Carlton Square
Now 62andthenext10pathways has shown that parts of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets had been very spacious and green. Beginning in the late C17th, small clusters of houses and terraces appeared along Mile End Rd when there was already a Spanish Portuguese community. A new suburban neighbourhood was developing in the early C18th, inhabited by a wealthy class of merchants and sea captains in larger houses. Only with the development of open land did the wealthier families begin to move away.
But it wasn’t until the Pemberton Barnes Trust, which owned the open fields, begun letting them in 1853 that new clusters of large scale suburban developments appeared along the Mile End Rd.
Long before the Carlton Square Conservation Area was formally designated in Sept 1987, we need to examine how the conservation area was protected. It had an irregular boundary, extending from Massingham St and Bancroft Rd to the north, to Mile End Rd to the south. It included the terraces of Tollet St along its western boundary, and the Grantley St terraces to the east.
With the wealthier inhabitants leaving Mile End, and a large Jewish community of migrants moving into this area, it prompted cultural changes. A collection of synagogues and cultural institutions were built, including founding the Hospital for Spanish and Portuguese Jews in Mile End Rd by 1799. Mile End Rd was no longer considered a desirable place of residence, but it was becoming a commercial hub, forming the basis for the mix of tenure. When the hamlet of Mile End Old Town was assumed by the Borough of Stepney by 1899, the area had its own workhouse and vestry hall (later library) on Bancroft Rd.
The mid C19th saw large scale building to provide cheap, sanitary housing for the working classes. The houses were developed by William Pemberton Barnes Trust on open land known as Globe Fields. The Trust began letting the houses from 1853 and later sold 200 properties to the Peabody Trust, now the major landowners. There were some areas of later Victorian houses built after the first phase, especially south of Alderney Rd, Bancroft Rd and Grantley St.
In the 1960s, the clearing of housing formed a public open space. The conservation area was characterised by its cohesive group of mid-late Victorian housing, which remain largely intact.
Mile End Hospital
It was this history of single ownership that ensured cohesive examples of mid-Victorian housing, with the square itself providing an important green lung in the area, still largely intact. The only houses which have been lost were in the two streets north of Massingham St, the terraces at Bancroft Rd’s northern end and the houses on Globe Rd.
Some of the civic buildings along Bancroft Rd have changed use, but the public buildings of historical & architectural significance were preserved. The Conservation Area included 3 Grade II listed facilities, 1] the Library, 2] mid C19th Mile End Hospital and 3] two disused burial grounds.
The first of the listed buildings was Mile End Hospital, built in Jacobean style with 3-storeys in red brick, white stone dressings and geometric designs. Its centre had balustraded bay windows over 2-storeys, surmounted by Flemish gables.
The second, further south along Bancroft Rd, was the Tower Hamlets Library. The library was built in two parts, with the northern end built in 1865 and the southern part a bit earlier. The library was reconstructed of white stone with heavy eaves cornice. Presented with banding between the 2-storeys, the ground floor had central round arched windows and a door flanked by Tuscan pilasters.
The third was the Jewish Burial Ground opened in 1657, established by Spanish & Portuguese Jews. The oldest Jewish burial groundse in Britain, note the C18th perimeter brick wall, with rendered plinth and brick capping. South of Carlton Square Gardens, the Jewish Cemeteries formed a group of open spaces. Burials took place there until 1758.
The first of the listed buildings was Mile End Hospital, built in Jacobean style with 3-storeys in red brick, white stone dressings and geometric designs. Its centre had balustraded bay windows over 2-storeys, surmounted by Flemish gables.
The third was the Jewish Burial Ground opened in 1657, established by Spanish & Portuguese Jews. The oldest Jewish burial groundse in Britain, note the C18th perimeter brick wall, with rendered plinth and brick capping. South of Carlton Square Gardens, the Jewish Cemeteries formed a group of open spaces. Burials took place there until 1758.
Jewish Burial Ground
used 1657-1758
3-bedroom flats
Argyle St
Carlton Square and the adjoining Carlton Square Gardens were the open spaces that were surrounded by rows of terraces. Argyle Rd, Tollet St, Holton St, Portelet Rd and Grantley St generally consisted of mid C19th, 2-storey terraces. Higher 3-storey properties with basements existed along Bancroft Rd and Alderney Rd. Their importance was reflected in their later protection against development above ground, by the 1931 London Squares Preservation Act.
Views in the area were framed along existing residential streets, where the character of the C19th terrace housing created quality views. Other views existed towards the open garden spaces. This was such an area of special architectural and historic interest that Carlton Square Conservation Area complied perfectly with the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990.
Arnold Circus, Bethnal Green
Note Mile End and Bethnal Green