RATCLIFF

A natural landing place on the north bank of the Thames between Wapping marsh and the Isle of Dogs, the reddish colour of the soil perhaps inspiring the Saxon name of "red cliff". The northern part of the hamlet of Ratcliff, which contained the parish church of St. Dunstan's Stepney, was quite rural until the 19th century; the southern part grew rapidly at an early period because of its position on the riverside. In the early 14th century the the village became devoted to the fitting out, repairing and victualling of ships rather than ship building.

In Tudor times many voyages of discovery began at Ratcliff, notably those by Sir Hugh Willoughby in 1553 and Martin Frobisher in the 1570s. By 1610 Ratcliff was the most populous of the hamlets of Stepney with about 3,500 inhabitants.

In 1794 the area was devastated by the worst of many fires which constantly swept through the riverside hamlets. Two buildings date from just after this fire, the East India Company's saltpetre warehouse in The Highway, which later became part of the Free Trade Wharf, and the Master's House of the Royal Foundation of St. Katherine in Butchers Row which contains some remarkable early 19th century murals.

Ratcliff became part of the Borough of Stepney in 1900.

Greenwood's Maps 1827:

Ratcliff and surrounding area [308 Kbytes]

Church Records:

• St. James, Butcher Row
  Baptisms 1840-1883, 1898-1940,
• Marriages 1840-1940 : LMA
  Baptisms 1883-1897 : Destroyed in World War 2
• Queen Street Chapel
  Births & Baptisms 1698-1837,
• Burials 1822 : PRO
• Rose Lane Chapel
  Baptisms 1785-1837,
• Burials 1786-1833 : PRO
• Society of Friends Meeting House
  Baptisms 1656-1806 : PRO