119-889: Bow Back Rivers or Stratford Back Rivers is a complex of waterways between Bow and Stratford in east London, England, which connect the River Lea to the River Thames . Starting in the twelfth century, works were carried out to drain Stratford Marshes and several of the waterways were constructed to power watermills . Bow Creek provided the final outfall to the Thames, and the other channels were called Abbey Creek , Channelsea River , City Mill River , Prescott Channel , Pudding Mill River, Saint Thomas Creek, Three Mills Back River, Three Mills Wall River and Waterworks River . The rivers have been subject to change over centuries, with Alfred
238-462: A pound lock was constructed at Waltham Abbey , only the second to be built in England. Between Bow Bridge and Channelsea Bridge there were three others, said in 1303 to have been built to fill the gaps caused by the cutting of mill streams through Maud's causeway, although there is evidence that the mills pre-dated the causeway. However, the mill owners took responsibility for the bridges, which crossed
357-564: A Saxon barge have been found in the marshes at Walthamstow . The first alteration to the natural river may have been made by Alfred the Great , who cut another channel to strand a force of Danes in 896, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle . This lowered the tide head to Old Ford, and prevented large boats sailing the river until the 15th century. During the reign of King Henry I , in 1100, his wife Queen Matilda (or Maud), directed that
476-555: A backwater and the ford continued to be well used, but it was in an isolated and rural area and the local population centre moved to Bow in the Middle Ages . Old Ford was the site of one of the many watermills in the area that supplied flour to the bakers of Stratforde-atte-Bow, and hence bread to the City. Due to their isolation, residents were given dispensation to worship in the chapel of ease at Stratforde-atte-Bow, later Bow Church , to save
595-457: A cluster of wooden buildings dominated by a large open-ended barn. Large amounts of cattle bone were also discovered, suggesting butchery to supply the London market. The Lea was thought to be used to supply Roman London with agricultural products and pottery from Hertfordshire and the north. Old Ford was where the goods were transferred to continue their journey into London by wagon. Old Ford, as
714-560: A dozen sources and philanthropies. Matthew Lloyd Architects was appointed to refurbish the building and enable it to serve the wider community as well as the church. Work began in March 2003 and ended over a year later, in May 2004. St Barnabas Community Fete , also known as Bowstock, was an annual fête and music festival held on Wennington Green in Mile End Park . Fish Island has a long history as
833-474: A ford further south at Bow, and a further causeway existed between Homerton and Leyton , known as Wanstead Slip . These crossings passed across a true marsh, either side of the River Lea. This wide, fast flowing river was then tidal as far as Hackney Wick , and navigable as far as Hertfordshire . Dates for the earliest use of the rivers by boats are unknown, although a late Bronze Age dugout canoe and parts of
952-449: A goose is ever dog-cheap there, The sauce is over somewhat sharp and deare , taking advantage of the double entendre and continuing with other verses describing the drunken rowdy behaviour of the crowds. By the mid-19th century, the authorities had had enough and the fair was suppressed. During the 17th century Bow and the Essex bank became a centre for the slaughter and butchery of cattle for
1071-498: A home to artists and art spaces, having one of the highest densities of fine artists, designers and artisans in Europe according to a 2009 study which found around 600 artists' studios. The Percy Dalton Peanut Factory was at Fish Island, occupying Britannia Works and gatehouse along Dace Road, and another building on Smeed Road. Britannia Works has been run as an artists studio building by SPACE since 2000. Channel 4 ’s The Big Breakfast
1190-534: A husband, follows the main road to Bow and then proceeds to Romford , where she finds many suitors. Fairfield Road commemorates the Green Goose fair, held there on the Thursday after Pentecost . A Green Goose was a young or mid-summer goose, and a slang term for a cuckold or a 'low' woman. In 1630, John Taylor , a poet, wrote At Bow, the Thursday after Pentecost, There is a fair of green geese ready rost, Where, as
1309-634: A lowering of water levels, and the river was gradually canalised to maintain navigation. Significant changes occurred with the creation of the Lee Navigation in 1767, which resulted in the construction of the Hackney Cut and the Limehouse Cut , allowing barges to bypass most of the back rivers. A major reconstruction of the rivers took place in the 1930s, authorised by the River Lee (Flood Relief) Act, but by
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#17328448891681428-462: A mill, around the ford. It formed a part of the Ancient Parish of Stepney . Together with the rest of Bow , it separated from Stepney to become a (late formed) Ancient Parish of Bow in 1719. Ancient Parishes were, until the 19th century responsible for both civil and ecclesiastical local administration, after that there were divergent civil and ecclesiastical parish areas. It expanded rapidly in
1547-678: A minor battle against the Tower Hamlets Militia at Bow Bridge and occupied Stratford for three days, before heading off along the old Roman Road to the Siege of Colchester . During that those three days they carefully guarded Bow Bridge and a number of local fords so that the Lea would secure their flank against attack from the City of London and the Tower Hamlets. Farming and market gardening prevailed in
1666-594: A mixed residential and industrial development instead. The North London Railway had a line through the area with a station at Old Ford railway station . The line was badly damaged during World War II and never reopened. The station buildings were demolished in the early 1960s. As part of the post-war rebuilding, the Lakeview Estate was built and designed by Berthold Lubetkin , on a site damaged by bombing in World War II , on Grove Road between Old Ford Road and
1785-478: A more fanciful account, in which the queen falling into the water prompted the action. The addition of le-Bow probably had less to do with the shape of the bridge than the fact that arch was derived from arcus , meaning bow . This was the style of French bridges rather than the Anglo Saxon straight construction, and its design gave it its name. In 1135, Stratford Langthorne Abbey was founded. The Abbey continued
