Plaistow ( or ) is a suburban area of

West Ham West Ham is a district in East London, England and is in the London Borough of Newham. It is an inner-city suburb located east of Charing Cross. The area was originally an ancient parish formed to serve parts of the older Manor of Ham, a ...

, East London, England, within the

London 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 ...

. It adjoins Upton Park to the north,

East Ham East Ham is a district of the London Borough of Newham, England, 8 miles (12.8 km) east of Charing Cross. Within the boundaries of the Historic counties of England, historic county of Essex, East Ham is identified in the London Plan as a ...

to the east,

Beckton Beckton is a suburb in east London, England, located east of Charing Cross and part of the London Borough of Newham. Adjacent to the River Thames, the area consisted of unpopulated marshland known as the East Ham Levels in the parishes of Bark ...

to the south,

Canning Town Canning Town is a town in the London Borough of Newham, East London, England, north of the Royal Victoria Dock. Its urbanisation was largely due to the creation of the dock. The area was part of the ancient parish and County Borough of West Ham, ...

to the south-west and

to the west. It was originally a ward in the parish of West Ham, hundred of Becontree, and part of the historic county of

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

. Since 1965, Plaistow has been part of the London Borough of Newham, a

local government district Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Local'' (comics), a limited series comic book by Bria ...

of Greater London. The area forms the majority of the London E13 postcode district. Plaistow North and Plaistow South are two of the ten

electoral wards The wards and electoral divisions in the United Kingdom are electoral districts at sub-national level, represented by one or more councillors. The ''ward (subnational entity), ward'' is the primary unit of English electoral geography for civil pa ...

making up the UK parliamentary constituency of

. The main roads are the A112; Prince Regent Lane, Greengate Street, The Broadway, High Street and Plaistow Road, which is a former

Roman road Roman roads ( ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Republic and the Roman Em ...

; and the A124 (Barking Road), which passes south west/ north east through Plaistow and past the former

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

football ground. Commercial and retail premises are on the A112 at Greengate Street leading north and Prince Regent Lane south, leading to

Newham Sixth Form College Newham Sixth Form College (NewVIc) is a sixth form college located in the East London borough of Newham. Situated on a single site in Plaistow, the college was established in 1992 to provide for students in Newham and neighbouring boroughs who o ...

and along the A124.

Toponymy

The name ''Plaistow'' is believed by some to come from Sir Hugh de Plaiz or Plaitz who, in 1065, married Philippa de Montfitchet, of the Mountfitchet Castle family, who owned the district. It is she who is reputed to have named it the Manor of Plaiz. However, in his book ''What's in a Name?'', first published in 1977, author Cyril M. Harris states that c. 1200 Plaistow was recorded as Plagestoue, derived from the Old English , meaning 'sport' or 'playing', and 'place'. It was a place where

miracle play Mystery plays and miracle plays (they are distinguished as two different forms although the terms are often used interchangeably) are among the earliest formally developed plays in medieval Europe. Medieval mystery plays focused on the represe ...

s were performed so it was a 'playing place'. While the book concentrates on the names of London railway stations, Harris could have confused Plaistow in

(and later London) with the Plaistow near

Crich Crich is a village and civil parish in the English county of Derbyshire. Besides the village of Crich, the civil parish includes the nearby villages of Fritchley, Whatstandwell and Wheatcroft, Derbyshire, Wheatcroft. The population of the civi ...

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

, which is recorded as Plagestoue in the ''Darley Charters'' of 1200. Nevertheless, the derivation from + could apply equally to all places named Plaistow, Plaister, etc. Plaistow in Essex is reported as appearing as Playstowe in the county's ''Patent Rolls'' of 1414. This is also quoted by James Kemble, another who cites the derivation from + – a 'place for playing'. The book ''Fifty Years a Borough, 1886-1936, The Story of West Ham'', compiled by Donald McDougall on behalf of West Ham County Borough Council, leans towards the derivation from Hugh de Plaiz, as Lord of the Manor, and that Plaistow was the Stow or village of the de Plaiz family.

History

Medieval and Tudor

Hugh de Balun was a property-owner in the area in the 12th century and belonged to the same family as

Hamelin de Balun Hamelin de Ballon (or Baalun, Baalan, Balun, Balodun, Balon, etc.) (born ca. 1060, died 5 March 1105/6) was an early Normans, Norman Baron and the first Baron Abergavenny and Lord of Over Kingdom of Gwent, Gwent and Abergavenny; he also served W ...

