Editing Wapping (section)

===Riverside development===

The draining of Wapping Marsh, and the consolidation of a river wall along which houses were built, were finally achieved by 1600 after previous attempts had failed. (See [[Embanking of the tidal Thames#East London|Embanking of the tidal Thames]]). The settlement developed along that river wall, hemmed in by the river to the south and the now-drained Wapping Marsh to the north This gave it a peculiarly narrow and constricted shape, consisting of little more than the axis of Wapping High Street and some north–south side streets. [[John Stow]], the 16th-century historian, described it as a "continual street, or a filthy strait passage, with alleys of small tenements or cottages, built, inhabited by sailors' victuallers".<ref name="brit">[http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=45082 'The Thames Tunnel, Ratcliff Highway and Wapping', Old and New London: Volume 2 (1878), pp. 128–37] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927223040/http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=45082 |date=27 September 2007 }} accessed: 29 March 2007</ref> A chapel to [[St. John the Baptist]] was built in 1617, and it was here that [[Thomas Rainsborough]] was buried. Wapping was constituted as a [[parish]] in 1694.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Maddocks|first=Sydney|title=Wapping|journal=The Copartnership Herald|date=December 1932|volume=II|issue=22|url=http://www.mernick.org.uk/thhol/wapping.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104075143/http://www.mernick.org.uk/thhol/wapping.html|archive-date=4 November 2012}}</ref>

Wapping's proximity to the river gave it a strong maritime character for centuries, well into the 20th century. It was inhabited by sailors, mastmakers, boatbuilders, blockmakers, instrument-makers, victuallers and representatives of all the other trades that supported the seafarer. Wapping was also the site of '[[Execution Dock]]', where [[pirates]] and other water-borne criminals faced [[execution]] by [[hanging]] from a [[gibbet]] constructed close to the low water mark. Their bodies would be left dangling until they had been submerged three times by the tide.<ref name=brit/>

[[File:Wapping 1889.jpg|thumb|222x222px|Part of [[Charles Booth (philanthropist)|Charles Booth]]'s [[poverty map]] showing Wapping in 1889, published in ''[[Life and Labour of the People in London]]''. The red areas are "well-to-do"; the blue areas are "Intermittent or casual earnings" and black areas are the "lowest class...occasional labourers, street sellers, loafers, criminals and semi-criminals".]]The Bell Inn, by the execution dock, was run by Samuel Batts, whose daughter, [[Elizabeth Batts Cook|Elizabeth]], married [[James Cook]] at [[St Margaret's Church, Barking]], Essex on 21 December 1762, after the [[Royal Navy]] captain had stayed at the Inn.<ref>''Famous 18th century people of Barking and Dagenham'' Info Sheet #22, LB Barking & Dagenham</ref> The couple initially settled in [[Shadwell]], attending [[St Paul's Church, Shadwell|St Paul's church]], but later moved to [[Mile End]]. Although they had six children together, much of their married life was spent apart, with Cook absent on his voyages and, after his murder in 1779 at [[Kealakekua Bay]], she survived until 1835.

Said to be England's first, the [[Marine Police Force]] was formed in 1798 by magistrate [[Patrick Colquhoun]] and a Master Mariner, [[John Harriott (sailor)|John Harriott]], to tackle theft and looting from ships anchored in the [[Pool of London]] and the lower reaches of the river. Its base was (and remains) in Wapping High Street and it is now known as the [[Marine Support Unit]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20080311191342/http://www.met.police.uk/msu/history.htm History of the Marine Support Unit (Met)] accessed 24 January 2007</ref> The Thames Police Museum, dedicated to the history of the Marine Police Force, is currently housed within the headquarters of the Marine Support Unit, and is open to the public by appointment.<ref>[http://www.thamespolicemuseum.org.uk/museum.html Thames Police Museum] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100922120300/http://www.thamespolicemuseum.org.uk/museum.html |date=22 September 2010 }} Retrieved 1 June 2010</ref>

In 1811, the [[Ratcliff Highway murders]] took place nearby at [[The Highway (London)|The Highway]] and Wapping Lane.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070927200419/http://website.lineone.net/~fight/Stepney/marr.htm Stepney Murders: The Ratcliffe Highway Murders] accessed 21 January 2007</ref>