Everything about Wapping totally explained
Wapping (pronounced 'Wopping') is a place in the
London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is situated on the north bank of the
River Thames between
The City to the west and
Shadwell to the east and north, and it faces
Bermondsey and
Rotherhithe on the south bank, separated from them by that section of the Thames known as the Lower Pool. It is also part of the
Docklands area of London. Wapping lies between the River Thames and the ancient thoroughfare simply called
The Highway.
History
Origins
The area was first settled by
Saxons, from whom it takes its name (meaning literally "[theplace of] Wæppa's people"). It developed along the embankment of the Thames, hemmed in by the river to the south and the now-drained Wapping Marsh to the north. This gave it a peculiarly narrow and constricted shape, consisting of little more than the axis of Wapping High Street and some north-south side streets.
John Stow, the
16th century historian, described it as a "continual street, or a filthy strait passage, with alleys of small tenements or cottages, built, inhabited by sailors' victuallers".
Wapping's proximity to the river gave it a strong maritime character for centuries, well into the
20th century. It was inhabited by sailors, mastmakers, boat-builders, blockmakers, instrument-makers, victuallers and representatives of all the other trades that supported the seafarer. Wapping was also the site of '
Execution Dock', where
pirates and other water-borne criminals faced
execution by
hanging from a
gibbet constructed close to the low water mark. Their bodies would be left dangling until they'd been submerged three times by the tide.. The couple initially settled in
Shadwell, attending
St Paul's church, but later moved to
Mile End. Although they'd six children together, much of their married life was spent with Cook absent on his voyages, and after his murder in 1779 at
Kealakekua Bay, she survived until 1835.
Dockland area
Said to be England's first, the
Marine Police Force, were formed by magistrate
Patrick Colquhoun and a Master Mariner, John Harriott, in 1798 to tackle theft and looting from ships anchored in the
Pool of London and the lower reaches of the river. Its base was (and remains) in Wapping High Street, it's now known as the
Marine Support Unit.
In 1811, the horrific
Ratcliff Highway murders took place nearby, at
The Highway and Wapping Lane.
The area's strong maritime associations changed radically in the
19th century when the
London Docks were built to the north and west of the High Street. Wapping's population plummeted by nearly 60% during the century, with many houses destroyed by the construction of the docks and giant warehouses along the riverfront. Squeezed between the high walls of the docks and warehouses, the district became isolated from the rest of London, although some relief was provided by Brunel's
Thames Tunnel to
Rotherhithe. The opening of
Wapping tube station on the
East London Line in
1869 provided a direct rail link to the rest of London.
Modern times
Wapping was devastated by
German bombing in
World War II and by the post-war closure of the docks. It remained a run-down and derelict area into the
1980s, when the area was transferred to the management of the
London Docklands Development Corporation, a government
quango with the task of redeveloping the Docklands. The London Docks were largely filled in and redeveloped with a variety of commercial, light industrial and residential properties.
In 1986,
Rupert Murdoch's
News International built a new £80m printing and publishing works in the north of Wapping. This became the scene of violent protests after News International's UK operation moved from
Fleet Street to Wapping, with over 5,000 print workers being sacked when new technology was introduced. The plant was nicknamed "
Fortress Wapping" when the sacked print workers effectively besieged it, mounting round-the-clock pickets and blockades in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to thwart the move. In 2005, News International announced the intention to move the print works to regional presses based in
Broxbourne (the world's largest printing plant, opened March 2008),
Liverpool and
Glasgow. The editorial staff will remain, however, and there's talk of redeveloping the sizeable plot that makes up the printing works
Wapping places
Perhaps Wapping's greatest attraction is the Thames foreshore itself, and the venerable public houses that face onto it. A number of the old 'stairs', such as Wapping Old Stairs and Pelican Stairs (by the Prospect of Whitby) give public access to a littoral zone (for the Thames is tidal at this point) littered with flotsam, jetsam and fragments of old dock installations. Understandably it's popular with amateur archaeologists and treasure hunters - it's surprisingly easy for even a casual visitor to pick up a centuries-old shard of pottery here.
Three venerable public houses offer much-needed refreshment after these expeditions, all conveniently located by stairs. By Pelican Stairs is the
Prospect of Whitby, which makes the much-disputed claim to be the oldest Thames-side pub still in existence. Be that as it may, there has been an inn on the site since the reign of
Henry VIII, and this is certainly one of the most famous pubs in London. The inn is named after a then-famous ship that docked regularly at Wapping. A replica of the old Execution Dock gibbet is maintained on the foreshore next to the pub, presumably as a warning to rowdy drinkers. (A tourist-pleaser, actually — the real Execution Dock was, in fact, by the site of the Town of Ramsgate at Wapping Old Stairs — see below.)
Less well-known, but nonetheless popular, is the Town of Ramsgate, again on the site of a 16th-century inn, located next to Wapping Old Stairs to the west of the Prospect.
Situated half way between the two is the Captain Kidd, named after the Scottish privateer
William Kidd. He was hanged on the Wapping foreshore in 1701 after being found guilty of murder and piracy. The public house occupies a 17th century building, but it was only established in the 1980s.
Literary and cultural references
- W.W. Jacobs, author of The Monkey's Paw, was born in Wapping.
- American painter James McNeill Whistler, well known for his Thames views, lived in Wapping . His painting Wapping which he began in October 1860 wasn't finished till 1864. it was exhibited at the Tate Britain in 2005. It is permanently displayed at the National Gallery of Art Washington.
- Poet John Keats wrote an unpublished poem in June 1877 entitled "Pensive they sit, and roll their languid eyes" in which he mentions Wapping in the final line.
- Wapping was the setting for the popular BBC sitcom Till Death Us Do Part. The series creator and writer, Johnny Speight, named Alf Garnett, the central character, after Garnet Street in Wapping.
- Wapping was the scene for the Ruby In The Smoke, in the Sally Lockhart series of books by Phillip Pullman.
- Notable fictional residents also include Bernard Cornwell's Major Richard Sharpe from the Sharpe book and TV series.
- Wapping was also the setting for the brothel in The Threepenny Opera, in which Mac the Knife was betrayed by Ginny Jenny.
- During the 90's Wapping was home to American entertainer Cher.
- In the 2002 Stuntman (video game), the first movie is called "Toothless in Wapping", a 'Mockney crime caper'.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Wapping'.
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