. Known as ''Balostret'' in the 1371 ''Calendar of Inquisitions Miscellaneous'', Balaam Street is one of the oldest roads in Plaistow and is probably named after de Balun, though some argue its namesake is in fact a Walter Balame. In 1353, Sir Richard de Playz gave the manor of Plaistow to the abbot of Stratford-Langthorne. When this abbey was dissolved the manor was appropriated by the Crown, and granted to Sir Roger Cholmeley in 1553.

18th century

Daniel Defoe Daniel Defoe (; born Daniel Foe; 1660 – 24 April 1731) was an English writer, merchant and spy. He is most famous for his novel ''Robinson Crusoe'', published in 1719, which is claimed to be second only to the Bible in its number of translati ...

's 1724 work, ''"Tour of the Eastern Counties"'' (part of his '' A Tour Thro’ the Whole Island of Great Britain''), mentions Plaistow as a town in which there had been much new building as well as repairs to existing houses since the

Glorious Revolution The Glorious Revolution, also known as the Revolution of 1688, was the deposition of James II and VII, James II and VII in November 1688. He was replaced by his daughter Mary II, Mary II and her Dutch husband, William III of Orange ...

. Plaistow is connected with the legend of notorious

highwayman A highwayman was a robber who stole from travellers. This type of thief usually travelled and robbed by horse as compared to a footpad who travelled and robbed on foot; mounted highwaymen were widely considered to be socially superior to foo ...

Dick Turpin Richard Turpin (bapt. 21 September 1705 – 7 April 1739) was an English highwayman whose exploits were romanticised following his execution in York for horse theft. Turpin may have followed his father's trade as a butcher ear ...

(born 1705; executed 1739). Several stories state that among Turpin’s first crimes was the theft of two oxen from his employer, a Mr Giles of Plaistow, in 1730. Turpin is alleged to also have run a smuggling gang which operated between Plaistow and

Southend Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in south-eastern Essex, England. It lies on the nor ...

In Aaron Hill's time there (1738–1750) Plaistow was a rural village described as a day's coach journey from Westminster, despite it being a distance of only some . The Black Lion public house in the High Street is one of the oldest landmarks in Plaistow and is reputed to date back to at least 1742.

19th century

Newly-appointed as pastor to a Congregationalist church in Plaistow,

John Curwen John Curwen (14 November 1816 – 26 May 1880) was an English Congregational church, Congregationalist minister and diffuser of the tonic sol-fa system of music education created by Sarah Ann Glover. He was educated at Wymondley College in Her ...

opened the Plaistow Public School in 1844. That year also saw Plaistow become a chapelry as well as an Anglican parish in its own right, split off from

All Saints Church, West Ham All Saints Church is a parish church in West Ham, an area in east London. It has been a Grade I listed building since 1984. History Medieval and Tudor In the medieval era the church's parish included all of West Ham, with the one exception of th ...

; Plaistow's

chapel of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently, generally due to trav ...

St Mary's became the new parish's church. Curwen also started a printing business in Plaistow in 1863. In the 1870s,

John Marius Wilson John Marius Wilson (c. 1805–1885) was a British writer and an editor, most notable for his gazetteers. The '' Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales'' (published 1870–1872), was a substantial topographical dictionary in six volumes. It was ...

described it in his ''

Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales The ''Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales'' is a substantial topographical dictionary first published between 1870 and 1872, edited by the Reverend John Marius Wilson. It contains a detailed description of England and Wales. Its six volumes h ...

'' as a village, a chapelry and a ward in the Parish of West Ham in Essex. The population of the chapelry was recorded as 11,214 in 1861. James Thorne, in his 1876 work ''"Handbook to the Environs of London"'', mentions Plaistow, Essex, as a village and ecclesiastical district of West Ham parish with a population of 6,699. Thorne recounts the changes to the old village of Plaistow, with the gentry, merchants and others of renown having gone and the occupations of the residents changed from agricultural and pastoral to manufacturing. In 1886 Plaistow became part of the new

County Borough of West Ham West Ham was a local government district in the extreme south west of Essex from 1886 to 1965, forming part of the built-up area of London, although outside the County of London. It was immediately north of the River Thames and east of the Rive ...

