The stone is located at the southern
end of the northbound DLR platform on the bridge support. The bridge carries the
road across the tracks. The stone reads:
Erected on the
site
of the Cistercian
Abbey of St Mary AD. 1135
A. A. Mangley
Engineer
AD. 1882
The date stone is fixed into the brick
built support column that has iron girders on top to carry the road.
There is no information about the
bridge being built but The Newham
Story website gives details of the Abbey and the
area:
"Abbey Road, Probably the most
Historic Road in Newham?
No one knows when the first man or
woman walked down the route that runs from the high ground that we now know as
West Ham Lane to the marshlands at Stratford. This pathway, which we
now call Abbey Road, may have existed before the Abbey at Stratford was
built. The Abbey of St Mary at Stratford Langthorne was built in the
12th Century, and was a `Daughter House` of the Cistercian Monastery of Savigney
in France..
The Pathway soon became a route
from West Ham Church to the Abbey. The Cistercian Monks would walk through the
pastures of the farmlands to and from these churches. The path used to go
through the Great gate of the Abbey, close to what is today’s Abbey Road, Newham
Homes Depot.
The Langthorn was an ingredient of
the bread baked by the Bakers at the Abbey, close to what is now Bakers
Row.
The Marshlands in the area around
the Abbey were in need of constant draining, which a duty was carried out by the
monks. In the 16th century the monastery was closed down
(dissolution) by Henry VIII, the duty to drain the marsh was passed to the
owners of the lands that once belonged to the church. This was
almost impossible to control, and the responsibility was passed to the Manor of
West Ham, who had been taken to the Kings `Sewage Court` to force them to take
action.
The marshes were split into seven
separate marshes, and the nearest to the site of the present Bakers Row was
called Blackwall Marsh
This part of the route became known
as the path to Blackwall (not to be confused with the Blackwall Docks in
Poplar).
This path was finally cut in half
in the 19th century when the Eastern Counties and Thames Junction railway was
built.
By this time it had become a formal
road, which runs from what was now West Ham Lane to the new railway, and was
called Abbey Road.
The junction at West Ham Lane was a
three-way triangle of Abbey Road, West Ham Lane and Church Street. This junction
can still be seen as the Island, in front of the shops by West Ham
Church.
There does seem to a bit of
confusion over the name, some maps call it Abbey Road, some Abbey Lane, and what
we now know as Abbey Lane was called Abbey Mills Lane, because of the old
windmills which stood in the area.
The arrival of the railway caused a
major change in the area.
Houses were built and a new road
called Abbey Lane, which was carried over the Railway line by a bridge that had
been built.
The houses standing next to this
were called Abbey Lane Bridge Railway Cottages, and are still standing.
Factories, plus the Adam and Eve
Public House, were built on the site of the old Abbey.
These factories included the Abbey
Mills Pumping Station, which was built as a part of the scheme for the Northern
Outfalls between 1860-65, the Sewage System for London.
The Sewers at Abbey Lane that the
road runs under are the four main down lines from Hackney which carries ALL
North & East London sewage and goes in to Abbey Mills Pumping
station.
The road has been shut since the new road was cut in from that part
of Abbey lane up to Stratford.
The old road has been paved over
completely. I think the reason is that as millions of gallons of raw sewage is
pumped through here, if a large lorry ever hit it and damaged them; well you can
work the rest out for yourselves!
The sewage is pumped from this
point via the Pumping station and the now called greenway (the sewer bank to us
old folk!) down to the sewage treatment works at Beckton.
At the rear end of the present
Bridge Road Depot in Bakers Row there is an area, which is an Ancient Monument
Site.
It was the formal Garden belonging
to the Abbey and may include foundations of the old Abbey Gate (known as St
Richards gate).
The Dockland Light Railway Olympics
Extension to Stratford will swallow up a part of it and it is hoped that as a
part of the new DLR (Abbey Road) station being built there, will be a small
monument to this AMS.
Before we leave this end of Abbey
Road we must mention Bridge Road Depot. This was the first ever West Ham
Corporation Depot which used to included stables, which first opened in
1896.
In the 1958 West Ham Corporation
Handbook it was listed as two separate depots, the Work Department at Bridge
Road and the Transport Depot at Abbey road.
