Died 1955 | ||
Owen Fleming (1867-1955) was an architect in London. He is noted for being the principal architect for London County Council, leading the New Housing of the Working Classes Department within the LCC between 1889 and 2007. He was responsible for over seeing the Boundary Gardens Scheme, which set a precedent for future council estates. They designed decorative flats that were not simply regimented, with varying size of windows, small doors and roofs with attractive gables. "The Eastender deserves better that that", wrote Fleming referring to the average build in Shoreditch. The slum clearance allowed Cockneys to get a better standard of public sector housing. Arnold Circus opened its doors in 1898. Nearby Curtain Road remained a slum, contrasting the different circumstances of some tenanted dwellings. Rent at Arnold Circus was 10 s per week but it was beyond the reach of the poorest. The boundary was ringed by slum dwellers, while the oasis of Arnold Circus were gilded from the worst houses. Some of the tenant were Jews fleeing the Russian Pogroms. They worked in the garment trade, tailors in one of the traditional East End trades of Shoreditch. Arnold Circus is still standing and occupied in 2016. The flats have been converted from the original configuration that necessarily did not have fixtures such as bathrooms. The area was a hustle and bustle of rag n' bone men. Nearly all the tenants were skilled craftsmen (C1 in the Census returns). A proud community of respectable people lived on the estate.(Charles Booth, founder of the Salvation Army.). In 1900 the Circus was swept daily; windows cleaned weekly. By contrast the tenants are not on such harsh terms. Sidney Webb mapped the Jewish population in East End of London; Shoredicth was a noticeable spike in that area and Whitechapel. In 1930s they were briefly challenged by Sir Oswald Mosley's Blackshirts who won 8,000 votes concerned about the rate of immigration from Europe. The area had a strong sense of community: compassionate, caring and considerate.
The modern local shops have moved on and the streets identity changed with progressive capitalism. There was a parade of shops that were prosperous and run by proud family businesses. Virginia School was an elementary school fro all pupils under the age of 11. It was non-denominational school with no class divides. It was strict but quite fairly managed. They had school trips to the Isle of Wight and educational tours to factories and historic places. It taught old-fashioned virtues of right and wrong. During wartime the school closed and the children were evacuated as far away as Cornwall. 20,000 houses were damaged in Bethnal Green during the Blitz.
Post War Arnold Circus was settled again by new tenants. The Jewish community integrated with local incomers to the estate. The children had more access to sweets, and could play on the streets. By mid-1950s 3 million new council homes had been built. Council homes had All-the-mod-cons. Single taps were replaced by hot and cold running water. Comfort and aspiration was a substitute and most families moved away to Stansted, Golders Green and Cricklewood, Jewish communities in North London. Arnold Circus suffered from vacant flats. A radical movement challenged the basis of housing, Terry Fitzpatrick a Left Libertarian who believed in allowing homeless people to squat in empty homes in the East End. The LCC was superseded by the Greater London Council. In 1974 a waiting list 3.400 people on the writing list could not be housed; until squatting. Brick Lane immigrants come from Bangladesh. Thousands of families came to work in the garment trade: the Bangladehis took over the once Jewish-held shops and businesses. The squalor of the slums affected the immigrants, who waited years to be housed by the council.
Nearby 300 Bangladeshis occupied a block near Arnold Circus. In 1977 the Conservatives won the GLC election and became a scourge of the squatters. George Tremlett the leader revolutionised the policy by allowing them to find Council flats in the squats. They capitulated to Fitzpatrick's demands and the squatting movement had worked in its aims to find homes for the dispossessed. 60 Bangla families were allocated flats within weeks. Some moved into Arnold Circus. The set precedent meant that it became GLC policy to house the homeless. Yet that was not Tremlett's intention. Ghettos unwound and Bengalis were perceived to be living in abject poverty: inflamed racial tensions cause rioting and broken glass windows. Horace Cutler Head of Housing found the "unique problem" would be overcome by the community living. Arnold Circus became 40% Bangladeshi by 1990s. They still lived there in 2016. Now they too are moving on, they are only 20%.
The Right to Buy homes in which one lived was passed into law in 1980. Pioneers of the legislation were GLC. Rates were kept low and for investment. 12% of homes only are now council-run; and 40% are privately owned. The Shops in 2016 are among the schools an art gallery; it is quite fashionable: 70% of pupils are Bangladeshis. Flats are in the region of £250,000 (2016). Now a haven from urban living.(Steven Mackintosh, BBC4 Retrieved 6 December 2016).