Arnold Circus in
London’s East End is a charming residential area consisting of handsome brick apartment buildings surrounding a raised green on which sits a
bandstand. Though all is serene here now, the circus and buildings occupy the
site of Friars Mount, London’s most infamous 19th century slum.
Indeed, the mound that forms the center of the circus is composed of the rubble
from the demolished slum and the, now very much in demand, apartment complex was
arguably Britain’s first council estate.
Back in its slum
heyday, around 5,700 souls lived here in a rat’s nest of dwellings, unpaved streets
and alleyways. Sanitary conditions were horrendous with little or no sewage
oversight, and running water available for just 10–12 minutes each day. On Sundays,
there was no water. To add to the misery, noxious ponds formed in the cavities
left behind when earth was removed for brick making. Although there were
shoemakers and tailors here, there was also “boiling tripe, melting tallow, or
preparing cat’s meat and slaughter houses, dustheaps, and ‘lakes of putrefying
night soil.’” In addition to these “reputable” trades the area was crime-riddled, thick with street gangs, thieves and prostitutes.
The transformation
of Friars Mount can be attributed to the Reverend Osborne Jay. Jay took over
the local Holy Trinity parish in 1886 when one child in four died before his or
her first birthday and the entire death rate was four times that of London. Jay
worked tirelessly to improve conditions, raising the amazing sum of £25,000 to build a new church, social
club, gym and lodging house, and in 1890 he convinced the London County Council
to replace the slum with flats.
The horrified court
of Victorian public opinion was won over when writer Arthur Morrison published A Child of the Jago (1896) a fictionalized
work that laid bare the shame of Friars Mount. Indeed, when no less than the
Prince of Wales opened the new development in 1900, he cited Morrison’s book: “Few
indeed will forget this site who had read Mr. Morrison’s A Child of the Jago.”
Sadly, when the estate
was completed, it wasn’t the Friars Mount residents who moved in; it was too
expensive for them. They were pushed further out into the surrounding area
producing overcrowding and more slums.
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