Place:Stratford, Essex, England

source: Family History Library Catalog

the text in this section is based on an article in Wikipedia

Stratford is a metropolitan centre and town and also a Church of England parish now in Greater London in the London Borough of Newham in East London and is part of the Lower Lea Valley. Stratford includes the localities of Maryland, East Village and Stratford City. Formerly it was part of the ancient parish and subsequent County Borough of West Ham, which became the western half of the modern borough in 1965. Historically an agrarian settlement in the county of Essex, Stratford was transformed into an industrial suburb following the introduction of the railway in 1839.

The late 20th century was a period of severe economic decline, eventually reversed by regeneration associated with the 2012 Summer Olympics, for which Stratford’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park was the principal venue.

History

Stratford’s early significance was due to a Roman road running from Aldgate in the City, to Romford, Chelmsford and Colchester, crossed the River Lea. At that time the various branches of the river were tidal and unchannelised, while the marshes surrounding them had yet to be drained. The Lea valley formed a natural boundary between Essex on the eastern bank and Middlesex on the west, and was a formidable obstacle to overland trade and travel.

Original ford and place name origin

The name is first recorded in 1067 as Strætforda and means 'ford on a Roman road'. It is formed from Old English 'stræt' (in modern English ‘street’) and 'ford'. The former river crossing lay at an uncertain location north of Stratford High Street.

The district of Old Ford in northern Bow – west of the Lea and now in Tower Hamlets – is named after the former crossing, while Bow itself was also initially named Stratford, after the same ford, and a variety of suffixes were used to distinguish the two distinct settlements.

The settlement to the east of the Lea was also known as Estratford referring to the location east of the other Stratford, Statford Hamme alluding to the location within the parish of West Ham, Abbei Stratford, referring to the presence of Stratford Langthorne Abbey. and Stretford Langthorne after a distinctive thorn tree (probably a pollarded Hawthorn) which was mentioned in a charter of 958 AD.

Bow bridge

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 (arched) bridge to be built over the Lea, together with a causeway across the marshes along the line now occupied by Stratford High Street.

The western Stratford then become suffixed by “-atte-Bow” (at the Bow), eventually becoming known simply as Bow, while over time the eastern Stratford lost its “Langthorne” suffix.

The Bridge was repaired and upgraded many times over the centuries until eventually demolished and replaced in the 19th Century.

For more information, see the EN Wikipedia article Stratford, London.

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