Hotels in Limehouse

The name 'Limehouse' is often wrongly thought to be derived from the nickname for British sailors, or 'limeys'. In fact, the name relates to the local lime kilns that served shipping in the London Docks back in the 14th century. A former marshland, the area of Limehouse became a significant port in late medieval times and soon the shipbuilding, rope-making and merchant industries thrived. In 1820 the Limehouse Basin opened as the Regent's Canal Dock, connecting the Thames and the canal system. Limehouse was the site of the first London case of cholera in 1832, while both Charles Dickens and Thomas Burke describe the area's notorious opium dens. The term 'Limehousing' means to make an incendiary political speech, and followed an attack on the House of Lords made by Chancellor David Lloyd George in 1909. Contemporary residents include the actor Sir Ian McKellen and the journalist Matthew Parris, while celebrity chef Gordon Ramsey owns the popular gastropub, The Narrow. More