White plaque № 11180

“West Ham Parish Boundary Stone. 31 W.H.P. WHP 1775 1864 1850. The dates on this stone show the years in which the boundary was confirmed. It was numbered 31 in 1864, but no longer marks any boundary. Parish boundary markers were beaten in an annual ceremony called The Beating of the Bounds. Parish boundaries were significant because welfare payments, burials and medical treatment for poor people used to be provided by the parish in which they were born.”