The Carpenters Estate is located in Stratford,

Newham The London Borough of Newham is a London borough created in 1965 by the London Government Act 1963. It covers an area previously administered by the Essex county boroughs of West Ham and East Ham, authorities that were both abolished by the s ...

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 ...

, close to the

Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park is a sporting complex and public park in Stratford, Hackney Wick, Leyton and Bow, in east London. It was purpose-built for the 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics, situated adjacent to the Stratford City developm ...

. The estate is formed of

low rise A low-rise is a building that is only a few stories tall or any building that is shorter than a high-rise, though others include the classification of mid-rise. Definition Emporis defines a low-rise as "an enclosed structure below 35 metres 15 ...

social housing Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the details, terminology, def ...

and three

tower blocks A tower block, high-rise, apartment tower, residential tower, apartment block, block of flats, or office tower is a tall building, as opposed to a low-rise building and is defined differently in terms of height depending on the jurisdictio ...

. The estate has been continually earmarked for demolition and redevelopment. Carpenters Estate March 2012

History

Carpenters Estate is located in the

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Borough of Newham The London Borough of Newham is a London borough created in 1965 by the London Government Act 1963. It covers an area previously administered by the Essex county boroughs of West Ham and East Ham, authorities that were both abolished by the s ...

. The estate's name originates from The

Worshipful Company of Carpenters The Worshipful Company of Carpenters is a livery company of the City of London. The Carpenters were traditionally different from a fellow wood-crafting company, the Worshipful Company of Joiners and Ceilers, in that carpenters utilised nails wh ...

, an ancient London livery company, which in the late 19th century bought what was farmland in

West Ham West Ham is an area in East London, located east of Charing Cross in the west of the modern London Borough of Newham. The area, which lies immediately to the north of the River Thames and east of the River Lea, was originally an ancien ...

for industrial development. Many of London's factories were built on the canals of the

River Lea The River Lea ( ) is in South East England. It originates in Bedfordshire, in the Chiltern Hills, and flows southeast through Hertfordshire, along the Essex border and into Greater London, to meet the River Thames at Bow Creek. It is one of t ...

, the railroads, and Carpenters Road in the following decades. To house the workers for these factories, the Company of Carpenters built rows of

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literature ...

terraced house In architecture and city planning, a terrace or terraced house ( UK) or townhouse ( US) is a form of medium-density housing that originated in Europe in the 16th century, whereby a row of attached dwellings share side walls. In the United State ...

s between Carpenters Road and the neighbouring town centre of Stratford. The Company made efforts to improve the lives of the area's employees and residents, including the creation of a school and a social club. However, during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Stratford was a frequent target for air raids, and by the end of the war much of the Carpenters Estate housing had been destroyed or was badly damaged. The present estate was built in 1967, combining low rise housing (Doran Walk) and three tower blocks: *James Riley Point *Lund Point *Dennison Point. The estate also contains a school, college and some businesses.

Redevelopment

The estate has been subject to plans for refurbishment and redevelopment going back to 2001. In 2004,

Newham Council Newham London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Newham. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in the United Kingdom capital of London. The council is unusual in that its executive function is controlled by a di ...

stated that "the estate was falling into disrepair and needed significant improvement work to bring it up to a modern standard and maintain it", but that "after analysing costs, it was clear that this would be an expensive process costing up to £25 million per tower". The process of emptying James Riley Point commenced in 2004, however, funding to continue the refurbishment of this and the remaining two blocks was considered too expensive by the

Greater London Authority The Greater London Authority (GLA), colloquially known by the metonym "City Hall", is the devolved regional governance body of Greater London. It consists of two political branches: the executive Mayoralty (currently led by Sadiq Khan) and the ...

. Following a public meeting in 2008, the Council recommended the demolition of the remaining tower blocks and some smaller blocks on Doran Walk. As Newham redeveloped parts of Stratford for the 2012

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

, the future of the estate was once again under the spotlight given its proximity to the

Olympic Park An Olympic Park is a sports campus for hosting the Olympic Games. Typically it contains the Olympic Stadium and the International Broadcast Centre. It may also contain the Olympic Village or some of the other sports venues, such as the aquatics c ...

and plans being led by then

Mayor of Newham The Mayor of Newham is a directly elected mayor responsible for the executive function of Newham London Borough Council in east London, England. The position is different from the previously existing (and largely ceremonial) annually appointed ...