1904-671: A part of the medieval parish of Stepney until becoming an independent parish in 1719. The parish vestry then undertook this responsibility until a rising population created the need for the Poplar Board of Works in 1855. This was superseded by the Metropolitan Borough of Poplar in 1900 until it was absorbed into the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in 1965. The council offices in Poplar High Street became Poplar Town Hall on
2023-465: A platform of women's enfranchisement. Sylvia supported him and Bow Road became the campaign office, culminating in a huge rally in nearby Victoria Park , but Lansbury was narrowly defeated and support for the project in the East End was withdrawn. Sylvia refocused her efforts from Bow, and with the outbreak of World War I began a nursery, clinic and cost price canteen for the poor at the bakery. A paper,
2142-641: A political cause in the 1970/80s. In 1978, Rock Against Racism organised a protest event against growth of far-right organisations such as the National Front . The concert was played by The Clash , Steel Pulse , X-Ray Spex , The Ruts , Sham 69 , Generation X , and the Tom Robinson Band . In 1975, the Baroness Burdett Coutts Drinking Fountain was given Grade II* listed status by Historic England . Bromley Public Hall ,
2261-563: A set of community programs. The oldest model boat club in the world, the Victoria Model Steam Boat Club, founded in Victoria Park on 15 July 1904, is still active today and holds up to 17 of their Sunday regattas a year. The VMSB Club runs straight-running boats just as they did 100 years ago but have also progressed to radio controlled boats and hydroplanes . The first Regatta is traditionally held on Easter Sunday and
2380-457: A successful campaign to raise more than £3,000,000 to renovate the church, so that it could continue to be used as a church, and also to better serve the local community. Channel 4 ’s The Big Breakfast was broadcast live from a former lockkeeper's cottages located on Fish Island, in Old Ford, from 28 September 1992 until 29 March 2002. Rachel Whiteread 's temporary public sculpture " House "
2499-611: Is a district in East London , England and is in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets . It is an inner-city suburb located 4.6 miles (7.4 km) east of Charing Cross . Historically in Middlesex , it became part of the County of London in 1888 . "Bow" is an abbreviation of the medieval name Stratford-at-Bow , in which "Bow" refers to the bow-shaped bridge built here in the early 12th century. Bow contains parts of both Victoria Park and
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#17328448891682618-518: Is a frieze on the face of the building, unveiled by George Lansbury , MP for Bow and Bromley , on 10 December 1938: the Portland Stone panels commemorate the trades constructing the Town Hall and symbolise the borough's relationship with the River Thames and the youth of Poplar. A memorial to Lansbury stands on the corner of Bow Road and Harley Grove, near 39 Bow Road which was his family home in
2737-483: Is likely to have caused the Lea to eddy and slow, causing much alluvial material from both watercourses to be dropped at this point, which may have been the reason that fording the river was possible here. This may have been reinforced by the fact that the Lea's tidal head was in the vicinity. Excavations have shown that in the Roman period, the ford lay a very short distance to the north of this point, immediately north of
2856-569: Is situated in Gladstone Place. A community and tenants' hall is nearby. Access to council services is dealt with by the Bow and North Poplar One Stop Shop in Ewart Place. The Percy Dalton Peanut Factory was at Fish Island, occupying Britannia Works and gatehouse along Dace Road, and another building on Smeed Road. Britannia Works has been run as an artists studio building by SPACE since 2000, who led
2975-634: Is unclear when the individually named rivers became known collectively as Bow Back Rivers. Charles Tween, writing on behalf of the Lee Conservancy, referred to them as both the Stratford Back Rivers and the Stratford Back Streams in 1905. The section to the west of the more recent City Mills Lock was labelled Bow Back River on a map of 1895, but had previously been part of Pudding Mill River. Powell, writing in 1973, still referred to them as
3094-547: The 2012 Summer Olympics . The company would have had to relocate from Stratford following a Compulsory Purchase Order. Then Mayor of London , Boris Johnson , officially opened the newly finished smokehouse in Old Ford in 2009. Following the compulsory purchase, the company rebuilt its premises near to the Olympic Park, on the banks of the River Lee. In 2010 the National Lottery Big Lottery Fund awarded
3213-564: The Blackwall Tunnel approach road, the traffic interchange, the River Lea and some of the Bow Back Rivers . This has since been expanded to a four-lane road. Bow was an isolated hamlet by the early 14th century, some distance from its parish church of St Dunstan's, Stepney . In 1311 permission was granted to build St Mary's Church, Bow as a chapel of ease to allow the residents a more local and convenient place of worship. The land
3332-570: The Dissolution of the Monasteries , when local landowners who had taken over the Abbey lands were found responsible. The bridge was widened in 1741 and tolls were levied to defray the expense, but litigation over maintenance lasted until 1834, when the bridge needed to be rebuilt and landowners agreed to pay half of the cost, with Essex and Middlesex sharing the other. The bridge was again replaced in 1834, by
3451-657: The Environment Agency on matters of flood-risk management, and a site was identified which would provide compensation for the loss of habitat caused by the culverting. Much of the old River Lea was inaccessible to the public prior to the project, but is a central feature of the northern parklands that have been created. Two 'wetland bowls' were designed, which have been planted with water-loving plants such as reeds , rushes , sedges and iris . They also provide spawning grounds and refuges during flood conditions for fish, as well as providing storage capacity for flood water. It
