Cranbrook Estate
Introduction
The photograph on this page of Cranbrook Estate by Stephen McKay as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
There are currently over 7.5m images from over 14,400 individuals and you can help contribute to the project by visiting https://www.geograph.org.uk
Image: © Stephen McKay Taken: 9 Oct 2015
This statue, in front of some of the low rise buildings and tower blocks that comprise Cranbrook Estate, is a representation of the blind beggar of Bethnal Green by Elisabeth Frink, dated 1958. The blind beggar was reputed to be Henry de Montfort, son of Simon de Montfort, who having lost his sight at the Battle of Evesham in 1265, ended up begging at a crossroads in what is now Bethnal Green. This unlikely riches to rags story captured the imagination of Tudor audiences and has been passed down the ages; it gave its name to the pub on Whitechapel Road where Ronnie Kray murdered George Cornell. Clearly the Metropolitan Borough Council were sufficiently impressed to grace their show-piece housing estate with this public artwork. In fact, the historical record suggests that Henry de Montfort was killed at Evesham and probably never came anywhere near this corner of east London - but then why spoil a good story?