Editing Limehouse (section)

==History==
{{Moresources|section|date=June 2023}}
===Etymology===
[[File:Stepney Civil Parish Map 1870.png|thumb|250px|A map showing the civil parish boundaries in 1870.]]
[[File:Stepney Met. B Ward Map 1916.svg|thumb|A map showing the Limehouse wards of Stepney Metropolitan Borough as they appeared in 1916.]]
The name relates to the local [[lime kiln]]s or, more precisely, lime [[oast]]s, by the river.  The name is from [[Old English language|Old English]] ''līm-āst'' "lime-oast", and appears in a 1335 record.<ref>{{cite book|year=1998|title=A History of the County Middlesex|volume=11|chapter=Stepney: Settlement and Building to c.1700|publisher=Victoria County History|location=London|url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/middx/vol11/pp13-19|access-date=16 March 2024}}</ref><!--Commented out: This source is not online and does not verify that it is the earliest reference date: The earliest reference is to ''Les Lymhostes'', in 1356.<ref>''Folios cxci – cc: Dec 1416 – ', [[Calendar of letter-books of the city of London]]: I: 1400–1422 (1909), pp. 175–86''</ref>
The place appears in 1473 as "Lymehurst", with the occupation appearing as "lymebrenar"<ref>http://aalt.law.uh.edu/AALT2/E4/CP40no847/aCP40no847fronts/IMG_0745.htm ; second entry</ref>--->

The name is found used in 1417:<blockquote>Inquisicio capta sup' litus Thomisie apud Lymhosteys pro morte Thome Frank.
<br />("''Inquest held on the shore of the Thames by Lymhosteys for the death of Thomas Frank''")
<br />17 Aug, 5 Henry V. [A.D. 1417], inquest held before "les Lymehostes" within the liberty and franchise of the City, before Henry Bartone, the Mayor, and the King's Escheator, as to the cause of the death of Thomas Franke, of [[Harwich|Herewich]], late steersman (conductor) or "lodysman" of a ship called "la Mary Knyght" of [[Danzig|Danzsk]] in Prussia. A jury sworn, viz., John Baille, Matthew Holme, Robert Marle, Henry Mark, Alexander Bryan, John Goby, Richard Hervy, Walter Steel, Peter West, Richard Stowell, John Dyse, and Walter Broun. They find that the said Thomas Franke was killed by falling on the sharp end of an anchor</blockquote>

===Administrative history===
The area was part of the [[Historic counties of England|historic (or ancient) county]] of [[Middlesex]], but military and most (or all) civil county functions were managed more locally, by the [[Tower division|Tower Division (also known as the Tower Hamlets)]], under the leadership of the Lord-Lieutenant of the Tower Hamlets (the post was always filled by the [[Constable of the Tower of London]]).

The role of the ''Tower Division'' ended when Limehouse became part of the new [[County of London]] in 1889. In 1900, metropolitan boroughs were created for the County of London, and Limehouse became a part of the [[Metropolitan Borough of Stepney]]. In 1965, the County of London was replaced by [[Greater London]], and Stepney borough merged with neighbouring boroughs to form Tower Hamlets.

===Maritime links===
{{see also|Shipbuilding in Limehouse}}
From its foundation, Limehouse, like neighbouring [[Wapping]], has enjoyed better links with the river than the land, the land route being across a [[marsh]]. Limehouse became a significant [[port]] in late [[Middle Ages|medieval times]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Foley |first1=Michael |title=London's Docklands through time |date=2014 |publisher=[[Amberley Publishing]] |isbn=9781445640495 |page=24 |edition=2014}}</ref> Although most cargoes were discharged in the [[Pool of London]] before the establishment of the docks, industries such as [[shipbuilding]], [[ship chandler]]ing and [[rope]] making were established in Limehouse.
[[File:John Boydell - View of the riverside at Limehouse 1751.JPG|thumb|right|[[John Boydell]]'s view of the riverside at Limehouse in 1751 shows respectable houses and shipyards crowding onto the riverfront]]
[[Limehouse Basin]] opened in 1820 as the ''Regent's Canal Dock''. This was an important connection between the Thames and the canal system, where cargoes could be transferred from larger ships to the shallow-draught canal boats. This mix of vessels can still be seen in the Basin: [[canal]] [[narrowboat]]s rubbing shoulders with seagoing [[yacht]]s.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.portcities.org.uk/london/server/show/ConFactFile.80/Regents-Canal-Dock.html |title=Regent's Canal Dock – London's docks and shipping |publisher=Port Cities |date=29 October 2012 |access-date=14 December 2016}}</ref>