3570-469: The Hertford Union Canal . The estate opened in 1958. Fish Island also saw significant bombing during the war, with damaged housing demolished post-war to make way for factories and warehouses. St Barnabas's, Bethnal Green was also badly damaged by bombing during the same World War; the steeple was removed and the church rebuilt, retaining the tower and north and south walls. The remodelling
3689-418: The London Borough of Hackney , through a joint management board. Since 1994 Tower Hamlets has run the park alone. In 1991, St Paul's, Old Ford was closed due to maintenance and safety concerns. The Parochial Church Council and local people were determined to see that the church remained open and, in fact, was improved. The "A New Heart for Bow" project was born. More than £3,000,000 was raised from more than
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3808-475: The Middlesex and Essex Turnpike Trust , and in 1866 West Ham took responsibility for its upkeep and that of the causeway and smaller bridges that continued the route across the Lea. In 1967 that bridge was replaced by a new modern bridge by the Greater London Council who also installed a two-lane flyover above it (designed by Andrei Tchernavin, son of Gulag escapee Vladimir V. Tchernavin ) spanning
3927-407: The National Front . The concert was played by The Clash , Steel Pulse , X-Ray Spex , The Ruts , Sham 69 , Generation X , and the Tom Robinson Band . In 1975, the Baroness Burdett Coutts Drinking Fountain in the park was given Grade II* listed status by Historic England . In 1986 the Greater London Council transferred responsibility for the park to the London borough of Tower Hamlets and
4046-713: The North London Railway and at Coborn Road on the Great Eastern Main Line . Old Ford is connected to the National Road Network via Parnell Road and Tredegar Road to the A12 ( East Cross Route ) running north/north east-south. Access to the Hertford Union Canal is via the tow-path (which the National Cycle Route 1 also passes along) from Wick Road at St Marks Gate (Victoria Park). East leads to
4165-548: The Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park . Old Ford and Fish Island are localities within Bow, but Bromley-by-Bow immediately to the south is a separate district. These distinctions have their roots in historic parish boundaries. Bow underwent extensive urban regeneration including the replacement or improvement of council homes, with the impetus given by the staging of the 2012 Olympic Games at nearby Stratford. Bow formed
4284-553: The River Lea , The like of which had not been seen before . The area became known variously as Stradford of the Bow , Stratford of the Bow , Stratford the Bow , Stratforde the Bowe , and Stratford-atte-Bow (at the Bow) which over time was shortened to Bow to distinguish it from Stratford Langthorne on the Essex bank of the Lea. Land and Abbey Mill were given to Barking Abbey for maintenance of
4403-596: The Suffragette movement's inability to engage with the needs of working-class women like the match girls. Sylvia formed a breakaway movement, the East London Federation of Suffragettes , and based at 198 Bow Road, by the church, in a baker's shop. This was emblazoned with " Votes for Women " in large gold letters and opened in October 1912. The local Member of Parliament , George Lansbury , resigned his seat to stand on
4522-598: The Victorian era into a outer suburb of London and was designated an independent Anglican parish in the mid-Victorian period, although civil administration has always been associated with Bow. Victorian OS maps show an illustrative location of the, by then, former ford, which was just to the south of the Northern Outfall Sewer and immediately south of the confluence of the Lea and the Hackney Brook . The confluence
4641-698: The Women's Dreadnought , was published to bring her campaign to a wider audience. At the close of war, the Representation of the People (Amendment) Act 1918 gave limited voting rights to property-owning women over the age of 30, and equal rights were finally achieved ten years later. Pankhurst spent 12 years in Bow fighting for women's rights. She risked constant arrest and spent a lot of time in Holloway Prison , often on hunger strike. She finally achieved her aim, and along
4760-573: The suffragette movement fight for women's rights and also the trade union movement. The factory was rebuilt in 1911 and the brick entrance includes a depiction of Noah's Ark and the word 'Security' used as a trademark on the matchboxes. Match production ceased in 1979 and the building is now private apartments known as the Bow Quarter . Emmeline Pankhurst began the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) in 1903 with her daughters Christabel and Sylvia . Sylvia became increasingly disillusioned with
4879-424: The 1960s, commercial usage of the waterways had largely ceased. Deteriorating infrastructure led to the rivers dwindling to little more than tidal creeks, and they were categorised in 1968 as having no economic or long-term future. However, British Waterways decided that their full restoration was an important aim in 2002, and the construction of the main stadium for the 2012 Summer Olympics on an island formed by
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4998-683: The Channelsea River between Stratford High Street and Lett Road was culverted between 1957 and 1958. As traffic ceased, the lock structures deteriorated, and by 2006, City Mills Lock and Carpenters Road Lock were officially disused. The Transport Act 1968 had classified most waterways into commercial, cruising and remainder waterways. Remainder waterways were those for which the government of the time could see no economic future, and which would only therefore be subject to maintenance to prevent them becoming unsafe. The Bow Back Rivers fell into this category, and remained neglected until their full restoration
5117-444: The City market. Additionally the piggery which used the mash residue produced by the gin mills at Three Mills meant a ready supply of animal bones, and local entrepreneurs Thomas Frye and Edward Heylyn developed a means to mix this with clay and create a form of fine porcelain, said to rival the best from abroad, known as Bow Porcelain . In November 1753, in Aris's Birmingham Gazette ,
5236-558: The Great diverting the river in 896 to create a second channel, and Queen Matilda bridging both channels around 1110 by paying for the construction of Bow Bridge. Because the river system was tidal as far as Hackney Wick , several of the mills were tide mills , including those at Abbey Mills and those at Three Mills , one of which survives. Construction of the New River in the seventeenth century to supply drinking water to London, with subsequent extraction by waterworks companies, led to
