Old Ford, London
Old Ford is an area of the East End in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.
It includes Fish Island and is in turn usually considered to be part of Bow.
Historically, Old Ford was a cluster of houses and a mill, around the location of the ford. It formed a part of the medieval parish of Stepney. It expanded rapidly in the Victorian era and was designated an independent Anglican parish in the mid-Victorian period, although civil administration has always been associated with Bow.
Old Ford, as the name suggests, was the ancient most downstream crossing point of the River Lea. This was part of a pre-Roman route that followed the modern Oxford Street, Old Street, through Bethnal Green to Old Ford and thence across a causeway through the marshes known as Wanstead Slip (actually in Leyton). The route then continued through Essex to Colchester. At this time the Lea was a wide fast flowing river and the tidal estuary stretched as far as Hackney Wick.
Colchester was where the Romans set up their initial capital for their occupation, and the road was upgraded to run from the area of London Bridge as one of the first paved Roman roads in Britain. Evidence has been found of a late Roman settlement at Old Ford dating from the 4th and 5th centuries. Excavations in 2002–3 discovered a substantial 'ribbon' development along the line of the road, surrounded by fields. Near the river there was evidence for 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 Hertsfordhire and the north. Old Ford was where the goods were transferred to continue their journey into London by wagon.
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