Bow Church the people of Bow promised to acknowledge themselves as parishioners of Stepney and agreed to pay 24 shillings annually for repairs of the mother church, and to dispense with their attendance there, except on the feast of Saint Dunstan, and on the Wednesday in Whitsunweek, when they were to accompany the rest of the parishioners in procession to Saint Paul's Cathedral. In 1556 at Bow, during the reign of Mary I of England, and under the authority of Edmund Bonner, Bishop of London, many people were brought by cart from Newgate and burned at the stake in front of Bow
Bow Common Booth described it as 'worse than almost any district in London.' Slums were cleared during the course of the 20th century, most hastened by bomb damage in the Second World War when Bow was targeted for it being an important artery, to feed the demands of the city, at that time. St Paul's Church was rebuilt in the fashionable 'new brutalism' style of1960 (replacing one damaged in the war) and is now a Grade II* listed building. Bow Common Bow Common is a locality that includes part of the Mile End and Bromley-by-Bow areas of the London Borough of Tower