5355-509: The Lee at Bully Fence, and the section between there and Carpenters Road had been filled in. At some point, the connection at Bully Fence became the main source for the Channelsea River, although the 1953/66 map still shows it connected to the remnants of the system to the north, for drainage. Administrative boundaries still follow the northern course of the Waterworks River. Although the River Lee
5474-464: The London Borough of Tower Hamlets a £4.5 million grant towards a £12 million programme of major improvements to Victoria Park. Fish Island has a long history as a home to artists and art spaces, having one of the highest densities of fine artists, designers and artisans in Europe according to a 2009 study which found around 600 artists' studios. In September 2014 Bow School moved from
5593-468: The Northern Outfall Sewer. The Romans dumped materials to improve the ford and at one time appear to have had a bridge over the Lea. Evidence has been found of a late Roman settlement at Old Ford dating from the 4th and 5th centuries. Excavations in 2002–03 discovered a substantial 'ribbon' development along the line of the road, surrounded by fields. Near the river there was evidence for
5712-571: The Nun Prioress in the General Prologue to his Canterbury Tales . And Frenssh she spak ful faire and fetisly, After the scole of Stratford atte Bowe, For Frenssh of Parys was to hire unknowe. The area was mentioned in the popular Tudor (or earlier) ballad, the Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green . In the ballad, the beautiful Bess, daughter of the blind beggar, leaves Bethnal Green to find
5831-647: The Nunnery Gallery on Bow Road. An annual fête and music festival held on Wennington Green in Mile End Park initiated by the vicar of St Barnabas Bethnal Green and called the St Barnabas Community Fete (or Bowstock) ran from 2003 to 2010, with the 2007 fete being part of a case study in the 'Community' section of the Living Britain report published by Zurich and The Future Laboratory. In 2003, H. Forman and Son learned of London's bid to host
5950-470: The River Lea in the 12th century or a bend in the road east of Bow Road station . The Bow Back Rivers cross an area originally known as Stratford Marsh, an area of common Lammas land , where inhabitants had common rights to graze horses and cattle between Lammas Day (1 August) and Lady Day (25 March), but which was used for growing hay for the rest of the year. The Marsh was between Stratford-Langthorne and Stratford-at-Bow. Little remains from pre-history, but
6069-765: The Steam Regatta is always held on the first Sunday in July. Old Ford is served by bus route 8 to Tottenham Court Road station and Bow Church as well as a number of local bus routes 277, 276, 339, 425 and 488 and D6. It is also linked to the London Night Bus network by the N8 and N277. Old Ford has no access to the London Underground network, but was formerly connected to the British rail network at Old Ford railway station on
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#17328448891686188-446: The Stratford Back Rivers. The 1939 edition of "Inland Waterways of Great Britain", an early attempt to provide a guide for the leisure use of canals, noted that the River Lee had "several subsidiary canalised waterways", and listed Bow Creek, Old River Lee, City Mills River and Waterworks River, but did not describe them collectively. Boyes and Russell writing in 1977 referred to them as the Bow Back Rivers or Stratford Back Rivers, and by
6307-408: The Three Mills tide mills. The channel included sluices to regulate water levels above it, but these became redundant once the tide mills ceased to operate, and eventually seized up. They were removed soon after parts of the Channelsea River were culverted. By the 1960s, only the Saint Thomas Creek, the City Mills River and the Channelsea River were still being used for commercial traffic. A section of
6426-465: The West Ham Waterworks Company built a waterworks at Saynes Mill in Stratford, the river on which it was located later being known as Waterworks River. The East London Waterworks Company was set up in 1807, and built works at Old Ford, where they extracted water from the river. The supply to the works was moved further upstream in 1829, and in 1830 they built a canal, running parallel to the Hackney Cut, so that water could be obtained from Lea Bridge. Much of
6545-405: The bargees, the Act had formalised the freedom from tolls on the Bow River section. Once the lock was built, however, the trustees charged a toll for using it. This was unpopular, but there was still the option of using the tidal gates at certain states of the tide, which did not incur a toll. A clause to authorise the lock toll was deleted by Parliament from a subsequent Act of 1868, and it was still
6664-400: The bridge, who also maintained a chapel on the bridge dedicated to St Katherine , occupied until the 15th century by a hermit. This endowment was later administered by Stratford Langthorne Abbey . By 1549, this route had become known as The Kings Way , and later became known as the Great Essex Road . Responsibility for maintenance of the bridge was always in dispute, no more so than with
6783-440: The case in 1977 that a charge was made for using the lock but not for using the gates. By 1821, Stratford was served by a number of wharves, some located on the Lea and others on the Channelsea River or other branches. In addition to wharves for general goods, some specifically handled timber, chalk, stone, coal, or wheat. Several of the factories and mills had private wharves. By this date, a dock had been built near Bow Bridge to
6902-408: The channels, Bow Tidal Lock was duplicated, Marshgate Lock was rebuilt further east as City Mill Lock, and a second new lock at Carpenters Road was constructed. It used up-and-over radial gates operated by winches, rather than the traditional mitre gates used at City Mill Lock. The gates were quadrant-shaped, and were raised out of the river to allow boats to enter or leave the lock. An act of Parliament
7021-439: The concern was to the north of the High Street and across the river. Grove Hall Private Lunatic Asylum was established on the plot in 1820. This establishment primarily catered for ex-servicemen and was featured in Charles Dickens ' novel Nicholas Nickleby (1839). It was replaced after it was shut and turned into Grove Hall Park was opened in 1909 following its purchase by the local authority in an auction in 1906. In 1878 it