Over 100 years since it opened,
although combined and greatly changed, it is still a depot, which currently
belongs to Newham Homes, as well as being the home for Newco and Newham’s IT
department, Carboodle.
Again in the 1980`s, major changes
took place with the building of the Jubilee Underground Railway and
Depot.
Archaeologist took an advantage of
the major work to examine the old grounds of the Abbey, and remains of the
monks, which had been buried there, were discovered.
On what is the Stratford side of
Abbey Road was land belonging to a Market Garden and this was slowly built on as
the need for housing in the area grew.
On the Plaistow side there is a far
more interesting story.
In 1725, a Parish Workhouse was
built on land given by Sir Gregory Page-Turner Bt.
Next to it was land given by the
Bettons Trust. This was set up in the memory of Sir Thomas Betton, and for many
years was owned by the Ironmongers Guild in the City of London.
There is still a memorial
(Ironmongers Stone) to this on the green at Leather Gardens.
This area was known as
Barrowfields.
The Ironmongers stone is to be
re-sited as a part of the Newham Homes improvement works at Leather Gardens, and
I understand that some form of Information Board will be placed next to it
explaining the stone.
When the old Workhouse closed it
was converted in 1850 to a Gutta Percha (Rubber) Works owned by the Handcock
brothers.
This in turn was taken over by the
Crocketts Leather Cloth Factory.
With the developed of this factory
and new housing, what was left of the fields soon disappeared.
The Leather cloth factory finally
closed in the early 1960`s
The old factory and houses were
demolished and a New Council (Leather Gardens) Estate was built for West Ham
Corporation. Included on this estate are David Lee and Brassett Points, Old
Barrowfield and Bettons Park Road.
The War Memorial to the workforce
from both the Great War and the Second World War, standing close to the Junction
of Abbey road and Abbey Lane is the only remains of the factory.
Before we finally reach West Ham
Lane, there is another story.
In the 19th century a School was
built at the top of Abbey Road, which was called Abbey Road School. The school
was used up to the start of WWII. After the children were evacuated, the school
was converted for use for the West Ham Fire Brigade.
The school received a direct hit
from an Enemy bomb towards the end of the war and was badly
damaged.
It was never reopened as a School
once the War was over.
The School was demolished and Homes
were put in its place. These houses and flats are called Turley
Close.
A Marker Stone is the only remains
of the School Site.
Turley Close is named Wally Turley.
Turley was a sub officer in the West Ham Fire Brigade, who was killed along with
his Crew and members of the Air Raid Precautions (ARP) on the 7th September 1940
at Bridge Road Depot, when it was hit by one of the first bombs of the London
Blitz.
Sir Robin Wales, Mayor of Newham,
and the late Cyril Demarne, who was fire officer at the time and became the
Chief Officer of the West Ham Fire Brigade, unveiled a memorial to these men in
September 2005, which is on the front gate at Bridge Road Depot.
Finally a piece of Sporting
History, after World War Two, on many of the bomb damaged areas in London, the
sport of Cycle Speedway begun, and Abbey Road played its part.
As the damage was cleared, the
Debris was used as Race tracks.
In Sandal Street, a few moments
walk from Abbey Road, the Portway Penguins Cycle Speedway team had their
track.
They were amongst the founders of
the East London League, and in 1953 they won the London Coronation
Cup.
As I said, Abbey Road & Lane is
possibly the most historic turning in Newham, a lot of History from Churches to
Railways via Charity, Workhouse, Homes, Farms, Factories, Windmills, Fireman,
Ironmongers, Warfare, Schools, Speedway, the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II
and the local Council, must make this the most historic Road in Newham, and you
can add to this list the British Film Industry which used some of the old
buildings at the Abbey Mills Pumping Station for filming. It has been used as
the inside of Belmarsh Prison, and a hide out for the Baddies in the last Batman
Film
But finally, we may even have a
Ghost!
Recently on Newham Councils History
Board there was an item from a lady who can remember as a child being told a
story of a `ghostly white Monk` who would suddenly disappear in to what used to
be a tunnel in the area.
Well like all good ghosts stories,
this one does have a few facts in its favour!
There are lots of rumours of
tunnels in Newham, and if all were true the borough by now would have sunk into
them, but there was moats in an around the area of the Abbey, and if you cover a
moat, what do you get, a tunnel, and the Cistercian Monks in the Abbey were
known as the `White` monks because of their white
habits!"