| Whitechapel Walkabout back to 'Other Places Of Interest'
IN BOOTH’S FOOTSTEPS
The Salvation Army began in the East End of London in 1865. A hundred years ago it would have been easy to retrace the steps of William Booth, its Founder, but many features have changed since then.
With a little imagination, however, the atmosphere of the East End of 1865 can soon be recaptured.
1) THE BLIND BEGGAR PUBLIC HOUSE:
From Whitechapel underground station turn left along Whitechapel Road to 'The Blind Beggar' public house on the corner of Cambridge Heath Road.
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One late June evening in 1865 the Rev. William Booth made his way along this stretch of the Whitechapel Road, teeming as it was with the poor who crowded the beer shops and gin palaces. Pity and concern filled his heart and he yearned to do something for them.
Outside The Blind Beggar he stopped. The leader of a group of missioners holding an open-air meeting invited any Christian bystander to have a word. Booth responded, his commanding presence and forthright words compelling the attention of the crowd. In simple language he told them of the love of God in offering them salvation through Jesus Christ. They had never heard this message so clearly before; and the missioners themselves were so impressed with Booth that they asked if he would take charge of a special tent mission they were holding nearby.
The original frontage of The Blind Beggar was replaced in 1894, and in recent years the adjoining buildings have given place to the beer garden.
Cross Cambridge Heath Road into mile end road.
2) and 3) THE BUST AND THE STATUE:
The bust of William Booth was unveiled in 1927, and the statue, at the other end of what remains of Mile End Waste, was erected to commemorate his 150th birthday, 10 April 1979. The Vine public house, outside which he often preached, stood in this area, and the nearby alms- houses, dating back to 1695 would have been well known to him.
Return to the blind beggar and cross to the opposite side of Whitechapel Road.
4) 220 WHITECHAPEL ROAD:
In 1867 The Christian Mission, desperately in need of a central meeting place, managed to acquire The Eastern Star, a run-down beer shop, for £120. This building (an electronics shop in 1992 - pictured with the red sign) became The Christian Mission's first Headquarters. The facade of the next-door building (222) retains some of the characteristics 220 would have had in 1867.
The First Headquarters of the East London Christian Mission as it appeared in the late 1860s
Turn left into Cavell Street.
5) THE SKITTLE ALLEY:
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On the right, near the corner of Cavell Street and Raven Row, is an area now used for parking post office vans. This was the site of the covered skittle alley, known as the Alexandra Hall, adjoining the former White Raven public house. William Booth used to preach here on Sunday mornings and afternoons for a few months during 1867 and again in 1870.
Continue along Cavell Street to Ford Square, which retains much of its Victorian character. Turn Right at Varden Street, continuing along to new road. Turn left and cross New Road.
6) THE DANCING ACADEMY:
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23 New Road (now private residences) bears a blue plaque indicating that on Sunday 3 September 1865 Professor Orson's dancing academy became the setting for The Christian Mission's first Sunday meetings, after the tent (see number 12) had blown down. A guinea a Sunday was needed for the rent, and when the Saturday night dancers went home in the early hours of Sunday morning, the missioners would move in with their brooms and benches to prepare the room for Sunday worship. Crowds often followed the missioners from their open-air meetings back to the dancing academy, this pattern continuing until February 1867.
Continue along New Road to Commercial Road. Cross at the pedestrian crossing and turn right along Commercial Road to Christian Street, the third turning on the left.
7) 102 CHRISTIAN STREET:
One evening in 1881, Mrs. Elizabeth Cottrill, converts sergeant at Whitechapel Corps, knelt with a girl at the penitent form. Learning that the girl's only address was that of a notorious brothel, Mrs. Cottrill took her home to Christian Street, where, although 16 members of three families filled the house to capacity, she made up a bed on the kitchen chairs for the girl. This was the unofficial beginning of the Army's rescue work. J & K Knit-wear Co. now (1992) occupies the building.
Return to Commercial Road and cross at the nearby traffic island. Turn right and then left into Parfett Street, a pedestrian precinct with late Victorian houses, now renovated. Continue to the end of Parfett Street and turn left into Fieldgate Street. A clothing factory on the left, between Settles Street and Greenfield) road, is the site of:
8) THE EBENEZER HALL:
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From 1870 onwards this was used as a Christian Mission meeting place, and by the end of May 1880 also housed the printing works where The War Cry was printed. The long- established Whitechapel Bell Foundry is still on the corner of Fieldgate Street and Whitechapel Road.
At the end of Fieldgate Street turn left into Whitechapel Road. Kay Textiles (nos. 20-22) is on the site of:
9) THE PEOPLE'S MISSION HALL:
Originally a People's Market purchased by The Christian Mission for £3,000, it was first used for public worship on Sunday 10 April 1870. Large enough to seat 1,500 in its main hall, it had 10 smaller rooms as well as an adjoining People's Soup and Coffee House where food could be bought cheaply. The Headquarters of the Mission was transferred here from The Eastern Star (see number 4), remaining the centre of Christian Mission operations until the newly-fledged Salvation Army set-up its International Headquarters in Queen Victoria Street in 1881. By 1893 the onetime People's Mission Hall housed not only a men's hostel, but also the Headquarters of the Men's Social Work.
A midday porch meeting at the People's Mission Hall
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Cross Whitechapel Road at the nearby pedestrian crossing. Turn right, passing the Army's Booth House Complex, which is opposite the site of:
10) THE EAST LONDON / EFFINGHAM THEATRE:
Early in 1867 William Booth decided to add the Effingham Theatre to his Sunday preaching stations. Now a Citroën showroom, the theatre was used by The Christian Mission until April 1870.
Continue along Whitechapel Road, passing the site of
11) THE PAVILION THEATRE:
No. 193 (now a vacant site adjoining the Academy Drama School) was used during an eight-week period when the Effingham Theatre was being rebuilt.
Turn left into Vallance Road, to Vallance Road Gardens (on the right), where a sundial marks the site of:
12) THE TENT:
Here, on a disused Quaker burial ground, William Booth conducted a meeting in the large tent erected by a group of missioners (see number 1). The date was Sunday 2 July 1865, and out of this small beginning grew the worldwide work of The Salvation Army.
The Rev. William Booth preaching at the tent mission
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(The Hanbury Street rescue home (1884) and women's shelter (1889) were in the area - north of Old Montague Street, opposite the entrance to Vallance Road Gardens, which is now a housing estate.)
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