From the [[Tudor period|Tudor era]] until the 20th century, ships crews were employed on a casual basis. New and replacement crews would be found wherever they were available – foreign sailors in their own waters being particularly prized for their knowledge of currents and hazards in ports around the world. Crews would be paid off at the end of their voyages and, inevitably, permanent communities of foreign sailors became established, including colonies of [[Lascar]]s and [[Ethnic groups of Africa|Africans]] from the [[Guinea (region)|Guinea Coast]]. Large Chinese communities developed at [[Shadwell]], Limehouse and the adjoining Pennyfields area of [[Poplar, London|Poplar]].<ref>On the Chinese at Pennyfields, Poplar 'Pennyfields', in Survey of London: Volumes 43 and 44, Poplar, Blackwall and Isle of Dogs, ed. Hermione Hobhouse (London, 1994), pp. 111-113. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/vols43-4/pp111-113 [accessed 22 September 2021].</ref> These were established by the crews of [[Cargo ship|merchantmen]] in the [[Opium#Prohibition and conflict in China|opium]] and [[tea]] trades, particularly [[Han Chinese]]. The area achieved notoriety for [[opium]] dens in the late 19th century, often featured in [[pulp magazine|pulp fiction]] works by [[Sax Rohmer]] and others. Like much of the [[East End of London|East End]] it remained a focus for [[immigration]], but after the devastation of the [[Second World War]] many of the [[British Chinese|Chinese community]] relocated to [[Soho]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.portcities.org.uk/london/server/show/ConNarrative.127/chapterId/2614/Chinese-in-the-Port-of-London.html |title=Chinese in the Port of London – Port communities |publisher=Port Cities |date=14 November 2012 |access-date=14 December 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.portcities.org.uk/london/server/show/ConNarrative.96/chapterId/2682/The-port-in-literature.html |title=The port in literature – Thames art, literature and architecture |publisher=Port Cities |date=14 November 2012 |access-date=14 December 2016}}</ref>

On 12 February 1832, the first case of [[cholera]] was reported in London at Limehouse. First described in [[India]] in 1817, it had spread here via [[Hamburg]]. Although 800 people died during this epidemic, it was fewer than had died of [[tuberculosis]] in the same year.  Unfortunately, cholera visited again in 1848 and 1858.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.mernick.co.uk/thhol/1832chol.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041127203900/http://www.mernick.co.uk/thhol/1832chol.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=27 November 2004|title=The 1832 cholera epidemic in East London (1979)|date=27 November 2004}}</ref>

The use of Limehouse Basin as a major distribution hub declined with the growth of the railways, although the revival of canal traffic during World War I and World War II gave it a brief swansong. Today, [[Stepney Historical Trust]] works to advance the public's education in the history of the area.

===Post-industrial regeneration===
[[File:Limehouse_Reach.jpg|thumb|Limehouse Reach seen from above Limehouse Marina, with Ropemakers' Fields in the foreground.]]
Limehouse Basin was amongst the first docks to close in the late 1960s. By 1981, Limehouse shared the docklands-wide physical, social and economic decline which led to the setting up of the [[London Docklands Development Corporation]]. In November 1982, the LDDC published its Limehouse Area Development Strategy.<ref name="LDDC Completion Booklet">{{cite web|url=http://www.lddc-history.org.uk/wapping/index.html#Intro |title=LDDC Completion Booklet – Wapping and Limehouse |website=Lddc-history.org.uk |access-date=14 December 2016}}</ref> This built on existing plans for Limehouse Basin, and offered a discussion framework for future development, housing refurbishment and environmental improvements across the whole of Limehouse. It was based on four major projects: Limehouse Basin, Free Trade Wharf, what was then known as the Light Rapid Transit Route (DLR) and the Docklands Northern Relief Road, a road corridor between The Highway and East India Dock across the north of the Isle of Dogs.

In the mid-1980s, developments on the nearby Isle of Dogs (particularly at Canary Wharf), proved to be the catalyst to delivering infrastructure improvements which benefitted Limehouse and some other areas of the London Docklands.{{Citation needed|date=December 2009}}

The sheer scale of the [[Canary Wharf]] proposals, and, in due course, the rapid implementation of the first phase of development, provided the impetus to the transport improvements which completely altered prospects for Limehouse as well as for the [[Isle of Dogs]].{{Citation needed|date=December 2009}} The derelict Regent's Canal Dock was converted into Limehouse Marina.

The [[Troxy]] concert venue is located in Limehouse on the Commercial Road.