The Highway

The Highway, formerly known as the Ratcliffe Highway, is a mile-long road in the East End of London, with several historic landmarks nearby. The route dates back to Roman times. In the 19th century it had a very notorious reputation for vice and crime and was the site of the infamous Ratcliff Highway murders. The name 'Ratcliffe' literally means 'Red Cliff', referring to the red sandstone cliffs which descended from the plateau on which the road was situated down to the Wapping Marshes to the south.

Location

The Highway runs west-east from the eastern edge of The City to Limehouse. It is 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.

History

The Ratcliffe Highway was probably, originally, a Roman Road, running east from the City of London along the top of a plateau near the edge of the eponymous 'red cliff' which descended onto the low lying tidal marshes of Wapping to the south.

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.

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, 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 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 Pauls and Elephant and Castle.
* D3 connects to Isle of Dogs, Limehouse, Shadwell and Bethnal Green.

Rail

(All in Transport for London's Zone 2)

London Underground stations:

*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
*Limehouse DLR station
National Rail stations:
*Limehouse railway station

People

Some names associated with the area:

;PoliticiansMembers of Parliament, Bethnal Green and Bow :
* George Galloway, Respect (MP 2005- )
* Oona King, Labour (MP 1997-2005)

Members of Parliament, Poplar and Canning Town :
* Jim Fitzpatrick, Labour (MP 1997- )

;Victorian Era
* Sir William Henry Perkin (1838–1907) chemist who discovered aniline purple dye was baptised at St. Paul's Church, Shadwell
* Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) visited the opium dens near Dellow Street
* Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930) 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
* 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 (1720–1776), 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 — a young doctor who founded a local children's hospital
*Daniel Solander — Swedish botanist who travelled with James Cook exploring the Pacific islands
*Emanuel Swedenborg — Swedish scientist, philosopher and mystic, in the Georgian era

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 Wilton's Music Hall
*Wellclose Square — already existed as Wellclose Square in 1830 & 1862
*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
*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
*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 tunnel — 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

ee also

*St George in the East
*Ratcliff Highway murders
*Cable Street
*Fairport Convention. Ratcliff Highway is referred to in a song entitled The Deserter on their 1969 Liege and Lief LP.