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Wapping in Middlesex County England History and GeographyWAPPING, a parish adjoining the eastern portion of the city of London, in the Tower division of the hundred of OSSULSTONE, county of MIDDLESEX, containing 3078 inhabitants. This place, originally overflowed by the Thames, was first recovered from inundation, and denominated Wapping Wash, in the reign of Elizabeth, under whose auspices it was enclosed and defended by walls. In the early part of the reign of Charles II., it comprised only one long strect, which extended from the Tower along the northern bank of the Thames. In the reign of William and Mary it was made a parish, by act of parliament. About the end of the last century, upwards of sixty houses and other buildings were destroyed by fire, and several lives were lost, from the explosion of some barrels of gunpowder: the damage sustained on this occasion was estimated at more than £200,000. On the abdication of James II., the notorious judge Jeffreys, who had fled in order to escape the probable effects of popular rage, assumed the disguise of a sailor, and concealed himself for a short time in an obscure part of Wapping, but was at last discovered and committed to the Tower, where he died in a few days. The parish, part of which is in the precincts of Wellclose, in the liberty of the Tower, consists of several streets, which are well paved and lighted with gas, the main street having been recently widened in several places; and the inhabitants are well supplied with water. It is within the jurisdiction of the court of requests for the Tower Hamlets, for the recovery of debts not amounting to 40s. The business transacted is chiefly of a maritime and commercial character, to the growth of which the construction of the London docks has materially contributed: they occupy more than twenty acres of ground, extend nearly as far as Ratcliffe Highway, are enclosed by a wall, and contain numerous and extensive warehouses and cellars; the larger dock, called St. George's, is capable of receiving five hundred ships, and the smaller, denominated Shadwell dock, will hold about fifty: they are entered from the Thames by means of three basons, and from corresponding stairs, called Hermitage, Old Wapping, and Old Shadwell stairs. The largest tobacco warehouse is seven hundred and sixty-two feet by one hundred and sixty, and the smallest two hundred and fifty feet by two hundred. The first stone of the entrance bason, and those of the respective warehouses, were laid June 26th, 1802; and the docks were opened, in the presence of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and some of the principal officers of state, with appropriate ceremonies, at the commencement of the year 1805. The whole of this immense establishment is under the control of the officers of the customs, and the capital of the Dock Company is estimated at £1,200,000. The living is a rectory not in charge, in the archdeaconry of Middlesex, and diocese of London, and in the patronage of the Principal and Fellows of Brasenose College, Oxford. The church, which is dedicated to St. John the Baptist, contains a very fine monument, by Roubilliac. There is a place of worship for Roman Catholics. The free school was established by subscription, in 1704; in 1822, its funds were augmented by a bequest of £5000 from Samuel Troutbeck, of Madras, Esq., and it is further supported by voluntary contributions; seventy boys and fifty girls are educated. A Roman Catholic school, in this parish, affords instruction to about four hundred children of both sexes. Thomas Dilworth, author of the spelling-book, and system of arithmetic, was master of the parochial free school. From Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England 1831, courtesy of Databases 4 Sale |
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