Coordinates: 51°30′55″N 0°02′46″W / 51.5152°N 0.0462°W / 51.5152; -0.0462

Stepney
Winterton House, a typical Stepney tower block
Stepney  Stepney shown within Greater London
OS grid reference	TQ355814
- Charing Cross	3.6 mi (5.8 km)  WSW
London borough	Tower Hamlets
Ceremonial county	Greater London
Region	London
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	LONDON
Postcode district	E1
Dialling code	020
Police	Metropolitan
Fire	London
Ambulance	London
EU Parliament	London
UK Parliament	Bethnal Green and Bow
London Assembly	City and East
List of places: UK • England • London

Stepney is a district of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in London's East End that grew out of a medieval village around St Dunstan's church and the 15th century ribbon development of Mile End Road. The area built up rapidly in the 19th century, mainly to accommodate immigrant workers and displaced London poor, and developed a reputation for poverty, overcrowding, violence and political dissent.^[1] It was severely damaged during the Blitz, with over a third of housing totally destroyed; and then, in the 1960s, slum clearance and development replaced most residential streets with tower blocks and modern housing estates. Some Georgian architecture and Victorian era terraced housing survive in patches: for example Arbour Square, the eastern side of Stepney Green, and the streets around Matlock Street.^[1][2]

The area has not yet experienced the levels of gentrification seen in nearby Bow, Wapping and Limehouse but some redevelopment has taken place. The former Arbour Square Police Station and the East End Mission building are also being redeveloped.

Stepney is roughly bounded by Commercial Road, part of the A13, in the south, Mile End Road, part of the A11, in the north and the Regent's Canal in the east. The Western Boundary with Whitechapel is rather ambiguous. It is administered by the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.

History[link]

As with most of the East End of London, Stepney was sparsely populated marshland until the 19th century, when the development of London's docks and railways, combined with slum clearance, pushed the displaced poor and various immigrants looking for work into cheap housing being built in the area.

The first community developed around the church of St Dunstan's, which was founded in 923. By the time of the Domesday Book survey of 1085 the land was held by the Bishop of London and was 32 hides large, mainly giving over to ploughing, meadows, woodland for 500 pigs, and 4 mills. There were over 100 serfs, split between villeins who ploughed the land, and cottars who assisted the villeins in return for a hut or cottage.

Bishop William held this land in demesne, in the manor of Stepney, on the day on which King Edward was alive and dead. In the same vill Ranulph Flambard holds 3½ hides of the bishop.^[3]

The Manor of Stepney was held by the Bishop of London in compensation for his duties in maintaining and garrisoning the Tower of London. Further ecclesiastic holdings came about from the need to enclose the marshes and create flood defences along the Thames. Edward VI passed the land to the Wentworth family, and thence to their descendants, the Earls of Cleveland. The ecclesiastic system of copyhold, whereby land was leased to tenants for terms as short as seven years, prevailed throughout the manor. This severely limited scope for improvement of the land and new building until the estate was broken up in the 19th century.^[4]

In the early 20th century, Stepney was one of the most Jewish neighbourhoods in England;^[5] it was eventually replaced by Stamford Hill.^[6]

The Siege of Sidney Street took place in Stepney in 1911.

Governance[link]

Stepney formed a large ancient parish in the Ossulstone hundred of Middlesex; bounded by Bromley and West Ham to the east, the River Thames to the south, Shoreditch and Hackney to the north and the City of London and the Liberties of the Tower of London to the west.^[7] The parish included the hamlets of Mile End Old Town, Mile End New Town, and Ratcliff. At its early extent it additionally included Whitechapel, Wapping, Stratford Bow, Shadwell, Spitalfields, Bethnal Green, Limehouse and Poplar. Over time the parish was broken up with these settlements forming new independent parishes, leaving a residual parish of 830 acres (340 ha) comprising Mile End Old Town, Mile End New Town and Ratcliff.^[7]

Stepney is an episcopal area in the Anglican Diocese of London, which covers the London boroughs of Hackney, Islington and Tower Hamlets, and has its own suffragan bishop.^[8]

The Metropolitan Borough of Stepney was formed in 1900, then dissolved in 1965 when it was absorbed into the newly created London Borough of Tower Hamlets which currently administers the area.^[1]

Geography[link]

Stepney is located 3.6 miles (5.8 km) east north-east of Charing Cross. It is roughly bounded by Commercial Road, part of the A13, in the south, Mile End Road, part of the A11, in the north and the Regent's Canal in the east. The Western Boundary with Whitechapel is rather ambiguous.