. The area gained several new Anglican churches in the second half of the 19th century – St Philip's in 1860, St Andrew's in 1868, St Katherine's in 1891, St Martin's in 1894 and St Thomas's in 1898. Only St Martin's and St Andrew's survive; St Andrew's is mentioned in Thorne's work and, like its adjoining vicarage (1871), is a grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

. John Curwen's son, John Spencer Curwen (who founded the Stratford & East London Music Festival – the oldest English music festival – in 1882), published a paper called ''“Old Plaistow”'' in 1891 describing houses of the area.

1900–1995

It was not until 1905 that Plaistow was connected to the telephone network, though it became its own UK Parliamentary constituency in 1918, consisting of the Plaistow and Hudsons wards of the

, plus part of the Canning Town ward. That constituency was subsumed into the West Ham constituency in 1950. The Memorial Baptist Church was built in 1921 as a monument to the dead of the First World War. Opened in 1922, it is now a grade II listed building. Its ten Memorial Bells bear the names of more than 150 men who died in the fighting (the largest number of names on any set of bells in the world). The bells were cleaned and restored using a National Heritage Lottery grant between February and August 2011 as part of a larger restoration project. Greengate House

In 1921, the

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...

opened Greengate House on Greengate Street. Now a grade II listed building, it was once used as an Art college by the

University of East London University of East London (UEL) is a public university located in the London Borough of Newham, London, England, based at three campuses in Stratford, London, Stratford and London Docklands, Docklands, following the opening of University Squar ...

and students included

Jake and Dinos Chapman Iakovos "Jake" Chapman (born 1966) and Konstantinos "Dinos" Chapman (born 1962) are British visual artists, previously known as the Chapman Brothers. Their art explores deliberately shocking subject matters; for instance, in 2008, they produc ...

. In 2010 the building was demolished but the grand and ornate façade was retained and modernised and a new block of flats built behind it. The area was heavily damaged during

the Blitz The Blitz (English: "flash") was a Nazi Germany, German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom, for eight months, from 7 September 1940 to 11 May 1941, during the Second World War. Towards the end of the Battle of Britain in 1940, a co ...

in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The Plaistow North area is largely made up of a local authority housing estate constructed in the 1960s on a bomb-damaged site. The estate used to include five 14-storey 1960s tower blocks but much has changed and the area has undergone a major redevelopment programme. The Black Lion public house was frequented by

football players especially such as

Bobby Moore Robert Frederick Chelsea Moore (12 April 1941 – 24 February 1993) was an English professional footballer. He captained West Ham United for more than ten years, and was the captain of the England national team that won the 1966 FIFA ...

in the 1960s and '70s with several West Ham footballers spotted in the area since. In 1965 Plaistow became part of the new London Borough of Newham, formed when West Ham joined with the

County Borough of East Ham East Ham was a local government district in the far south west of Essex from 1878 to 1965. It extended from Wanstead Flats in the north to the River Thames in the south and from Green Street, London, Green Street in the west to Barking Creek in t ...

and small parts of Barking and

Woolwich Woolwich () is a town in South London, southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was mainta ...

1995–present

Just before the end of the 1990s a £92 million regeneration programme known as the Forest Gate and Plaistow SRB5 got under way, with the aim of renewing and revitalising neighbourhoods, creating jobs, building new homes and improving many existing ones. West Ham and Plaistow New Deal for Communities ("NDC"), part of a government programme designed to tackle social exclusion, community safety, unemployment and low educational attainment in areas of severe need throughout the country, was awarded £54.6 million to bring about improvements to the local area over a 10-year period to 2010, with the intention of improving the quality of life and providing more opportunities for residents in the West Ham and Plaistow area. In March 2010, the NDC set up Newham New Deal Partnership ("Newham NDP"), a

not-for-profit organisation A not-for-profit or non-for-profit organization (NFPO) is a legal entity that does not distribute surplus funds to its members and is formed to fulfill specific objectives. While not-for-profit organizations and non-profit organizations (NPO ...

