The Tower of Babel – Shop of the Day 158
I’m stuck in painting and decorating today…to express my joy at that, let’s visit Plaistow and this hardware store. The name is also fitting as the guy in my local bike shop thinks my name is Bernard and calls me Bernie. I’m far too English to correct him as I have been going in there for years.
The name “Plaistow” is believed to come from Sir Hugh de Plaitz who, in 1065, married Philippa de Montfitchet, of the Mountfitchet Castle family, who owned the district. It is she who is reputed to have named it the Manor of Plaiz.[3] A stow was a place of assembly (occasionally a holy place), but also described as a town or village, so it was the village of Plaiz, or assembly place within the Manor, “Plaiz-stow”.[ Plaistow is connected with the legend of notorious highwayman Dick Turpin (born 1705; executed 1739). Several stories state that among Turpin’s first crimes was the theft of two oxen from his employer, a Mr Giles of Plaistow,in 1730. Turpin is alleged to also have run a smuggling gang which operated between Plaistow and Southend.
375 Barking Road, Plaistow, E13 8AL
©Barnaby Barford 2014