Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2013 December 3

= December 3 =

Name of London Street
I found in an archival document, which was not very legible, the name of a school which was (and maybe still is?) in the East End of London at the beginning of the 20th century. The document seemed to read "Frigdle St. Central School" where the word "Frigdle" was not very legible. I searched but could not find a street called Frigdle. Can any user please try and identify the name of this street? Thank you. Simonschaim (talk) 08:55, 3 December 2013 (UTC)


 * The nearest that I could get was Myrdle Street Central School in Stepney - see map for the location of Myrdle Street. It now seems to be a private Muslim school called Madani Girls' School. If this isn't the one, could you give us a clue as to the location? "East End" is a rather large area and not clearly defined. The Victoria County History would help, but we would need to know the Civil Parish or Metropolitan Borough. Alansplodge (talk) 11:26, 3 December 2013 (UTC)
 * I also found Grenfell Special School formerly Myrdle Street Special School (ESN) ("ESN" stands for "Educationally Sub-Normal" - no political correctness in those days!). Alansplodge (talk) 11:32, 3 December 2013 (UTC)


 * When I first saw this question I wondered whether it was "Frognal" but that's an area of West London near Hampstead. --TammyMoet (talk) 14:43, 4 December 2013 (UTC)

The East End of London took an almighty hammering during The Blitz. It's entirely possible that either/both the school / road (whatever it's named) hasn't existed for 60 years. --86.12.139.50 (talk) 15:23, 4 December 2013 (UTC)


 * Is it possible to show us a scan of the document? Some questions to ask in trying to decipher the letters:
 * Do the shapes of the assumed letters match the shapes of the same letters where they appear elsewhere in the document? For instance, is the letter g double-story or single-story?
 * Is the spacing in the document tight enough that some letters might run together, such as "ol" resembling "d"?
 * Do the assumed letters have any errors casting doubt on the assumptions? For instance, is there a dot over the i, is the F in upper case, is any letter completely blob-like and ambiguous?
 * Here's a possibly useful site listing renamed London streets, with a miscellany section that may help find bombed streets. Card Zero  (talk) 19:03, 4 December 2013 (UTC)
 * I bet Alansplodge is right with Myrdle Street. Here are a couple of news reports about the present school (obviously disregard the journalism) containing photos. I can believe the buildings were built in the 19th century and survived the blitz. Thincat (talk) 19:41, 4 December 2013 (UTC)
 * It's got the right ending and a descender in roughly the right place. The document has to have been so illegible that the OP read "M" as "Fri" and "yr" as "g", which is a bit of a stretch. Card Zero  (talk) 19:46, 4 December 2013 (UTC)
 * "Central" school in the original school name implied one providing education beyond elementary. They started in the late 19th century under the London School Board and years later became the secondary modern schools. They were large, attracting (if that is the word) pupils from a wide area, hence central. It makes you shudder to think. Thincat (talk) 19:52, 4 December 2013 (UTC)
 * Me again. It looks like bombs dropped all around but not on Myrdle Street School itself. Thincat (talk) 20:06, 4 December 2013 (UTC)
 * Inner–London  Schools  1918–44: A  Thematic  Study has an appendix showing LCC schools that were built, rebuilt or demolished between those dates; there is nothing resembling "Frigdle St". If it was destroyed in WWII, it would be there. I'm still going with Myrdle Street - more information at A Whitechapel Walk; "Left along Myrdle Street: The Grenfell School was designed for the LCC by TJ Bailey in 1905." Alansplodge (talk) 12:47, 5 December 2013 (UTC)

My thanks to all of you. It would seem that Myrdle Street is the best answer. Simonschaim (talk) 16:09, 5 December 2013 (UTC)