Editing Cockney (section)

==Region==
Initially, when London consisted of little more than the [[London Wall|walled]] [[City of London|City]], the term applied to all Londoners, and this lingered into the 19th century.<ref name="hott" /> As the city grew, the definitions shifted to alternatives based on dialect or more specific areas; the East End and the area within earshot of Bow Bells.

The East End of London and the vicinity of Bow Bells are often used interchangeably, representing the identity of the East End. The region within the audible range of the bells varies depending on the direction of the wind, but there is a correlation between the two geographic definitions under the typical prevailing wind conditions. The term can apply to East Londoners who do not speak the dialect and those who do.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Davis |first=Barney |date=2023-03-18 |title=East Londoners want Cockney recognised as official language |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/east-londoners-want-cockney-recognised-as-official-language-b1067950.html |access-date=2025-01-09 |website=The Standard |language=en}}</ref>

===London's East End===
The traditional core districts of the [[East End]] include the [[Middlesex]] towns of [[Bethnal Green]], [[Whitechapel]], [[Spitalfields]], [[Shoreditch]], [[Stepney]], [[Wapping]], [[Limehouse]], [[Poplar, London|Poplar]], [[Haggerston]], [[Shoreditch]], [[Hackney, London|Hackney]], [[Hoxton]], [[Bow, London|Bow]] and [[Mile End]]. Nearly all of these areas had originally been part of the Manor and Parish of [[Stepney]]. In the 1600s and 1700s a [[Cockney's Feast]], also later known as the Stepney Feast was held in Stepney each May. The purpose of the event was to raise money so that Stepney boys could be apprenticed in the maritime trades.

The informal definition of the East End has gradually expanded to areas including as [[Poplar, London|Poplar]], [[Stratford, London|Stratford]], [[West Ham]] and [[Canning Town]], as these have formed part of London's growing [[conurbation]].

===Bow Bells' audible range===
[[File:StMaryLeBowChurch.jpg|thumb|upright|The church of [[St Mary-le-Bow]]]]
The church of [[St Mary-le-Bow]] is one of the oldest, largest, and historically most important churches in the City of London. The definition based on being born within earshot of the bells,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.stmarylebow.co.uk/#/bow-bells/4535373284|title=St Mary-le-Bow|website=www.stmarylebow.co.uk|access-date=5 January 2012|archive-date=20 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150520115520/http://www.stmarylebow.co.uk/#/bow-bells/4535373284|url-status=live}}</ref> cast at the [[Whitechapel Bell Foundry]], reflects the early definition of the term as relating to all of London.

The audible range of the Bells is dependent on geography and wind conditions. The east is mostly low lying, a factor which combines with the strength and regularity of the prevailing wind, blowing from west-south-west for nearly three-quarters of the year,<ref>Prevailing wind al LHR https://www.heathrow.com/content/dam/heathrow/web/common/documents/company/local-community/noise/reports-and-statistics/reports/community-noise-reports/CIR_Ascot_0914_0215.pdf {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201004011049/https://www.heathrow.com/content/dam/heathrow/web/common/documents/company/local-community/noise/reports-and-statistics/reports/community-noise-reports/CIR_Ascot_0914_0215.pdf |date=4 October 2020 }}</ref> to carry the sound further to the east, and more often. A 2012 study<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sabin |first=Lamiat |date=2012-06-26 |title=Bow Bells to be given audio boost to 'curb decline of Cockneys' |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/bow-bells-to-be-given-audio-boost-to-curb-decline-of-cockneys-7880794.html |access-date=2025-01-09 |website=The Standard |language=en}}</ref> showed that in the 19th century, and under typical conditions, the sound of the bells would carry as far as [[Clapton, London|Clapton]], [[Bow, London|Bow]] and [[Stratford, London|Stratford]] in the east but only as far as [[Southwark]] to the [[South London|south]] and [[Holborn]] in the [[West London|west]]. An earlier study<ref>{{Cite news |title=Cockney {{!}} Oxford English Dictionary |url=http://public.oed.com/aspects-of-english/english-in-use/cockney/ |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20180303014212/http://public.oed.com:80/aspects-of-english/english-in-use/cockney/ |archive-date=2018-03-03 |access-date=2025-01-09 |work=Oxford English Dictionary |language=en-US}}</ref> suggested the sound would have carried even further. The 2012 study showed that in the modern era, noise pollution means that the bells can only be heard as far as [[Shoreditch]]. According to legend, [[Dick Whittington]] heard the bells 4.5 miles away at [[Highgate]] Hill, in what is now [[north London]]. The studies mean that it is credible that Whittington might have heard them on one of the infrequent days that the wind blows from the south.

The church of St Mary-le-Bow was destroyed in 1666 by the [[Great Fire of London]] and rebuilt by [[Sir Christopher Wren]]. Although the bells were destroyed again in 1941 in [[the Blitz]], they had fallen silent on 13 June 1940 as part of the [[British anti-invasion preparations of World War II]]. Before they were replaced in 1961, there was a period when, by the "within earshot" definition, no "Bow Bell" Cockneys could be born.<ref>J. Swinnerton, ''The London Companion'' (Robson, 2004), p. 21.</ref> The use of such a literal definition produces other problems since the area around the church is no longer residential, and the noise pollution in that area combined with the absence of maternity wards there means that few are born within earshot.{{Sfnp|Wright|1981|p=11}}<ref>{{Cite web |last=Smallman |first=Etan |date=2012-06-25 |title=Muted Bow Bells drive Cockneys "to extinction" |url=https://metro.co.uk/2012/06/25/muted-bow-bells-drive-cockneys-to-extinction-479876/ |access-date=2025-02-02 |website=Metro |language=en}}</ref>

===Blurred definitions===
Regional definitions are sometimes blurred. Ahead of the 2024–25 season, [[West Ham United]] released an away shirt which it called the "Cockney Kit". The promotional material celebrated a Cockney identity for [[East London]] based on a territory rather than dialect.

The kit featured the Bow Bells on the reverse as a symbol of the area, and the promotional video included the church of [[St Mary-le-Bow]] and parts of East London within earshot of the bells&nbsp;– such as [[Brick Lane]], Upper Clapton and [[Stratford, London|Stratford]]&nbsp;– as well as a scene in [[Romford]], in suburban East London.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Cockney Kit. Introducing the new 2024/25 West Ham United Away Kit {{!}} West Ham United F.C. |url=https://www.whufc.com/news/cockney-kit-introducing-new-202425-west-ham-united-away-kit |access-date=2025-01-09 |website=www.whufc.com |language=en}}</ref>