7140-420: The constituency until it was destroyed in the Blitz . It describes him as "A great servant of the people". Lansbury was twice Mayor of Poplar and MP for Bromley and Bow . In 1921, he led the Poplar Rates Rebellion . His daughter-in-law, Minnie Lansbury, was one of the 30 Poplar councillors sent to prison, and died six weeks after leaving prison. A memorial clock to her is over a row of shops on Bow Road, near
7259-425: The cost of the project, with other grants coming from the London Legacy Development Corporation and the Inland Waterways Association. As well as acting as a lock, the radial gates allow water to be distributed around the Bow Back Rivers for flood prevention purposes. The gates were due to be tested during the summer months, with a formal opening scheduled for the East London Waterways Festival in August. Public access to
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#17328448891687378-452: The cut was opened for traffic on 7 August 1769. The Act of 1767 had specified points on the river at which tolls could be collected, but had made no mention of tolls for use of Bow Creek, Bow Back Rivers, or the section of the navigation between Bow tidal gates and Old Ford, and these had remained toll-free. An act of Parliament obtained on 14 August 1850 allowed the trustees to build a pound lock at Bow tidal gates. To prevent opposition from
7497-454: The embankment that encloses the sewer from Bow to Beckton is followed by a public footpath, The Greenway . Water was extracted from the rivers to provide a public water supply. The opening of the New River in 1633, a 40-mile (64 km) channel built to bring water to London from Amwell springs, and soon afterwards from the River Lea near Ware , had a detrimental effect on both navigation and milling by reducing water levels. Around 1745,
7616-425: The event, Three Mills Lock was constructed on the Prescott Channel . This consists of a barge lock, suitable for 350- tonne (344.5- long-ton ; 385.8- short-ton ) barges, and an adjacent sluice, which enables the water levels above the structure to be regulated, rather than navigation being subject to the tides. The lock was built to allow construction materials to be delivered to the site and spoil to be removed, and
7735-481: The final cost was £23 million, which included a sluice on the Three Mills Wall River. Work began in March 2007, and the project lasted for just over two years. Despite hopes that it would transport 1.75 million tonnes while the stadium was being built, very little commercial traffic used the new lock. With water levels above the structure remaining fairly constant, £400,000 was spent on refurbishing City Mills Lock. Although some work had been carried out in 2006, including
7854-449: The fitting of new metal gates, it was not operational, and had not been used for around 40 years. The second phase of restoration included fitting the equipment to automate its operation. The first public use of the lock occurred on 31 July 2010. British Waterways hoped to restore the Carpenters Road Lock soon afterwards, but the project was postponed until after the completion of the Olympic games, as temporary 'Land Bridges' were erected over
7973-478: The following advertisement appeared: This is to give notice to all painters in the blue and white potting way and enamellers on chinaware, that by applying at the counting-house at the china-house near Bow, they may meet with employment and proper encouragement according to their merit; likewise painters brought up in the snuff-box way, japanning, fan-painting, &c., may have an opportunity of trial, wherein if they succeed, they shall have due encouragement. N.B. At
8092-404: The formation of the Metropolitan Borough of Poplar in 1900. Stratforde was first recorded as a settlement in 1177, the name derived from its Old English meaning of paved way to a ford . The ford originally lay on a pre- Roman trackway at Old Ford about 600 metres (0.4 mi) to the north, but when the Romans decided on Colchester as the initial capital for their occupation, the road
8211-464: The foundations of one of the kilns were discovered* , with a large quantity of 'wasters' and fragments of broken pottery. The houses close by were then called China Row, but now lie beneath modern housing. Chemical analysis of the firing remains showed them to contain high quantities of bone-ash, pre-dating the claim of Josiah Spode to have invented the bone china process. More recent investigations of documentary and archaeological evidence suggests
8330-512: The junction with Alfred Street. Ownership of Bow Road railway station passed from British Rail to the London Transport Executive in 1950. The station building was placed as a Grade II listed building on 27 September 1973. The Metropolitan Borough of Poplar was absorbed along with the boroughs of Stepney and Poplar into the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in 1965 as part of the newly formed Greater London . Victoria Park became known for its open air music festivals , often linked with
8449-445: The low headroom of the Northern Outfall Sewer aqueduct prevented access to the southern reaches of the system, and to allow access City Mill Lock was constructed near Blaker Road. In 2005, the lock was partially restored as part of the planning gain required from the developers of the adjacent Bellamy Homes housing scheme. The 1930s improvements included the construction of the Prescott Channel, designed to allow flood water to bypass
8568-492: The mill streams for St Thomas's, Spileman's and Saynes mills. The last two were owned by the City of London, and the bridges were called Pegshole and St Michael's Bridges. An administrative mistake around 1814 resulted in the City of London taking responsibility for St Thomas's Bridge, but the miller did not complain as Pegshole bridge was smaller and therefore less costly to maintain. The names were eventually swapped, and all three were replaced by Groves Bridge in 1933, which crossed
8687-473: The name suggests, was the ancient most downstream crossing point of the then unchannelised River Lea . At this time the Lea was a wide fast-flowing river and the tidal estuary stretched as far as Hackney Wick . Two routes may have used the ford, both continuing through Essex and including Colchester amongst their destinations. Colchester was where the Romans set up their initial capital for their occupation, and