, to continue providing community benefit to the NDC area and beyond, and continue the work carried out over the 10 years of the NDC Programme. Newham NDP works in partnership with the East London Business Alliance, East Thames Group, London Borough of Newham and One Housing Group to provide community benefits to the area either directly or in partnership with other stakeholders. In March 2011 the Memorial Community Church was awarded money by the Big Lottery Fund Reaching Communities programme, to improve community facilities there. On 10 December 2012, Plaistow South was named as one of fifty areas of England to share in a Big Lottery Scheme grant of £200 million. Plaistow South received £1 million to fund locally-designed projects to improve the area. In January 2013, councillors approved a new housing development of both private and affordable homes on the site of the old Plaistow Hospital. Construction began in March 2013 with completion of Phase 1 in 2015 and Phase 2 in 2016.

Amenities

Places of interest in the area include the Plaistow Park (known as Balaam Street Recreation Ground from its opening in 1894 to its renaming in 1999), and the Memorial Park which merges into the East London Cemetery. There are several small parks in the area, with the large

West Ham Park West Ham Park is a privately owned public space, privately owned public park in West Ham in the London Borough of Newham. Spanning , it is the largest park in the borough. The park has been managed by the City of London Corporation since 1874. ...

north. In Plaistow are Newham Leisure Centre, and Newham University Hospital.

's main campus is in the south-east, near the hospital. The Terence McMillan Stadium, named for the first mayor of Newham, Terence McMillan, who occupied the position 1965 to 1966, is located in Plaistow, close to the hospital and the college. It is the former home of the Newham and Essex Beagles track and field athletics club and part of the Newham Leisure Centre. East End Road Runners is a running club based at the Newham Leisure Centre and was the recipient of England Athletics' award for London Development Club of the Year in 2011. Non-league football teams Athletic Newham (formerly Lopes Tavares) and Fire United Christian play at the Terence McMillan Stadium, which also became the home ground of Clapton, rivals of Athletic Newham in the Essex Senior League, in 2020. The West Ham Boys' Amateur Boxing Club is located at the rear of the Black Lion public house in High Street. The 59 Club, a charitable motorcycle club, is based in Plaistow and located in the Swift Centre in Barking Road.

Education

Nathan Kemp, assistant headteacher at Tollgate Primary School in Plaistow, won Teacher of the Year in the 2012 annual national Teaching Awards, the first ever overall Teacher of the Year instead of there being separate awards for primary and secondary schools. Michael Patient of Tollgate was one of the winners of a Pearson teaching award in 2014, winning a silver award for outstanding new teacher of the year.

Popular culture

The location for the video shoot of "

(Keep Feeling) Fascination "(Keep Feeling) Fascination" is a song by English synth-pop band the Human League. It was composed by Jo Callis and Philip Oakey, and produced by Martin Rushent (which would be the last song he produced for the band for seven years). The song ...

" by

the Human League The Human League are an English synth-pop band formed in Sheffield in 1977. Initially an experimental electronic music, electronic outfit, the group signed to Virgin Records in 1979 and later attained widespread commercial success with their t ...

was a house, painted entirely in orange and surrounding terraced streets at the corner of First Avenue and Third Avenue in Plaistow. The area has since been redeveloped. "Plaistow Patricia" is a song from the highly acclaimed album '' New Boots and Panties!!'' by Ian Dury and the Blockheads released in 1977.

Radio

'' Voice of Africa Radio'' (VOAR) was a multilanguage internet and local radio station broadcasting from Plaistow. It was set up on 1 January 2000 and began as an unlicensed broadcaster, not obtaining a broadcast licence until 16 February 2006. It was the first licensed African radio station in the UK but had its licence revoked by Ofcom on 4 March 2016 for persistent failure to broadcast.

Notable residents

Arts and entertainment

Aaron Hill, writer and dramatist, lived at Hyde House during his retirement and until his death in 1750. William Holl the Younger, noted portrait and figure engraver, was born in Plaistow in 1807. Singers

David Essex David Essex (born David Albert Cook; 23 July 1947) is an English singer-songwriter and actor. From 1973 to 1994, he attained 19 Top 40 singles in the UK (including two number ones) and 16 Top 40 albums. Internationally, Essex had the most suc ...

Ronnie Lane Ronald Frederick Lane (1 April 1946 – 4 June 1997) was an English musician and songwriter who was the bassist and co-founder of the rock bands Small Faces (1965–69) and Faces (band), Faces (1969–73). Lane formed Small Faces in 1965 afte ...