Robin Wales Sir Robert Andrew "Robin" Wales (born 18 January 1955) is a British Labour Party politician who served as the directly elected mayor of the London Borough of Newham from 2002 to 2018. Prior to taking up that newly created role, he was leader ...

for

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

to build a new campus. However, in May 2013, the campus plan had fallen through. A 2013 research study on the effects of the Olympics on

regeneration Regeneration may refer to: Science and technology * Regeneration (biology), the ability to recreate lost or damaged cells, tissues, organs and limbs * Regeneration (ecology), the ability of ecosystems to regenerate biomass, using photosynthesis ...

noted that more than half of the residents had been decanted from the estate by September 2012.

Focus E15

Focus E15 Focus E15 is a campaign group formed in London in 2013 by a group of mothers threatened with eviction from their emergency accommodation in a hostel for young homeless people in Newham. The group squatted empty flats on the Carpenters Estate i ...

was formed in September 2013 by a group of young mothers campaigning for housing rights - they themselves having faced eviction from a

hostel A hostel is a form of low-cost, short-term shared sociable lodging where guests can rent a bed, usually a bunk bed in a dormitory, with shared use of a lounge and sometimes a kitchen. Rooms can be mixed or single-sex and have private or shared b ...

due to funding being withdrawn. In June 2014, Focus E15 staged a protest at the Carpenters Estate over the ongoing social housing problems in the borough. Both the group and the plight of the estate was brought to wider attention when on 23 September 2014, they

occupied ' (Norwegian: ') is a Norwegian political thriller TV series that premiered on TV2 on 5 October 2015. Based on an original idea by Jo Nesbø, the series is co-created with Karianne Lund and Erik Skjoldbjærg. Season 2 premiered on 10 October 2 ...

one of the empty low-rise blocks on the estate to provide a social centre. The occupation came to an end on 7 October when the group agreed to leave the flats after the Council issued legal and eviction notices. A dispute between Focus E15 and Mayor Wales would proceed to wage for some months. Focus E15 continue to campaign and highlight social housing problems in the borough including the ongoing battle over the Carpenters.

Renewed Plans

In November 2015,

re-avowed their commitment to demolish and redevelop the estate, whilst the Greater Carpenters Neighbourhood Forum persisted in their calls for both its refurbishment instead and better engagement with local residents. In August 2017, the Council announced the commencing of a tendering process to enlist a developer to undertake the estate redevelopment, however, in November 2018 it was announced by the Mayor of Newham that this had been shelved, with new promises that any redevelopment would be "led by residents and include a minimum of 50 per cent affordable homes". In November 2021, Newham commenced the formal regeneration project for the estate, beginning with a ballot of residents on the 19 November.

In popular culture

In 2010, scenes from the science-fiction film ''

Attack the Block ''Attack the Block'' is a 2011 British science fiction comedy horror film written and directed by Joe Cornish and starring John Boyega, Jodie Whittaker and Nick Frost. It was the film debut of Cornish, Boyega and composer Steven Price. The f ...

'' were filmed on the estate, featuring locals as extras. In 2018, the Blueprint Theatre Company staged a production of a new work at

Rich Mix Rich Mix is a charity that offers cinema and cross-arts centre that is located in the East End of London, located in Shoreditch in the Borough of Tower Hamlets, East London, England. Once a vast leather factory, 62,000-square-foot building was t ...

in Shoreditch called ''Legacy'', which highlighted the issue of social cleansing in the area. Based loosely on the story of Mary Finch, a local activist who had refused to leave her flat on the estate, the play examined an extended family living at the Carpenters' who fight back when faced with the possibility of eviction and relocation after the council and developers begin planning a regeneration of Newham in order to prove the positive legacy created by the

London 2012 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 ...

. The production followed extensive research and interviews with local residents and rehearsed readings at

Theatre Royal Stratford East The Theatre Royal Stratford East is a 460 seat Victorian producing theatre in Stratford in the London Borough of Newham. Since 1953, it has been the home of the Theatre Workshop company, famously associated with director Joan Littlewood, whose ...

and Rich Mix. It was written by Sally Grey and Susan Avery, directed by Tracy O'Flaherty, and starred Shenagh Govan, Sally Grey, Nicholas Khan, Adam Elms, Katie Males, and Jacqui Gray. British producer and rapper Funky DL released the 2018 album ''Dennison Point'', recalling his time as a young child living in the block.

References

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External links

Carpenters Estate
at

Newham London Borough Council Newham London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Newham. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in the United Kingdom capital of London. The council is unusual in that its executive function is controlled by a dir ...

Focus E15 Campaign
Stratford, London Buildings and structures in the London Borough of Newham Housing estates in London