E16 Huntingdon Street is a road in the E16 postcode area
Ibbotson Avenue, E16 A street within the E16 postcode
Ives Road, E16 Ives Road is one of the streets of London in the E16 postal area (Canning Town)
Java House, E14 Java House is a block on Botanic Square (East India)
Jude Street, E16 Jude Street was previously known as John Street
Killip Close, E16 Killip Close is a road in the E16 postcode area
Lanrick Road, E14 Lanrick Road is named after an estate in Doune, Perthshire (Poplar)
Lawrence Street, E16 Lawrence Street is a road in the E16 postcode area
Lea Place, E14 Four pairs of semi-detached houses on the north side of East India Dock Road called Lea Place were built around 1824 (Poplar)
Leamouth Road, E14 Leamouth Road was one of the access roads into Leamouth - the area later called City Island (East India)
Lookout Lane, Lookout Lane lies within the postcode (East India)
Lower Lea Crossing, E14 Lower Lea Crossing is a bridge crossing Bow Creek (East India)
Lyell Street, Lyell Street lies within the postcode (East India)
Lyell Street, E16 Lyell Street is a location in London (East India)
Malmesbury Road, E16 Malmesbury Road is a road in the E16 postcode area
Mary Street, E16 Mary Street runs off Barking Road
Maud Road, E16 A street within the E16 postcode
Maud Street, E16 A street within the E16 postcode
Minnie Baldock Street, E16 Minnie Baldock Street is a location in London
Mona Street, E16 A street within the E16 postcode
More Close, E16 More Close is a road in the E16 postcode area
Morgan Street, E16 A street within the E16 postcode
Murdock Close, E16 A street within the E16 postcode
Nelson Street Studios, E16 A street within the E16 postcode
Nelson Street, E16 Nelson Street is one of the streets of London in the E16 postal area
New Century House, E16 A street within the E16 postcode
Newham Way, E16 Newham Way is a location in London (Canning Town)
Oak Crescent, E16 A street within the E16 postcode
Oban House, E14 Oban House is a block on Oban Street (Poplar)
Ordnance Road, E16 A street within the E16 postcode
Peto Street North, E16 Peto Street North is one of the streets of London in the E16 postal area
Portree Street, E14 Portree Street is one of the streets of London in the E14 postal area (Poplar)
Rathbone House, E16 Rathbone House is a block on Rathbone Street
Rathbone Market, E16 Rathbone Market is one of the streets of London in the E16 postal area (Canning Town)
Rathbone Street, E16 Rathbone Street is one of the streets of London in the E16 postal area
Rogers Road, E16 A street within the E16 postcode
Ruscoe Road, E16 Ruscoe Road is one of the streets of London in the E16 postal area
Sherrington Court, E16 Sherrington Court is a location in London
Shirley Street, E16 Shirley Street is one of the streets of London in the E16 postal area
Silvertown Square, E16 A street within the E16 postcode
Silvocea Way, E14 Silvocea Way is a road in the E14 postcode area (East India)
Sovereign Tower, E16 Sovereign Tower is a location in London
St Lukes Square, E16 St Lukes Square is one of the streets of London in the E16 postal area
Switch House, E14 Switch House is a block on Blackwall Way (East India)
Tant Avenue, E16 Tant Avenue is a road in the E16 postcode area
Tarling Road, E16 Tarling Road is one of the streets of London in the E16 postal area
Terry Spinks Place, E16 Terry Spinks Place is a location in London (Canning Town)
Thorne Street, E16 Thorne Street ran east off Rogers Road
Vincent Street, E16 Vincent Street is one of the streets of London in the E16 postal area
Wharf Street, E16 A street within the E16 postcode (Canning Town)
Wharfside Road, E14 Wharfside Road is a road in the E14 postcode area (Canning Town)
Wharfside Road, E14 Wharfside Road is a road in the E16 postcode area (Canning Town)
Wouldham Road, E16 Wouldham Road is a road in the E16 postcode area
Wren Close, E16 A street within the E16 postcode


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