London Borough of Tower Hamlets

"Tower Hamlets" redirects here. For

For other uses, see London Borough of Tower Hamlets (disambiguation).

, see Tower Hamlets (disambiguation).

The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London borough to the east of the City of London, England and north of the River Thames in East London. It includes much of the redeveloped Docklands region of London, including West India Docks and Canary Wharf. Many of the tallest buildings in London are located on the Isle of Dogs in the south of the borough.

Tower Hamlets is one of five London boroughs which will be hosting the Olympic Park of the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Geography and Administration

Civic History

The name "Tower Hamlets" historically applied to the Tower division of the county of Middlesex, covering not only the present borough, but also part of the present-day London Borough of Hackney. The Constable of the Tower of London had special jurisdiction over the area from the 16th century until 1889. Inhabitants of Tower Hamlets were originally required to provide yeomen for the Tower of London. Later the Constable became Lord Lieutenant of the area, raising and organising the local militia. Under the Reform Act 1832 the area became a parliamentary borough. The name continued to be used for constituencies until 1918.

The borough itself was formed in 1965 out of the former area of the metropolitan boroughs of Bethnal Green, Poplar and Stepney which formed the classic East End.

Politics

Parliament

For elections to Parliament, the Borough is within two constituencies:

• Bethnal Green & Bow, whose current incumbent is George Galloway (Respect), since the 2005 general election.
• Poplar & Canning Town, represented by Jim Fitzpatrick (Labour), since the 1997 general election, when the constituency was formed.

The Borough is a part of the London constituency for election to the European Parliament.

Greater London Assembly

The borough lies within the City and East constituency, and is represented by John Biggs, Labour.

Local council

The controlling and majority group is Labour. Since the May 2006 local elections, the composition has been:

Party	councillors
Labour	26
Respect	12
Conservative	7
Liberal Democrats	6

Details of individual ward councillors can be found at the Boroughs' ward pages (below).

Physical Geography

The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is located to east of the City of London, England and north of the River Thames in East London. The London Borough of Hackney lies to the north of the borough while the London Borough of Newham lies to the east.

The Isle of Dogs sits in the middle of the largest current meander of the River Thames and the southern part of the borough forms part of the flood plain of the River Thames and but for the Thames Barrier would be vulnerable to flooding.

The Regents Canal flows through the borough on its way from North London to the River Thames at Limehouse Basin.

Areas within the borough

Areas included in the borough:

• Bethnal Green
• Blackwall
• Bow
• Bromley-by-Bow
• Cambridge Heath
• Cubitt Town
• Globe Town
• Isle of Dogs
• Limehouse
• Mile End
• Millwall
• Old Ford
• Poplar
• Ratcliff
• Shadwell
• Spitalfields
• Stepney
• Wapping
• Whitechapel

History

See the articles for the abovementioned areas for the history of each of the areas within Tower Hamlets.

Local landmarks

Historical landmarks

Canary Wharf, seen from a high-level walkway on Tower Bridge

• Tower of London
• site of the old Royal Mint
• Hawksmoor's Christ Church, Spitalfields
• Victoria Park
• Cable Street - site of the Battle of Cable Street

Modern landmarks

• In the Canary Wharf complex:
  • One Canada Square
  • HSBC Tower, London
  • Citigroup Centre

• In the Heron Quays complex:
  • 40 Bank Street
  • 10 Upper Bank Street
  • 25 Bank Street

• Also in the Docklands:
  • One Churchill Place

• Elsewhere in the Borough
  • The Green Bridge, Mile End

Present Day

Demographics

According to the 2001 census key statistics for the borough include

• a population of 196,106.
• 52% are under 30, the highest percentage in England (average 38%)
• 51% of the population is white, 33% Bangladeshi, 3% Black African and 3% black Caribbean.
• 29% of the borough are owner–occupiers.

Economic Profile

At the 2001 census, the borough had the highest rate of unemployment in Great Britain at 12.7%. Part of the borough is within the boundary of the Thames Gateway.

Education

Schools

37,500 pupils go to 98 schools in Tower Hamlets. The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is the local education authority for state schools within the borough [1].

Universities

• Queen Mary, a constituent college of the University of London.
• Barts and The London, Queen Mary's School of Medicine and Dentistry

Sports and Leisure

Main article: Tower Hamlets parks and open spaces

The Olympics

Tower Hamlets is one of five boroughs to host the Olympic Park for the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Parks in Tower Hamlets

• LBTH website: Parks in Tower Hamlets
• LBTH website: Parks Walks - suggested routes, maps and directions

Museums

• The Island History Trust
• The Museum in Docklands
• The Victoria and Albert Museum of Childhood
• The Ragged School Museum

External links

• LBTH Ward data report (2005) information on Tower Hamlets at the Ward level
• Tower Hamlets Council
• LBTH find your councillor
• Local area partnerships
• East End Nightshots on jacktheripper.de
• East London Markets
• New Spitalfields Market
• Old Spitalfields Market

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