Bow Quarter is a

gated community A gated community (or walled community) is a form of residential community or housing estate containing strictly controlled entrances for pedestrians, bicycles, and automobiles, and often characterized by a closed perimeter of walls and fences ...

in Bow in the

London Borough of Tower Hamlets The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London boroughs, London borough covering much of the traditional East End of London, East End. It was formed in 1965 from the merger of the former Metropolitan boroughs of the County of London, metropol ...

. The building was originally the

Bryant and May Bryant & May was a British company created in the mid-19th century specifically to make matches. Their original Bryant & May Factory was located in Bow, London. They later opened other match factories in the United Kingdom and Australia, such ...

match factory, and was the site of the Match Girls' strike in the 1880s. The factory was redeveloped in the 1980s, in one of

east London East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the f ...

's first

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projects.

History

From the mid-19th century to more than three-quarters of the way through the 20th century it was the location of the

match factory. At the turn of the two centuries it was London's largest factory. The 3 acre (1.2 hectare) site, acquired by William Bryant and Francis May in 1861, contained a number of factories that had once been used for the manufacture of candles, crinoline and rope, but had fallen into disrepair. Assistance in adapting the site for match making was provided by

John Edvard Lundström John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

, the Swedish safety match maker. The London matchgirls strike of 1888 started in the factory, caused by the poor working conditions; including fourteen-hour work days, poor pay, excessive fines and the severe health complications of working with white phosphorus, such as phossy jaw. This led to the establishment of the first British trade union for women.Beaver (1985). Part One: ''Building a Business''. A

blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term i ...

outside the entrance commemorates the role of social pioneer and

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

Annie Besant Annie Besant ( Wood; 1 October 1847 – 20 September 1933) was a British socialist, theosophist, freemason, women's rights activist, educationist, writer, orator, political party member and philanthropist. Regarded as a champion of human f ...

in leading the demands for better pay and conditions. The result was that some of the first welfare institutions in Britain for industrial workers began on this site, including the provision of a dentist. The present main factory building was constructed in 1909–10. At full production in 1911, the Bow site employed more than 2,000 women and girls.Beaver (1985). Part Two: ''Years of Growth''. It finally closed in 1979, when 275 people worked there, production being transferred to Litherland near Liverpool.Beaver (1985). Part Three: ''The Age of Technology''. Designed by Holman and Goodsham, it is concrete-framed red brick building, with two tall towers of ten stories. It is a Grade II Listed building.

Present day

The site had fallen into disrepair when in 1988, developers Kentish Homes, with designs from ORMS Architects (chief project architect Oliver Richards) - embarked upon one of east London's first

projects. In a history of the development in his 2009 book ''A Journey Through Ruins - The Last Days of London'', historian Patrick Wright describes the process of gentrification of the area. As he puts it: "The coinage dreamed up to turn the Bryant & May factory into the Bow Quarter gave an altogether new turn to the rhetoric of an east London trade that local Member of Parliament (MP) George Lansbury once dismissed as 'room farming'. As the sales line of the developers went: 'Parisians have the Latin Quarter, New Yorkers have Greenwich Village. Now in East London, a stone's throw from the

City A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

, there's a new Quarter..."Wright (1991/2009). Chapter 16, "The Bow Quarter: Six Hundred and Seventy Luxury Flats in an Old Victorian Hell-House", pp. 234-264. However, unlike the former two, the latter would be "generated by a single speculative stroke". Today Bow Quarter consists of 733 one- and two-bedroom flats and penthouses, together with a handful of workers' cottages built around the late 19th century. Set in of landscaped grounds, amenities include a residents' gym and a convenience store. The majority of the flats today are located in former factory and office buildings. Arlington, for example, was built as offices in 1874; Lexington and Manhattan date from the factory site redevelopment in 1911. The Victorian cottages near the entrance provided accommodation for the company directors whilst Staten was built as extra office accommodation in the late 1950s. The Park buildings (East, Central and West) were added in the mid-1990s. In 2004, the TV series '' If...'' shot scenes in the fictional gated community ''Regent's Court'' inside Bow Quarter. Some residents were interviewed by the production team during the making of the programme. Current residents include James Lance, Katy B, Lars Chittka and Sunday Girl. Previous residents have included John Barrowman and Steve Strange. Former resident Danny Wallace declared his flat a micronation in the TV series '' How to Start Your Own Country''. AudiopleXus mastering studio is located in the Bow Quarter. In April 2012, the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

identified the water tower as a potential location for

surface-to-air missile A surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as a ground-to-air missile (GTAM) or surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-aircraft syst ...

defences during the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. One resident, a Guardian journalist, reported opposition to the scheme, but other residents were supportive of the move.

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Beaver, Patrick (1985). ''The Match Makers''. London: Henry Melland. . * Emsley, John (2000). ''The Shocking History of Phosphorus: A biography of the Devil's element''. London: Macmillan. . * Wright, Patrick (1991/2009). ''A Journey Through Ruins - The Last Days of London''. Oxford: Oxford University Press. .

External links

Official website

Residents' Association

Matchworker's strike
{{Coord, 51.5312, -0.0219, region:GB_type:landmark, display=title Buildings and structures in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets Grade II listed buildings in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets Residential buildings in London Gated communities in the United Kingdom 2012 Summer Olympics Bow, London