Sandra Kerr Sandra Kerr (born 14 February 1942, Plaistow, Newham, Essex) is an English folk singer. Kerr sings and plays Concertina#German concertinas, English concertina, guitar, Appalachian dulcimer and autoharp. She was a member of The Critics Group fr ...

Jade Ewen Jade Louise Ewen (born 24 January 1988) is a British singer, actress and a former member of the girl group Sugababes. She began her singing career in a girl group named Trinity Stone, which signed with Sony BMG in 2005 but disbanded in 2007 wit ...

Mumzy Stranger Muhammad Mumith Ahmed (; born 18 January 1984), known professionally as Mumzy Stranger or his producing name SP (an abbreviation of Stranger Productions), is a British rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. He made his mainstream record ...

and

Alison Hinds Alison Amanda Hinds (born June 1 1970) is a British-born Bajan soca singer based in Barbados. She is often referred to as the Bajan " Queen of Soca" as a result of her impact on the genre. Biography Alison Hinds was born on 1 June 1970 in Lo ...

were born in Plaistow, as was comedian and folk singer Richard Digance. Singer and entertainer Joe Brown was born in

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...

but lived in Plaistow from the age of two. Record producer Norman Newell was born in Plaistow. A number of grime MCs and DJs have origins in Plaistow, including

Ghetts Justin Jude Clarke-Samuel (born 9 October 1984), better known by his stage name Ghetts (formerly Ghetto), is a British Grime (music), grime MC, rapper, songwriter and actor. His music has been played on national radio stations such as BBC Radio ...

, Durrty Goodz and

Crazy Titch Carl Dobson (''née'' Carl Nathaniel, 31 January 1983), better known by his stage name Crazy Titch, is a convicted murderer and British grime MC who is, , currently serving a life sentence for murder. Crazy Titch was a successful and well-known ...

. Rapper

21 Savage Shéyaa Bin Abraham-Joseph (born October 22, 1992), known professionally as 21 Savage, is an American-British rapper. Born in London and raised in Atlanta, he began his recording career in 2013 and released three independent mixtapes to regiona ...

was born in Plaistow and moved as a youth to

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

in the United States. Actor

Terence Stamp Terence Henry Stamp (born 22 July 1938) is an English actor. Known for his sophisticated villain roles, he was named by ''Empire (magazine), Empire'' as one of the 100 Sexiest Film Stars of All Time in 1995. He has received various accolades in ...

attended Tollgate Primary School and Plaistow Grammar School. Actor

Honor Blackman Honor Blackman (22 August 1925 – 5 April 2020) was an English actress and singer, known for the roles of Cathy Gale in '' The Avengers''Aaker, Everett (2006). ''Encyclopedia of Early Television Crime Fighters''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. ...

was born in Plaistow, as were actors Jimmy Akingbola,

Ron Pember Ronald Henry Pember (11 April 1934 – 8 March 2022) was an English actor, stage director and dramatist. In a career stretching over thirty years, he was a character actor in British television productions in the 1970s and 1980s, usually in sma ...

and Roberta Taylor and comedian, actor and playwright Andi Osho.

Sports

Multi-times Olympic athlete Fred Alsop was born in Plaistow in 1938. England international footballers

Sol Campbell Sulzeer Jeremiah "Sol" Campbell (born 18 September 1974) is an English professional football manager and former player. Widely regarded as one of the best centre-backs of his generation, he spent 20 years playing in the Premier League and had a ...

, Tony Cottee,

Rob Lee Robert Martin Lee (born 1 February 1966) is an English former professional footballer and sports co-commentator. As a player, he was a midfielder who notably played in the Premier League for Newcastle United and West Ham United. His time at S ...

and

Martin Peters Martin Stanford Peters (8 November 1943 – 21 December 2019) was an English Association football, footballer and manager. As a member of the England national football team, England team which won the 1966 FIFA World Cup, he scored the second o ...

were born in Plaistow. England international speedway rider Reg Fearman was from Plaistow. He managed England and Great Britain national teams, and was also Chairman of the British Speedway Promoters' Association. Edward Temme, born in Plaistow, was a member of the British Olympic Water Polo teams of 1928 and 1936 and was the first man to swim the

English Channel The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...

in both directions. He is reputed to have swum non-stop in both directions and to have achieved this feat twice.

