Facts about Bromley-by-Bow
Bromley-by-Bow History
Bromley was home to St Leonard’s Priory a Benedictine nunnery founded in the time of William the conqueror and mentioned in the General Prologue to Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. It was destroyed at the time of the Dissolution in 1536, and the manor and lands passed to Sir Ralph Sadleir, who lived at Sutton House in Homerton and was privy councilor to Henry VIII.
In 1606 a palace was built for James I facing the line of St Leonard’s Street by John Thorpe. This was principally used as a hunting lodge but was a grand residence of 24 rooms, including a Stateroom, built along the lines of Hardwick Hall and Montacute House. Some of the stonework was quarried from the remains of the priory. It remained in Royal use and was refurbished in the reigns of Charles II and James II and stables were added.
General Info
Bromley, commonly known as Bromley-by-Bow, is a district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in East London, located on the western banks of the River Lea, in the Lower Lea Valley in East London. The area is distinct from Bow, which lies immediately north and east of the formal boundary between the two, which runs along Bow Road.
The area has become better known as Bromley-by-Bow due to Bromley tube station being renamed to Bromley-by-Bow in 1967, to prevent confusion with Bromley railway station in the London Borough of Bromley. Over time the station’s name has become applied to the district itself. The formal boundaries of the area were set when the area became a parish in 1537 when it split from Stepney.