8806-483: The names suggest that the two settlements lay at either end of a stone causeway across the marsh. Remains of a stone causeway have been found, but no traces of an associated road. The ford at Old Ford is of pre-Roman origin, part of a route from London to Essex which crossed Bethnal Green . In the Roman era , a new road was built from London to the ford, which carried the principal road to Colchester . There may also have been
8925-593: The often difficult journey to the parish church of St Dunstan's at Stepney . A lock and weir now exist on the Lee Navigation near where the ford used to be. This lies at the end of 'Hackney Cut', an 18th-century artificial channel, and the natural channel (known as the Waterworks River) rejoins the channel below the lock. n June 1648, during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms , a Royalist force of some 500 to 600 men won
9044-540: The old vestry hall for neighbouring Bromley-by-Bow (St Leonard's Parish), can be seen on the south side of the Bow Road boundary, near the DLR station. It continues in use for registrations of births and marriages. In 1986 the Greater London Council transferred responsibility for the park to the London borough of Tower Hamlets and the London Borough of Hackney , through a joint management board. Since 1994 Tower Hamlets has run
9163-544: The old site off Fairfield Road to a new site in Bromley-by-Bow 1 mile to the south-east by Bow Locks , in a new building designed by van Heyningen and Haward Architects . In 2014 local residents organized the first Roman Road Festival, a celebration of local life, business, and art. This grew to encompass dozens of events and hundreds of volunteers and led to the creation of the Roman Road Trust. In 2015, Roman Road
9282-423: The park alone. Between 1986 and 1992 the name Bow applied to one of seven neighbourhoods to whom power was devolved from the council. This resulted in replacement of much of the street signage. Bow West and Bow East are two wards formed in 2002 that incorporate Old Ford and parts of Bethnal Green and Mile End. In 1991, St Paul's, Old Ford was closed due to poor maintenance and safety concerns. This led to
9401-409: The process of draining Stratford marsh begun in the Middle Ages and creating artificial channels to drive water and tide mills. A small river port developed at Stratford, mentioned in the 15th century, to serve the needs of Stratford Abbey and the mills at Stratford, and there is similar evidence in later centuries. The Abbey took on responsibility to maintain the marsh walls around Bow Creek , to keep
9520-482: The public". His report of September 1766 highlighted the need to replace the flash locks with the more modern pound locks or pen sluices , each with two sets of gates. Significantly for the Bow Back Rivers, he suggested a new cut from Lea Bridge to Old Ford, and another from Bow Tidal Gates to a basin at Limehouse. The first became known as the Hackney Cut , and the second as the Limehouse Cut . An act of Parliament
9639-454: The railways, but economies were made, and capital works continued. The lock at Lea Bridge was removed, and replaced by Old Ford Lock further to the south, which was built to take 100-ton barges, rather than the 40-ton barges specified by an Act of 1805. Although the original Lee trustees, and after 1868 the Conservators of the River Lee, were officially responsible for the Bow Back Rivers, there
9758-531: The rivers provided funding to construct a new lock and sluices which stabilised water levels throughout the Olympic site. It was hoped that significant amounts of materials for the construction of the Olympic facilities would be delivered by barge, but this did not happen. Improvements to the channels which form a central feature of the Olympic Park included the largest aquatic planting scheme ever carried out in Britain. It
9877-400: The road should be routed further south, and paid for two bridges, one to cross the Lee and the other to cross the Channelsea River, from her own funds. She also paid for the road to be built between them, and the location of the bridge became known as Stratford-atte-Boghe, later Stratford-le-Bow, and finally dropped Stratford to become Bow or Bow Bridge. John Leland , writing in the 1500s, gives
9996-461: The road was upgraded to run from the area of London Bridge as one of the first paved Roman roads in Britain . The routes using the ford were: In 1110, Matilda , wife of Henry I , reputedly took a tumble at the ford on her way to Barking Abbey and ordered a distinctively bow-shaped three-arched bridge to be built over the River Lea . The building of the bridge at Bow did not leave Old Ford as
10115-450: The same house, a person is wanted who can model small figures in clay neatly. The Bow China Works prospered, employing some 300 artists and hands, until about 1770, when one of its founders died. By 1776 all of its moulds and implements were transferred to a manufacturer in Derby . In 1867, during drainage operations at the match factory of Bell & Black at Bell Road, St. Leonard's Street,
10234-542: The settlement until the 19th century when Old Ford became a part of the seamless London conurbation as a district, with large estates of relatively poor houses and much poverty. These were built to serve the new factories on the Lea and Lee Navigation and to serve the new railways. In 1865, a 30-acre plot was purchased to be used as a gasworks, but the Gas Light and Coke Company established what would become known as Fish Island , giving it its distinctive road names, and building
10353-541: The site occupied by a waterworks, and the canal which supplied the Old Ford works running beside the Hackney Cut. Another large reservoir, triangular in shape, was located between the old river and the Hackney Cut at Old Ford, with two connections to the old river. The water supply canal passed under the old river to feed two compensation reservoirs to the north of the Great Eastern Railway tracks. A covered reservoir
10472-438: The site of the lock to enable pedestrians to reach the stadium, some of which will be removed after the event. Following the Olympic games, it is hoped the waterways will continue to be used by both commercial and leisure craft. The Olympic Delivery Authority took the decision to culvert more of the Channelsea River, where it crossed the northern part of the site. It remains a designated main river, and so they had to liaise with
10591-506: The sixth edition of "Inland Waterways of Great Britain", published in 1985, they were referred to as Bow Back Rivers. The river which supplies the Bow Back Rivers has been known as the River Lee or River Lea, but modern usage tends to use "Lea" when referring to the natural river, and "Lee" when referring to the navigation, so that the Lee Navigation is a canalisation of the River Lea. The name Bow may derive from either an arched bridge over