Other

Other famous residents have included: * William Clowes, one of England's early surgeons whose books were the leading surgical writings of the

Elizabethan The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The Roman symbol of Britannia (a female per ...

age, who spent his retirement in Plaistow until his death in 1604. * Sir Thomas Foot,

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the Mayors in England, mayor of the City of London, England, and the Leader of the council, leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded Order of precedence, precedence over a ...

, who used Hyde House in High Street as his seat in the 17th century. * William Dodd, clergyman who was hanged for forgery, lived on Balaam Street 1754 to 1766. *

Edmund Burke Edmund Burke (; 12 January ew Style, NS1729 – 9 July 1797) was an Anglo-Irish Politician, statesman, journalist, writer, literary critic, philosopher, and parliamentary orator who is regarded as the founder of the Social philosophy, soc ...

PC, Irish statesman and author who moved to England and became a Whig Member of Parliament (MP), who lived in Plaistow c. 1759–1761 on Balaam Street. * George Edwards, sometimes referred to as the father of British ornithology, who retired to Plaistow in 1763 until his death in 1773. *

Luke Howard Luke Howard (28 November 1772 – 21 March 1864) was a British manufacturing chemist and an amateur meteorologist with broad interests in science. His lasting contribution to science is a nomenclature system for clouds, which he proposed in ...

, who in 1802 devised the naming and classification of

cloud In meteorology, a cloud is an aerosol consisting of a visible mass of miniature liquid droplets, frozen crystals, or other particles, suspended in the atmosphere of a planetary body or similar space. Water or various other chemicals may ...

s and cloud formations still in popular use today, and who operated a business in pharmaceuticals in Plaistow from 1796 until 1803 when he moved the business to nearby Stratford. He continued to reside in Plaistow until 1812, when he moved to

Tottenham Tottenham (, , , ) is a district in north London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, ...

. The family's pharmaceutical business was instrumental in the development of quinine and both Howard and his son, quinologist John Eliot Howard (who was born in Plaistow), were elected

Fellows of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

. * Winifred Langton, communist, internationalist and activist born in Plaistow in 1909. * Roderic Gregory, biologist and professor of physiology who isolated

gastrin Gastrin is a peptide hormone that stimulates secretion of gastric acid (HCl) by the parietal cells of the stomach and aids in gastric motility. It is released by G cells in the pyloric antrum of the stomach, duodenum, and the pancreas. ...

(the stimulator of gastric acid), born in Plaistow in 1913 and awarded the

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in 1971. * Sir David Amess, who was born in Plaistow in 1952, was a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

MP, representing

Basildon Basildon ( ) is a town in Borough of Basildon, the borough of the same name, in the county of Essex, England. It had a recorded population of 115,955 at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census. In 1931, the town had a population of 1,159. ...

from 1983 to 1997 and

Southend West Southend West and Leigh is a Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, constituency in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, UK Parliament. In the 2024 United Kingdom ...

from 1997 until he was

murdered Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse committed with the necessary intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisdiction. ("The killing of another person without justification or excu ...

in 2021. Amess was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

in the 2015 New Year Honours.

Transport

Rail

Plaistow and Upton Park tube stations are in the district. Both are served by the

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or as the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The Undergro ...

District A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

and Hammersmith & City lines, which link the area directly to destinations in

Central London Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning the City of London and several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local gove ...

, including the City, King's Cross, St. Pancras International,

Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

, and

Paddington Paddington is an area in the City of Westminster, in central London, England. A medieval parish then a metropolitan borough of the County of London, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Paddington station, designed b ...

. Both stations are in London fare zone 3. Eastbound trains run towards Barking,

Dagenham Dagenham () is a town in East London, England, within the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. Dagenham is centred east of Charing Cross. It was historically a rural parish in the Becontree Hundred of Essex, stretching from Hainault Fo ...

, and

Upminster Upminster is a suburb of east London, England, in the London Borough of Havering, northeast of Charing Cross. Historically a rural village, it formed an ancient parish in the Chafford hundred of the county of Essex. The economic history of ...

