The Highway

The Highway is a mile-long road in the East End of London, with several historic landmarks nearby.

The route dates back to Roman times, and was called Ratcliff Highway in the Georgian era.

For other Highways, please see Highway (disambiguation)

Location

The Highway runs between the edge of The City and Limehouse: parallel-to and south of Commercial Road, the Docklands Light Railway and Cable Street. It connects East Smithfield and the Limehouse Link tunnel.

The road forms an unofficial boundary to Wapping, which lies between the River Thames and The Highway. The road is also close to Shadwell Basin (to the south east), Tower Hill (to the west), and Whitechapel and Stepney (to the north).

The Highway is in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, in postal district E1. It lies within the parliamentary constituencies of Bethnal Green and Bow and [[Poplar and Canning Town (UK Parliament constituency)|Poplar and Canning Town.

Landmarks

(West to east)
* {{St Katharine Docks}}
* {{Wellclose Square}}
* St Paul's Primary School
* The Ensign Club — a local youth club
* {{News International}} — head office for the newspaper group, including {{The Times}}, {{The Sunday Times (UK)|The Sunday Times}}, {{The Sun (newspaper)|The Sun}}, and the {{News of the World}}
* Telford's Yard — a converted Victorian wool warehous
* The Caxton (until recently The Artichoke) public house — displays newspaper history on the walls
* Site of the 1st {{Ratcliff Highway murders}}
* Mary Sambrook School
* The Travellers Rest — Evangelical Church
* The Old Rose public house
* {{Tobacco Dock}} — the old warehouses for imported tobacco, converted to retail outlets, but closed up by 2000
* {{St George in the East}} — the white stone church that has dominated the area since 1729
* Eluna Apartments — new flats replaced Babe Ruth's Restaurant
* St George's Recreation Ground
* St George's Swimming Pool
* Green Gables {{Montessori}} School
* {{St. Paul's Church, Shadwell}} — the Church of Sea Captains
* {{Shadwell Basin}} — the old dock now used for watersports and fishing
* King Edward VII Memorial Park — giving access to the {{River Thames}}
* Express by {{Holiday Inn}} Limehouse — 3 star hotel with 150 rooms, built in 2004
* {{Limehouse Link}} tunnel

Transport

Road

The Highway is a major arterial route into and out of {{City of London|The City}}, and is busy during London rush hours. There are 2 lanes in each direction throughout its length. It lies outside of the {{London congestion charge}} zone.

There are no cycle facilities, and most cyclists use the cycle paths in {{Cable Street}} to the north.

Bus

There are few bus stops on The Highway, but buses 100 and D3 pass along short lengths of it to get to Wapping and Shadwell.
* 100 connects to {{Shadwell}}, {{Liverpool Street}}, {{St Paul's Cathedral|St Pauls}} and {{Elephant and Castle}}.
* D3 connects to {{Isle of Dogs}}, {{Limehouse}}, {{Shadwell}} and {{Bethnal Green}}.

Rail

(All in {{London Transport}}'s Zone 2)

{{London Underground}} stations:
*{{Shadwell DLR station|Shadwell tube station}}: on the {{East London Line}}
*{{Wapping tube station}}: on the {{East London Line}}
*{{Tower Hill tube station}}: on the {{Circle Line}} and {{District Line}}{{Docklands Light Railway}} stations:
*{{Shadwell DLR station|Shadwell DLR station}}
*{{Limehouse station|Limehouse DLR station}}{{National Rail}} stations:
*{{Limehouse station|Limehouse railway station}}

Air

*{{London City Airport}} 6.7 km (4.2 miles) to the east

People

Some names associated with the area:

;PoliticiansMembers of Parliament, {{Bethnal Green and Bow (UK Parliament constituency)|Bethnal Green and Bow}} :
* {{George Galloway|George Galloway}}, {{RESPECT The Unity Coalition|Respect}} (MP 2005- )
* {{Oona King}}, {{Labour Party (UK)|Labour}} (MP 1997-2005)

Members of Parliament, {{Poplar and Canning Town (UK Parliament constituency)|Poplar and Canning Town}} :
* {{Jim Fitzpatrick (politician)|Jim Fitzpatrick}}, {{Labour Party (UK)|Labour}} (MP 1997- )

;Victorian Era
* Sir {{William Perkin}} (1838â€"1907) chemist who discovered {{aniline}} purple dye was baptised at {{St. Paul's Church, Shadwell}}
* {{Oscar Wilde}} (1854â€"1900) visited the opium dens near Dellow Street
* {{Arthur Conan Doyle}} (1859â€"1930) visited the opium dens as research for his detective character {{Sherlock Holmes}}.
* Charles Jamrach was the most extensive dealer in wild animals in the world, and had his shop on The Highway.

