Starting this leg of the journey, we’re on the eastbound platform even though I’ll actually be walking west towards Whitechapel.
Stepney Green station was opened in 1902 by the Whitechapel and Bow Railway, a joint venture between the District Railway and the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway. The new railway connected the District Railway at Whitechapel with the London, Tilbury and Southend at Bow.
Electrified District Railway services started in 1905. Hammersmith and City line services (then part of the Metropolitan line) started in 1936.
We pass the local baths soon after leaving the station.
I’m continuing my walk into town on the District Line and Hammersmith & City Line and we’re starting off on the Mile End Road.
This was part of the original London-to-Colchester road – known as the Great Essex Road to reflect its destination – and was one of the earliest suburbs of London – called Mile End Old Town.
The term “Mile End” is recorded as early as 1288. The mile distance was in relation to Aldgate in the City of London.
In the 1690s Mile End became known as Mile End Old Town, because a new unconnected settlement to the west in Spitalfields had become known as Mile End New Town.
The Anchor Retail Park is on the site of Charrington’s Anchor Brewery dating from 1757. 40 breweries in London were Charringtons
106 Mile End Road, above a shop and nearly opposite the site of Wickham’s was the Kentucky Club opposite store owned by the Kray twins. It’s traditional when passing the Blind Beggar later to mention the Krays but when we get there, I’m not going to.
Wickhams Department Store, dating from 1927 was known as the “Harrods of the East”.
The Wickham family originally operated as drapers, conducting their business from 69, 71, and 73 Mile End Road. The adjacent property at No. 75 was occupied by the Spiegelhalter family, who were clockmakers and jewellers. In approximately 1892, the Spiegelhalters agreed to relocate from No. 75 to 81 Mile End Road, allowing the Wickhams to expand their shop into the newly vacated space.
The Spiegelhalter family, of German descent from the Black Forest village of Neukirch, had been in the East End of London since 1828, operating as jewellers and clockmakers. They had several shops before relocating to 75 Mile End Road and later to No. 81. Due to anti-German sentiment in the First World War, the Spiegelhalters changed their family name to Salter by deed poll in 1919. However, the shop retained its original name.
Over the course of 35 years, the Wickham family gradually acquired the entire block, except for the Spiegelhalters’ shop at No. 81. Their plan was to extensively renovate and expand their store, and they attempted to purchase the Spiegelhalter property. However, negotiations for a mutually acceptable price failed, resulting in the Spiegelhalters’ shop becoming a holdout.
In the end, the new store was constructed around the Spiegelhalter shop, which continued to operate even as Wickhams opened shops on either side. It was designed by T. Jay Evans & Son and built in 1925-1927.
The design of the Wickhams building was envisioned to eventually incorporate the jewellers’ shop into a grander structure. The building was intended to rival Selfridges department store on Oxford Street, featuring a colonnaded front, a central tower, and a clock that Selfridges did not possess.
The contract for the stone façade had been awarded before it became clear that the Spiegelhalters were unwilling to sell. To accommodate this, the right wing of the building was shifted to the right by the width of the Spiegelhalters’ land. Consequently, both side wings appear very similar, with the central raised feature of the entablature positioned over the fourth window in both wings. If the jewellers had agreed to sell, the entablature would not have been centrally located on the right-hand wing, and the central block with its tower would not have been in the centre either. This would have resulted in seven windows in the left wing and nine windows in the right.
The building’s façade was constructed entirely up to the boundary on either side of the jewellers. Even the column immediately to the right of the jewellers had a flat side, awaiting completion once the Spiegelhalters’ land was acquired.
The grand design envisioned by Wickhams was never fully realized. By 1951, the business was owned by Great Universal Stores but eventually closed down in 1969. The Salter family closed their shop at 81 Mile End Road in 1982, and it was subsequently sold and became an off-licence.
By 2014, the Spiegelhalter shop had fallen into disrepair and was without a roof. As of 2019, the shop, along with the rest of the Wickhams building, underwent refurbishment, maintaining the façade. As of September 2021, the building was reopened as the “Dept W” building of Queen Mary University of London, with access through the retained façade of the Spiegelhalter shop.
88 Mile End Road is where Captain James Cook, the renowned sea explorer, once resided. Although it’s now an empty building nestled between a mini-mart and a Chinese restaurant, a plaque serves as a marker of this historical association.
The area running alongside Mile End Road was known as Mile End Green, a large open common which became known as a place of assembly for Londoners. It was also called the Mile End Waste since it was not particularly owned by anybody.
Tower Hamlets mission at 31 Mile End Road was founded by a member of the Charrington brewing family who had a sudden rush of guilt about the effect of booze upon the poor of the East End
The statues of Catherine and William Booth statue stand outside the former Vine Tavern on the Mile End Waste.
The long, narrow garden houses the charming almshouses at Trinity Green, dating back to 1695 and to a Captain Mudd. These almshouses were constructed for the widows of mariners whose husbands did not return from sea voyages. One of these almshouses even features a model sailing ship on its roof, while a lovely chapel at the end of the green adds to the picturesque symmetry of the scene.
Just before Sidney Street opposite Cambridge Heath Road was the Vine Tavern, situated on the Mile End Waste.
The Blind Beggar, a pub with a rich history. In 1865, it was outside this very pub that William Booth delivered his inaugural sermon, a pivotal moment leading to the establishment of the Salvation Army. This historical significance is commemorated by two statues of Booth located in a nearby park along the road. This version dates from 1894.
Post Office railway.
Brewery.
Directly next Whitechapel station Working Lads Institute