Bethnal Green Road was a Victorian invention.
The western section of Bethnal Green Road was called Church Street after the church was built in 1743 but entry to Shoreditch was only through a narrow passageway until an Act of 1756.
By 1872 the western approach was again inadequate, since it was the main route from the developing Victoria Park district to the City. Replacing the 18th-century road with a 60 feet wide road farther south was also seen as a means of clearing slums in eastern Shoreditch.
The Metropolitan Board of Works obtained an Act in 1872 and opened the new road, called Bethnal Green Road throughout its length in 1879.
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