West Ham station West Ham () is an interchange station in West Ham, London, England. It provides London Underground, Docklands Light Railway (DLR) and National Rail services. The station was opened in 1901 by the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway on the r ...

is less than one mile from High Street Plaistow, in London fare zones 2 and 3. The station is on the

Jubilee line The Jubilee line is a London Underground line that runs between in suburban north-west London and in east London, via the West End of London, West End, South Bank and London Docklands, Docklands. Opened in 1979, it is the newest line on the ...

and

Docklands Light Railway The Docklands Light Railway (DLR) is an automated medium-capacity rail system, light metro system primarily serving the redeveloped London Docklands, Docklands area of London and providing a direct connection between London's two major financi ...

(DLR), which links the area directly to several key destinations and interchanges, including Stratford International,

London City Airport London City Airport is an international airport in London, England. It is located in the Royal Docks in the London Borough of Newham, Borough of Newham, about east of the City of London and east of Canary Wharf. These are the two centres ...

(),

London Bridge The name "London Bridge" refers to several historic crossings that have spanned the River Thames between the City of London and Southwark in central London since Roman Britain, Roman times. The current crossing, which opened to traffic in 197 ...

, and Waterloo.

Stratford station Stratford is a major multi-level interchange station serving the town of Stratford and the mixed-use development known as Stratford City, in the London Borough of Newham, East London for London Underground, London Overground, Docklands Light ...

is also nearby, to the north of the district, which is served by the Central and Jubilee lines, DLR, and

National Rail National Rail (NR) is the trading name licensed for use by the Rail Delivery Group, a group representing passenger train operating companies (TOCs) of England, Scotland, and Wales. The TOCs run the passenger services previously provided by ...

trains. This links the area to destinations across North East London,

, and

East Anglia East Anglia is an area of the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, with parts of Essex sometimes also included. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, ...

. Canning Town station is to Plaistow's south-west on the Jubilee line and the DLR. Since 2022, the area has also been linked directly to

London Heathrow Airport Heathrow Airport , also colloquially known as London Heathrow Airport and named ''London Airport'' until 1966, is the primary and largest international airport serving London, the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingd ...

and

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

via the

Elizabeth line The Elizabeth line is a railway line that runs across Greater London and nearby towns, operating similarly to the Réseau Express Régional, RER in Paris and the S-Bahn systems of German-speaking countries. It runs services on dedicated infras ...

from the nearby

Custom House station Custom House is an interchange station by the Royal Docks, in Custom House, Newham, Custom House in the London Borough of Newham, London for Docklands Light Railway (DLR) – on which it is branded Custom House for ExCeL – and Elizabeth line ...

Bus

Plaistow is on the

London Buses London Buses is the subsidiary of Transport for London (TfL) that manages most bus services in London, England. It was formed following the Greater London Authority Act 1999 that transferred control of London Regional Transport (LRT) bus s ...

network, served by routes: 5, 69, 115, 147, 241, 262, 276,

300 __NOTOC__ Year 300 ( CCC) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Constantius and Valerius (or, less frequently, year 1053 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 300 ...

, 325, 330,

473 __NOTOC__ Year 473 ( CDLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Leo without colleague (or, less frequently, year 1226 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denominat ...

, 678, N15. Routes 69 and night bus N15 run overnight through Plaistow.

Cycling

The Greenway, a

shared-use path A shared-use path, mixed-use path or multi-use pathway is a path which is "designed to accommodate the movement of pedestrians and cyclists". Examples of shared-use paths include sidewalks designated as shared-use, Bridle path, bridleways and ra ...

, runs through Plastow. The route runs unbroken from

Hackney Wick Hackney Wick is a neighbourhood in East London, England. The area forms the south-eastern part of the district of Hackney, and also of the wider London Borough of Hackney. Adjacent areas of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, namely Fish I ...

to Plaistow via 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 devel ...

, Stratford, and

. Eastbound, the route runs towards Newham University Hospital,

, and Cycle Superhighway 3 towards Barking. The Greenway runs atop

Joseph Bazalgette Sir Joseph William Bazalgette (; 28 March 1819 – 15 March 1891) was an English civil engineering, civil engineer. As Chief Engineer of London's Metropolitan Board of Works, his major achievement was the creation of the London Main Drainage, t ...

Northern Outfall Sewer The Northern Outfall Sewer (NOS) is a major gravity sewer which runs from Wick Lane in Hackney to the Beckton Sewage Treatment Works in east London. Most of it was designed by Joseph Bazalgette, as a result of an outbreak of cholera in 1853 ...