Nearest places

• Limehouse
• Mile End
• Shadwell
• Whitechapel
• Wapping

Demography[link]

Due to cheap housing the East End of London and Stepney has been home to various immigrants who contributed to the culture and history of the area, such as the Huguenots in the 17th century,^[9] the Irish in the 18th century,^[10] Ashkenazi Jews fleeing pogroms in Eastern Europe towards the end of the 19th century,^[11] and the Bangladeshi community settling in the East End from the 1960s.^[12] The area still contains a range of immigrants, particularly young Asian families, as well as elderly East Enders, some students, and the beginnings of a young middle class.^[2] Based on 2001 census, Bangladeshis were the largest ethnic group (43%), then the White British (39%).

Stepney Green[link]

Stepney Green developed as a street of residential housing off the Mile End Road in the 15th century, and is now a conservation area.^[13][14] A brewery was founded in 1738 that developed into Charrington and Co. in 1897. The brewery building, the Anchor Brewery, was on the north side of Mile End Road, opposite Stepney Green; and is now the site of the Anchor Retail Unit, owned by Henderson Global Investors,^[15] though the Brewery Offices still remain on the corner of Mile End Road and Cephas Avenue.^[14]

Landmarks[link]

St Dunstan's, founded in 923, is Stepney's oldest church. The present building dates principally from the 15th century. St Dunstan's has a long association with the sea, being responsible for registration of British maritime births, marriages and deaths until the 19th century.

Stepney City Farm has been a feature in Stepney since opening as Stepping Stones Farm in 1979. A community resource, the farm aims to provide the people of East London a chance to experience rural life and engage in educational, environmental and creative projects. Stepney City farm is home to donkeys, cows, goats, pigs, sheep, ducks, geese, chickens, rabbits, ferrets and guinea pigs. As a working farm, eggs and vegetables are regularly sold.

Transport[link]

Stepney Green tube station

In the northern part of the district, the nearest London Underground stations are Mile End, Stepney Green and Whitechapel. All are on the Hammersmith & City and District Lines; Mile End is an interchange with the Central Line.

In the southern part of the district, the nearest Docklands Light Railway station is Limehouse. The station is also served by c2c, from Fenchurch Street station. It was formerly known as Stepney East.

Education[link]

For details of education in Stepney see the List of schools in Tower Hamlets

Notable people[link]

The entertainer Des O'Connor was born in Stepney,^[16] as were actors Steven Berkoff,^[17] Terence Stamp and Craig Fairbrass, playwright Arnold Wesker, artist Frank Paton, drummer Kenney Jones, musician and writer Jah Wobble,^[18] and singer Charles Coborn. In sport, Stepney lays claim to footballers Ledley King, Ashley Cole and Darren Purse, and heavyweight boxer "Bombardier" Billy Wells. Charlie Magri became world flyweight champion in 1983. He learnt his trade at the Arbour Youth Boxing Club in Stepney Green from the trainer, Jimmy Graham. Former armed robber, bare-knuckle boxer and businessman Roy Shaw was born in Stepney, whilst clergymen John Sentamu, formerly Bishop of Stepney, and Father Richard Wilson, founder of the Hoppers' Hospitals at Five Oak Green, Kent, lived in the borough at one time.^[19] Actor Roy Marsden was born in Stepney, as was EastEnders actress Anita Dobson.

Stepney Historical Trust[link]

The Stepney Historical Trust was set up in 1989 in order to advance the public's education in the history of Stepney and the surrounding areas. It is based in the London Dockers Athletic and Social Club. It has put up a series of plaques on sites of historic interest.

References[link]

v t e London Borough of Tower Hamlets Districts Bethnal Green Blackwall Bow Bow Common Bromley-by-Bow Cambridge Heath Canary Wharf Coldharbour Cubitt Town Globe Town East Smithfield Fish Island Isle of Dogs Leamouth Limehouse Mile End Millwall Old Ford Poplar Ratcliff St. George in the East Shadwell Spitalfields Stepney Wapping Whitechapel Attractions Brick Lane Christ Church, Spitalfields Fournier Street Museum of Childhood Museum in Docklands Ragged School Museum St Katharine Docks Tower Bridge Tower of London Traitors' Gate Whitechapel Art Gallery Street markets Petticoat Lane Brick Lane Columbia Road Old Spitalfields Roman Road Parks and open spaces Altab Ali Park Bartlett Park Island Gardens Langdon Park Mile End Park Mudchute Tower Hamlets Cemetery Victoria Park Constituencies Bethnal Green and Bow Poplar and Limehouse Bridges and tunnels Blackwall Tunnel Rotherhithe Tunnel Tower Bridge Tube and rail stations Aldgate East All Saints Bethnal Green Bethnal Green railway station Blackwall Bow Church Bow Road Bromley-by-Bow Cambridge Heath railway station Canary Wharf (DLR) Canary Wharf (tube) Crossharbour Devons Road East India Heron Quays Island Gardens Limehouse Mile End Mudchute Poplar Shadwell South Quay Stepney Green Tower Gateway Tower Hill Wapping railway station West India Quay Westferry Whitechapel Other topics People Public art Schools Category Commons