10710-485: The south of the High Street. It was about 80 by 50 yards (73 by 46 m), and was connected to the river by its own channel. It was initially called Stratford Dock, later becoming Meggs Dock and was probably constructed by the Middlesex and Essex Turnpike Trust . Half of it had been filled in by 1896, and the rest by 1920. In the 1860s, the income from the navigation had dropped, as a result of attempts to compete against
10829-472: The south-east. There was another small connection between the Old River Lee and the Waterworks River called Bully Fence, where the northern Channelsea River is shown on modern maps. By 1870, it was called Waterworks River as far north as Temple Mills depot, and by 1896, its present connection to the old river near to Carpenters Road had been established. Twenty years later, the northern Waterworks River rejoined
10948-471: The tidal waters out. The river was being used for the transport of goods and passengers by 1571, when an act of Parliament empowered the Lord Mayor of London to make improvements to the river to ensure that supplies of grain continued to reach the capital. These works included a new cut near the Thames, probably the section of river between Bow Tidal Gates and Old Ford, on which no tolls were to be charged, and
11067-607: The water's edge, and was improved visually and ecologically by the planting of aquatic marginal plants. Following the Olympics, there was extremely limited access to the waterways through the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, and reconstruction of Carpenters Road Lock was delayed. However, the £1.8 million project to rebuild it and fit new radial gates was almost completed by May 2017, when the new gates were craned into position. The Heritage Lottery Fund provided £680,000 towards
11186-556: The waterways around the Olympic Stadium was also due to begin in June or July. The locks on the Bow Back Rivers are not built to a single standard, and sizes vary. Download coordinates as: Bibliography [REDACTED] Media related to Bow Back Rivers at Wikimedia Commons 51°32′12″N 0°00′50″W / 51.5368°N 0.0139°W / 51.5368; -0.0139 Bow, London Bow ( / ˈ b oʊ / )
11305-554: The way had alleviated some of the poverty and misery and improved social conditions for all in the East End. Poplar Town Hall was built for the Metropolitan Borough of Poplar (which was formed from Poplar , Bow and Bromley-by Bow) in the mid-1930s at the corner of Bow Road and Fairfield Road; it is now used as commercial offices. It contains the Poplar Assembly Rooms , now no longer used. The Builders , by sculptor David Evans
11424-528: The west of the junction between the Pudding Mill River and Saint Thomas Creek. It was originally built in 1864, by adding a second set of gates to Hunters Gates, a floodgate which had been built around 1847. The reconstructed lock was built on the site of the City Mill Pool, and had two sets of gates at its eastern end, to prevent high tidal levels in Waterworks River flooding the waterways to the west. It
11543-525: The widened Three Mills Wall River, the two branches of the Waterworks River having been combined into Three Mills Wall River, while Three Mills Wall Back River was filled in. Crossing the Back Rivers by a series of low-level bridges is the Northern Outfall Sewer which leads to the Abbey Mills Pumping Station , both of which were designed by Joseph Bazalgette in the 1860s. Today, the route of
11662-573: The work was carried out by the contractor William Hoof , who had gained a reputation as a specialist tunnelling contractor, after working on Strood Tunnel for the Thames and Medway Canal and Harecastle Tunnel on the Trent and Mersey Canal . He worked on the waterworks project from 1829 until 1834. Where there had been a reservoir to the south of the Middlesex Filter Beds weir in 1850, maps from 1870 show
11781-480: The works closed c. 1872 , later becoming the factory of Bryant and May . Bow was the headquarters of the North London Railway , which opened its locomotive and carriage workshops in 1853. There were two stations, Old Ford and Bow . During World War 2 the North London Railway branch from Dalston to Poplar through Bow was so badly damaged that it was abandoned. Bow station opened in 1850 and
11900-579: Was a top three finalist within the London category of for that year's Great British High Street awards. Cycle Superhighway 2 was upgraded between Bow and Aldgate and was completed in April 2016, with separated cycle tracks replacing cycle lanes along the majority of the route. A street party was held on Roman Road to mark the Queen Official Birthday on 11 June 2016, all profits from the stalls sales being shared with Bow Foodbank. An orchard project
12019-513: Was also removed. Reconstruction of the channels included widening City Mill River to 50 feet (15 m), while Three Mills Wall River and Waterworks River were made twice that width. Prior to the work, the arrangement had been to regulate the navigation with the Pond Lane Flood Gates and Marshgate Lane tidal lock. The new lock at Carpenter's Road gave access to the Waterworks River, providing barge access to Temple Mills . At high tides,
12138-677: Was broadcast live from a former lockkeeper's cottages on Fish Island, from 28 September 1992 until 29 March 2002. The Palm Tree is a public house which was Grade II listed in 2015 by Historic England . The Bow Wharf is the point where the Regent's Canal meets the Hertford Union Canal at the Hertford Union Junction between Mile End Lock and Old Ford Lock on the Regent's Canal. Local council facilities are grouped around Roman Road market. The local library, now called an Idea Store ,
12257-410: Was carried out by J Anthony Lewis of architects Michael Tapper & Lewis, who commissioned the sculptor Don Potter to create The Four Evangelists on the outside of the building. Victoria Park became known for its open air music festivals , often linked with a political cause in the 1970/80s. In 1978, Rock Against Racism organised a protest event against growth of far-right organisations such as
12376-656: Was created on Grove Road, being completed on 25 October 1993 and demolished eleven weeks later on 11 January 1994. The work won her the Turner Prize and K Foundation art award in November 1993. Bow Arts was set up in 1994 by Marcel Baettig and Marc Schimmel, the owner of the then new premises. It became an artist studio supporting over 100 working artists. In 1995, the Trust became a registered arts and education charity. In 1996, after an Arts Council England grant, they were able to build