. It is a part of

Transport for London Transport for London (TfL) is a local government body responsible for most of the transport network in London, United Kingdom. TfL is the successor organization of the London Passenger Transport Board, which was established in 1933, and His ...

(TfL)'s cycle network, numbered Cycleway 22. Cycle Superhighway 2 (CS2) runs along the northern edge of Plaistow, through Stratford. The route runs non-stop and mostly traffic-free westbound towards the City, via Bow,

Mile End Mile End is an area in London, England and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in East London and part of the East End of London, East End. It is east of Charing Cross. Situated on the part of the London-to-Colchester road ...

, and

Whitechapel Whitechapel () is an area in London, England, and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in east London and part of the East End of London, East End. It is the location of Tower Hamlets Town Hall and therefore the borough tow ...

. Cycle Superhighway 3 (CS3) runs along the southern edge of Plaistow. The route runs non-stop and mostly traffic-free towards the City, via

, Poplar, and

Limehouse Limehouse is a district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in East London. It is east of Charing Cross, on the northern bank of the River Thames. Its proximity to the river has given it a strong maritime character, which it retains throu ...

. The route continues beyond the City traffic-free to

Lancaster Gate Lancaster Gate is a mid-19th century development in the Bayswater district of central London, immediately to the north of Kensington Gardens. History It consists of two long terraces of houses overlooking the park, with a wide gap between t ...

( Hyde Park), via

and

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a royal official residence, residence in London, and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and r ...

, providing Plaistow with a direct, continuous cycle link to destinations in the West End. Eastbound, CS3 runs to Barking.

Road

Plaistow is linked to other areas of London and South East England by road. Roads which run through Plaistow include: * High Street , Greengate Street , Prince Regent Lane - Southbound to the ,

(), and

North Woolwich North Woolwich is an area in the London Borough of Newham in East London, England, on the northern bank of the River Thames, across the river from Woolwich. It is connected to Woolwich by the Woolwich Ferry and Woolwich foot tunnel. Despite ...

, Northbound to Stratford,

Leyton Leyton ( ) is a town in East London, England, within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It borders Walthamstow to the north, Leytonstone to the east, and Stratford to the south, with Clapton, Hackney Wick and Homerton, across the Ri ...

, and

Waltham Abbey Waltham Abbey is a suburban town and civil parish in the Epping Forest District of Essex, within the London metropolitan area, metropolitan and urban area of London, England, East London, north-east of Charing Cross. It lies on the Greenwich ...

. * Stopford Road – Northbound to Upton,

Leytonstone Leytonstone ( ) is an area in East London, England, within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It adjoins Wanstead to the north-east, Forest Gate to the south-east, Stratford to the south-west, Leyton to the west, and Walthamstow to the nor ...

, and Whipps Cross. * Barking Road – South-west to

and the , North-east towards

, Barking, and

. The runs along the southernmost edge of Plaistow. The road runs westbound towards the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

, passing Canning Town, Poplar, and

Canary Wharf Canary Wharf is a financial area of London, England, located in the Isle of Dogs in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The Greater London Authority defines it as part of London's central business district, alongside Central London. Alongside ...

''en route''. Eastbound, the road carries traffic towards Barking,

, the ,

Tilbury Tilbury is a port town in the borough of Thurrock, Essex, England. The present town was established as separate settlement in the late 19th century, on land that was mainly part of Chadwell St Mary. It contains a Tilbury Fort, 16th century fort ...

, and

Southend-on-Sea Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in south-eastern Essex, England. It lies on the nor ...

Nearest places

Custom House A custom house or customs house was traditionally a building housing the offices for a jurisdictional government whose officials oversaw the functions associated with importing and exporting goods into and out of a country, such as collecting ...

Forest Gate Forest Gate is a district of West Ham in the London Borough of Newham, East London, England. It is located northeast of Charing Cross. The area's name relates to its position adjacent to Wanstead Flats, the southernmost part of Epping Forest. ...

* Stratford * Upton Park, which, like Plaistow, forms part of the E13 postcode district *

References

External links

Plaistow, The Newham StoryPlaistow South Big Local Newsletter
{{Authority control Districts of the London Borough of Newham Areas of London