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Charles Stepney (March 26, 1931^[1][2][3]–May 17, 1976^[2][4]) was a producer, arranger, songwriter and musician famous for his Orchestral Psychedelic soul sound with Chicago's Cadet/Chess records in the 1960s/1970s and afterwards with Earth, Wind & Fire.

Production history[link]

Charles and Marshall Chess (son of Chess Records co-founder Leonard Chess) in the mid ’60’s created the band Rotary Connection for the new experimental Cadet Concept label and between 1967 and 1971 produced six innovative studio albums for Rotary Connection (receiving a Grammy nomination in 1968^[5]):

• Rotary Connection (album) (1967)

• Aladdin (1968)

• Peace (1968)

• Songs (1969)

• Dinner Music (1970)

• Hey Love (1971) (as the New Rotary Connection)

Between the creation of the Rotary Connection albums, Charles also produced, arranged & co-wrote with Rotary Connection singer Minnie Riperton’s 1970 debut album Come to My Garden.

Commenting on Minnie at the time he said that she"has a soprano range of about four octaves, a whole lot of soul, she's good-looking and she's got the experience of Rotary behind her."^[6]

During this time Charles wrote, produced and conducted a Classical Jazz Symphony in 5 parts entitled Cohesion. Cohesion was performed in Minneapolis, MN by the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, the Ramsey Lewis Trio and Minnie Riperton. It was his first opportunity to Conduct live before an audience.^[5]

Stepney is also credited as a musician/producer on the following albums:^[7]

• The Soulful Strings – Paint It, Black (1966) & Groovin' with the Soulful Strings (1967)

• Muddy Waters – Electric Mud (1968) & After the Rain (1969)

• Howlin' Wolf – The Howlin' Wolf Album (1969)

• Marlena Shaw – The Spice of Life (1969)

• Terry Callier – Occasional Rain (1972), What Color Is Love (1973) & I Just Can't Help Myself (1974)

• Ramsey Lewis – Maiden Voyage 1968, Mother Nature's Son (1968), The Piano Player (1969), Sun Goddess (album) (1974), Don't It Feel Good (1975) & Salongo (1976)

• Phil Upchurch – Upchurch (album) (1968)

• The Dells – There Is (album) (1968), Love is Blue (1969) Like It Is, Like It Was (1971), & Freedom Means (1971)

• The Emotions – Flowers(1976)

• Deniece Williams – This Is Niecy (1976)

In the mid 1970s Charles teamed up again with Maurice White and produced a number of Ramsey Lewis Trio albums in which Maurice drummed.

Before he died he co-produced with Maurice the platinum selling Earth, Wind & Fire albums Open Our Eyes (1974), That's the Way of the World, Gratitude both released in 1975 and Spirit released in 1976.

His favorite book was The Schillinger System of Musical Composition by Joseph Schillinger.^[8]

Death[link]

The song Spirit was intended to uplift Stepney's spirit, and to show all the gratitude that Earth, Wind & Fire had towards him. Sadly, Stepney never got to hear the song. Maurice White spoke to Stepney on the afternoon of May 17, 1976, but later that day, Earth, Wind & Fire keyboardist Larry Dunn received a phone call informing him that Charles Stepney had died of a heart attack. The song Spirit then became a tribute to Stepney's life. Although Stepney never got the credit he deserved, his spirit remained a staple in Earth, Wind & Fire's legendary sound.

Influence[link]

Artists such as Ramsey Lewis, Stevie Wonder, Chaka Khan, 4hero, Jean-Paul 'Bluey' Maunick, Zero 7, Elton John, Gilles Peterson & Terry Callier have been influenced by Stepney.^[5][9]

Legacy[link]

Stepney is survived by his wife Rubie and his three daughters Eibur, Charlene and Chante.

Discography[link]

This section requires expansion.

As sideman[link]

With Eddie Harris

• Jazz for "Breakfast at Tiffany's" (Vee-Jay, 1961)
• For Bird and Bags (Exodus, 1963)

References[link]

External links[link]

• A Biography of Charles Stepney
• Charles Stepney at Allmusic
• The Charles Stepney Foundation