;Earlier{{Image:James_Cook_Blue_Plaque.png|thumb|300px|right|Blue plaque for Captain James Cook.}}
* Captain {{James Cook}} (1728-1779) lived in the area, and baptised some of his children at {{St. Paul's Church, Shadwell}}, on Ratcliff Highway. A {{blue plaque}} commemorates him at 326 The Highway. (A slate plaque also marks his home at 88 Mile End Road).
* Jane Randolph (1720â€"1776), mother of {{Thomas Jefferson}}, was baptised at {{St. Paul's Church, Shadwell}}
* {{John Wesley}} (1703-1791) preached at St. Paul's Church, Shadwell.
*{{Nicholas Hawksmoor}} (1661-1736) architect who designed the church of St. George in the East, a prominent landmark halfway along The Highway.

; People inspiring local street names
*{{Nathaniel Heckford|Nathaniel Heckford}} — a young doctor who founded a local children's hospital
*{{Daniel Solander|Daniel Solander}} — Swedish botanist who travelled with {{James Cook}} exploring the Pacific islands
*{{Emanuel Swedenborg|Emanuel Swedenborg}} — Swedish scientist, philosopher and mystic, in the Georgian era

History

Ratcliff Highway

The route of this road was shown in maps for Roman London. It ran just above the low lying tidal marshes of Wapping, and gave direct to the red clay banks (red cliffs) of Radcliffe (now Limehouse).

A Roman bath house was excavated in 2004, by the junction of The Highway and Wapping Lane. The discovery of women's jewellery along with soldier's possessions, suggests that this location outside of the Roman walls allowed less restricted use of the baths than those in the City itself.The remains of the baths and under-floor heating system were re-buried (for later archaeologists) under the car park of the new flats.

By 1908, Ratcliff Highway had different names for each of its sections. From west to east these ran: "St. George's Street East", "High Street (Shadwell) ", "Cock Hill", "Broad Street.

The whole of the central area of The Highway was named after {{St George in the East}} church and its parish.

The printing union's 1986 {{Wapping dispute}} with {{News International}} led to a prolonged and sometimes violent pickets of the media corporation's Wapping works (nicknamed "{{Fortress Wapping}}"), just off The Highway in Virginia Street.

Trivia

The Highway is on the route of the annual {{London Marathon}} and the {{London Triathlon}}, for which the road is closed to traffic for most of the Sunday.

Neighbouring streets

West of The Highway:
*East Smithfield

North of The Highway starting from the west:
*{{Cable Street}} — runs parallel to The Highway
*Dock Street — already existed as Dock Street in 1830
*Ensign Street — formerly Wells Street (in 1862)
*Hard's Place — a path between Wellclose Square and the south end of Ensign Street
*Graces Alley — formerly Gracies Alley — a path between Wellclose Square and the north end of Ensign Street — home to {{Wiltons Music Hall}}
*{{Wellclose Square}} — already existed as Wellclose Square in 1830 & 1862
*{{Emanuel Swedenborg|Swedenbourg}} Gardens
*Princes Square — no longer exists: replaced by a small park
*Betts Street — formerly connected Cable Street to The Highway (in 1862)
*Crowder Street — formerly Denmark Street (in 1862)
*Cannon Street Road
*Dellow Street
*{{Daniel Solander|Solander}} Gardens
*King David Lane
*Juniper Street — formerly Juniper Row (in 1862)
*Tarbert Walk
*Redcastle Close — formerly Carriage Way (in 1862)
*Glamis Road
*Glamis Place
*Brodlove Lane — formerly Love Lane (in 1862)
*Elf Row — formerly Elm Row (in 1862)
*Glasshouse Fields — formerly Glasshouse Street (in 1862)
*Schoolhouse Lane
*{{Nathaniel Heckford|Heckford}} Street — formerly Burlington Place (in 1862) — a trades wholesaler park
*Ratcliffe Orchard — formerly The Orchard (in 1862)

East of The Highway:
*Butcher Row — formerly Butcher Row and White Horse Street (in 1862)
*{{Narrow Street}}
*{{Limehouse Link}} — a road tunnel to:
**West India Dock Road &
**Aspen Way (north of {{Canary Wharf}})

South of The Highway starting from the west:
*Vaughan Way
*Virginia Street — existed by 1862
*Telford's Yard
*Breezers Hill — existed by 1862
*Artichoke Hill — existed by 1862 (the escape route for the Ratcliff Highway murderers)
*Chigwell Hill — existed by 1862
*Pennington Street — existed by 1862
*Wapping Lane — formerly Old Gravel Lane (in 1862)
*Sovereign Close
*Princes Court
*West Gardens — existed by 1862
*Rum Close
*Garnet Street — formerly New Gravel Lane (in 1862)
*Newlands Quay — formerly Elbow Lane (in 1862)
*Maynards Quay
*Glamis Road
*Pear Tree Lane — formerly Fox's Lane (in 1862). Named after The Pear Tree, the inn where the second group of {{Ratcliff Highway murders}} took place.
*Shadwell Basin — leading to the water sports activity centre in the former dock
*Jardine Road
*Rialto Avenue

The Highway: Encyclopedia BETA

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