12495-613: Was demolished in 1956 after a fire. The London E postcode area was formed in 1866, with the E3 sub-division in 1917: A statue of William Ewart Gladstone stands outside Bow Church. It was donated in 1882 by Theodore H. Bryant, part-owner of the Bryant and May match factory. In 1888, the matchgirls' strike occurred at the Bryant and May match factory in Fairfield Road. This was a forerunner of
12614-469: Was designed to celebrate the public green spaces in the Old Ford Estate in 2017, it was launched in response to feedback from local residents who wished to make better use of green space. Old Ford Old Ford is an area in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets that is named after the natural ford which provided a crossing of the River Lea . Historically, Old Ford was a cluster of houses and
12733-533: Was enshrined in a British Waterways policy document in 2002. The Olympic Stadium for the London 2012 Summer Olympics is constructed on former industrial land between the Lea Navigation to the west and the City Mill River to the east. The land was formerly bisected by the remains of the Pudding Mill River, but this was filled in to provide a site which was large enough. As part of the construction phase for
12852-601: Was granted by Edward III , on an 'island site' surrounded by the King's highway. Bow was made an Anglican parish of its own in 1719, with St Mary's as its parish church. The new parish included the Old Ford area, which has also been known as North Bow. There was a nearby Benedictine nunnery from the Norman era onwards, known as St Leonard's Priory and immortalized in Chaucer's description of
12971-526: Was labelled Marshgate Lane Lock on the 1948 map, but was called Ward Lock, after a local councillor, and is now known as City Mills Lock. The course of the Saint Thomas Creek was then straightened, and the original Marshgate Lock was bypassed. Pudding Mill River became a dead end when the lower section was filled in, as was most of the Three Mills Back River, and the floodgate on Waterworks River
13090-516: Was little incentive to maintain them, since they did not generate any revenue. Nor could they be closed, since they allowed surplus water from the upper river to reach the Thames, without causing flooding. The rivers were run down by the 1920s and, with high unemployment in the area, West Ham Corporation and the Lee Conservancy Board applied for a government unemployment relief grant, with which to fund major improvements. In addition to work on
13209-407: Was navigable up to Hertford, this had been achieved by the use of flash locks , where a single gate created a channel through a weir. These caused conflict between the bargemen and the millers, since operation of the lock lowered the water level above it, hindering the operation of the mill. In 1765, the engineer John Smeaton was asked to survey the river, with a view to improving it "for the good of
13328-526: Was obtained in 1930 to authorise the work, called the River Lee (Flood Relief) Act, and work began the following year. The project was completed in 1935. Before the work, there had been a floodgate on the Waterworks River above its junction with the Three Mills Wall River, and a large pool, the City Mill Pool, connecting to the City Mills River and Saint Thomas Creek. Marshgate Lock was situated to
13447-461: Was obtained on 29 June 1767, and work began. The Limehouse Cut would give direct access to the River Thames , avoiding the tidal Bow Creek. It was expected to open in July 1770, but some of the brickwork collapsed, and had to be repaired before the cut opened on 17 September 1770. It closed again briefly in December, when a bridge collapsed into it, and it was soon decided that it was too narrow, and so
13566-643: Was rebuilt in 1870 in a grand style, designed by Edwin Henry Horne and featuring a concert hall that was 100 ft long (30 m) and 40 ft wide (12 m). This became The Bow and Bromley Institute , then in 1887 the East London Technical College and a Salvation Army hall in 1911. From the 1930s it was used as the Embassy Billiard Hall and after the war became the Bow Palais , but
13685-496: Was situated on the west bank of the old river. The Waterworks River underwent considerable change over the years. In 1850, it left the channel of the Old River Lee much further to the north, to the south-west of Temple Mills railway depot. It was called Lead Mills Stream at this point. Near Temple Mills bridge, now on the A12 road, Channelsea River split off. The two channels ran parallel to the Old River Lee, before Channelsea River turned to
13804-503: Was the largest aquatic planting scheme ever carried out in Britain when it was completed, and most of the 350,000 plants were grown in Norfolk from seeds and cuttings removed from the site. At the southern end of the site, the Waterworks River was reconstructed. Improvements in the 1930s created channels with vertical concrete sides, and little thought for habitat. The channel was made 26 feet (8 m) wider, with sloping banks and ramps down to
13923-686: Was the largest asylum in London with capacity for 443 inmates. In 1843 the engineer William Bridges Adams founded the Fairfield Locomotive Works, where he specialized in light engines, steam railcars (or railmotors) and inspection trolleys, including the Fairfield steam carriage for the Bristol and Exeter Railway and the Enfield for the Eastern Counties Railway . The business failed and
14042-439: Was upgraded to run from the area of London Bridge , as one of the first paved Roman roads in Britain . The 'paved way' is likely to refer to the presence of a stone causeway across the marshes, which formed a part of the crossing. In 1110 Matilda , wife of Henry I , reputedly fell into the water at the ford on her way to Barking Abbey , and consequently ordered a distinctively bow-shaped, three-arched bridge to be built over
14161-438: Was widened to allow barges to pass each other along its complete length. This work was finished on 1 September 1777. The contract for the Hackney Cut was given to Jeremiah Ilsley on 18 January 1768, and a bricklayer called Henry Holland was asked to build two locks on the cut on 23 April 1768. A millwright from Bromley called Mr Cooper was given the job of building Bromley Lock (close to Bow tidal gates). Work progressed quickly, and
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