Stepney Areas |
Bromley The name comes from a Saxon word meaning 'a clearing overgrown with brambles.' Originally it was called Bromley St Leonards which was a parish on which there was a Benedictine convent said to be built in 960. St Leonard's Street was originally known as Four Mills Street. "Three acres of land in a field called 'Dune' by the four mills" is referred to in records of the time of Richard I. This place name still exists, with the loss of one mill, in Three Mills Lane and Three Mills Bridge, just to the east of St Leonard Street. (Without the City Wall by Hector Bolitho & Derek Peel. John Murray 1952) Along with Richard Gernon (who's ancestors were awarded land by William I) and his wife Sabina, the priory of St Leonard, Bromley in 1294 owned 60 acres of land and the king was provided, in return for a messuage and 60 acres of land in Bromley, with an armed man for 40 days. This type of service payment was known as knight service and was to continue into the 17th century. So unwieldy was the system as land was gradually awarded in smaller parcels that it was often replaced by what was known as scutage, payment in money. (Medieval London Suburbs by Kevin McDonnell.)
The parish of Bromley consists of six hundred and six acres. The greater part of East India Dock lies within its bounds. In 1834 there were few buildings in the parish. Since it lies within Bow it is sometimes referred to a Bromley by Bow. |
