Fish Island, London 3.81

Fish Island is a district of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in London's East End; it is separated from the rest of the Old Ford area of Bow by the Hertford Union Canal to the north and the East Cross Road (A12), constructed in the late 1960s, to the west.The River Lea Navigation lies to the east with Stratford and the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park beyond it. It is about 20 hectares or 50 acres in extent.Nearby Hackney Wick has a similar character to Fish Island and is much better known. This sometimes leads to Fish Island being described as part of Hackney Wick, however the place name Hackney Wick is generally limited to areas within Hackney.The Fish Island area was originally known to local residents as "the Island" and later Fish Island, in reference to the roads with the names of freshwater fish: Smeed, Dace, Monier, Bream, Roach etc.HistoryIn the early 12th century a bow-shaped stone bridge was built over the River Lea giving its name to the west bank settlement of Bow. The earlier crossing point, a river ford, half a mile upstream became known as Eldeford or Oldeford by the 13th century. The area north of Old Ford, between the River Lea and Hackney Brook, known as Old Ford Marsh, was intersected by canals and drained in the late 18th and early 19th century, forming the district that now includes Fish Island.