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Public Health Department,
Town Hall,
BETHNAL GREEN, E.2.
June, 1953.
To the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors of the
Metropolitan Borough of Bethnal Green.
Mr. Mayor, Ladles and Gentlemen,
I have the honour to submit my Annual Report on the health and
sanitary circumstances of the Borough for the year 1952.
Bethnal Green is one of the smaller Metropolitan Boroughs with an
area of 760 acres. Victoria Park, one of the largest and most beautiful
of the London Parks, is mainly within the Borough and there are
other smaller open spaces but the remainder of the borough is congested.
With a few notable exceptions, the streets are narrow and the houses
are in crowded terraces with a minimum of space at the rear and usually
none in front. There is a considerable amount of light industry and,
with a total of 1,463 factories, the number of factories in proportion
to area is probably higher than in any other Metropolitan Borough. At
one time Bethnal Green was noted for silk weaving and a number of
weavers' houses still exist but the predominant trade at the present
time is the manufacture of furniture. There are many very satisfactory
factories with modern equipment and with good standards of hygiene but
there are also many instances where houses, with or without additions,
have been converted to factory use and where conditions leave much to
be desired.
Very many of the dwelling houses in Bethnal Green were built 80 to
120 years ago and whilst they still provide reasonable accommodation at
a modest rent where maintenance has not been neglected, the general
fabric of the buildings is now wearing out and the amenities provided
are far below the standard which is required at the present day.
The problems of public health in Bethnal Green are consequently
mainly associated with the crowding and bad arrangement of houses, the
lack of adequate lighting and ventilation, lack of modern amenities
and the nuisances and disadvantages associated with the intermixture
of residential and factory premises.