31. WHITECHAPEL AND BETHNAL GREEN.
STATIONS: Aldgate East, St. Mary's, Whitechapel, Stepney Green, and Mile End, on the District Railway from Mansion House to Barking. Cambridge Heath and Bethnal Green, on the London & North Easten Railway (from Liverpool St.). OMNIBUSES Nos. 8, 10A, 25, 60, etc. TRAMWAYS Nos. 53, 61, 63.
For Bethnal Green Museum the nearest stations are Cambridge Heath (+ mile) and Bethnal Green (+ mile); tramways Nos. 53 and 71 pass the door; omnibus No. 8 passes within 200 yards. For the People's Palace the nearest station is Stepney Green; omnibuses 10A, 25, and 96 and tramways 61 and 63 pass the door.
Whitechapel, the quarter immediately to the east of the City of London, forms part of the borough of Stepney and, with St. George's, is a parliamentary division (population 112,519). It is largely occupied by Jewish tailors and clothiers. Its main thoroughfare is the wide WHITECHAPEL ROAD, beginning at Aldgate and extending east north east for 1 mile. It is prolonged by Mile End Road.
Beyond Aldgate East Station, to the left, diverges Commercial Street, in which stood St. Jude's, the church of Canon Barnett (died 1913).
At 28 Commercial St. is TOYNBEE HALL, the first 'University Settlement,' founded in 1884 and named after Arnold Toynbee (died 1883), a pioneer in this form of work. Toynbee Hall is not only a centre of educational and industrial activity and a meeting-place for East End societies, but has since the War become the headquarters of the International Federation of Settlements. At present there are circa 30 University men in residence.
For Commercial Road East, which diverges opposite Commercial St., and leads east south east (right) through Stepney to Limehouse and the India Docks.
To the left in Whitechapel High St., just beyond Commercial St., is the Whitechapel Art Gallery, with frequent interesting loan exhibitions (admission free; donation expected).
To the right, + mile farther on, is the LONDON HOSPITAL, founded in 1759, the largest general hospital in England, with about 842 beds and nearly 120,000 outpatients. Opposite is a memorial to Edward VII., erected by the Jews of east London, and at the back is a colossal bronze statue of Queen Alexandra, by Wade.
In Oxford St., just to the south of the Hospital, is the church of St. Philip Stepney, with a good Gothic interior. A tablet on the vicarage, in Newark St., commemorates the incumbency of John Richard Green (1837-83), the historian.
