Mansell Street is a street in

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 ...

, which is part of the

London Inner Ring Road The London Inner Ring Road, or Ring Road as signposted, is a route with an average diameter of formed from a number of major roads that encircle Central London. The ring road forms the boundary of the London congestion charge zone, although t ...

. For most of its length from the north, this street marks the boundary between the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...

and 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 ...

. However, the southernmost part is entirely in Tower Hamlets.

History

Mansell Street was named after a relative of William Leman, whose great-uncle,

John Leman Sir John Leman (1544–1632) was a tradesman from Beccles, England who became Lord Mayor of London. Career Leman's business interests grew across the district of Waveney, which spans the Norfolk–Suffolk border. In the 1580s he moved to London ...

had bought

Goodman's Fields Two 18th century theatres bearing the name Goodman's Fields Theatre were located on Alie Street, Whitechapel, London. The first opened on 31 October 1727 in a small shop by Thomas Odell, deputy Licenser of Plays. The first play performed was G ...

earlier in the seventeenth century. Alie Street ran along the western side, with

Leman Street Leman Street, once known as Lemon Street, is a street in Tower Hamlets. It was built in the seventeenth century as part of the development of Goodman's Fields. It is named after John Leman who was responsible for this development, which also in ...

to the east,

Prescot Street Prescot Street is a street in Whitechapel in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in East London. It runs between Goodman's Yard and Mansell Street in the west and Leman Street in the east. The area, including Ayliff Street, Leman Street and Mans ...

to the south, and

Alie Street Alie Street is a 400 metre long street located in Aldgate, East London. It links Mansell Street with Commercial Road. For much of its history, the western part was known as Great Alie Street, with the eastern part called Little Alie Street. Histo ...

to the North. These new streets were developed in the late seventeenth century while Goodman's Fields was used as a

tenterground A tenterground, tenter ground or teneter-field was an area used for drying newly manufactured cloth after fulling. The wet cloth was hooked onto frames called "tenters" and stretched taut using "tenter hooks", so that the cloth would dry flat ...

Mansell Street estate

This estate was built in 1977 by the

Guinness Trust The Guinness Partnership is one of the largest providers of affordable housing and care in England. Founded as a charitable trust in 1890, it is now a Community Benefit Society with eight members. Bloomberg classify it as a real estate owner a ...

. It consists of 194 homes and in 2019 there were plans for its redevelopment.

References

{{reflist Streets in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets