London's Lea Valley: the Olympic Park Story

socialist and activist, Annie Besant, drew attention attention drew Besant, Annie activist, and socialist moved to Stratford where they employed 20 skilled skilled 20 employed they where Stratford to moved All photographs © Marion Davies and Debra Rapp

deteriorate and their teeth to fall out. A female female A out. fall to teeth their and deteriorate Works at Stratford, with workers. with Stratford, at Works selling fine traditional English furniture. The factory factory The furniture. English traditional fine selling

toxic phosphorous which caused their bones to to bones their caused which phosphorous toxic Holden, supervisor of the Great Eastern Railway Railway Eastern Great the of supervisor Holden, Ronald Priest in 1950, specialises in making and and making in specialises 1950, in Priest Ronald

Outerwear Ltd, 2006

suffered long hours and low wages while handling handling while wages low and hours long suffered nineteenth-century photograph shows James James shows photograph nineteenth-century Priest Brothers, established in Bethnal Green by by Green Bethnal in established Brothers, Priest

Preparing next season’s Burberry coats, Panache H

in 1861 (listed grade II). In 1888 women workers workers women 1888 In II). grade (listed 1861 in start pulling a train weighing 300 tons. This late late This tons. 300 weighing train a pulling start a hall table, Priest Brothers, 2006

buildings of the Bryant and May match factory built built factory match May and Bryant the of buildings miles per hour in 30 seconds from a standing standing a from seconds 30 in hour per miles and returned to Pakistan. to returned and Kenney Tingey, cabinet maker: fitting a bow end to D

Just west of the Olympic Park stand the surviving surviving the stand Park Olympic the of west Just 4 (0-10-0). The engine could attain a speed of 30 30 of speed a attain could engine The (0-10-0). operation, Javed sold his business to JJ Autos Ltd Ltd Autos JJ to business his sold Javed operation,

moved to Leyton. to moved

to build railway engines, including the Decapod Decapod the including engines, railway build to

parts. Pictured here in the last days of Kalandar’s Kalandar’s of days last the in here Pictured parts.

at the Parkesine Works in 1866. 1866. in Works Parkesine the at

companies around the site of the Olympic Park Park Olympic the of site the around companies

Eastern Railway Works, established in the 1840s 1840s the in established Works, Railway Eastern

Lower Lea Valley and was full of second-hand car car second-hand of full was and Valley Lea Lower

commemorates the site of the invention of ‘Parkesine’, ‘Parkesine’, of invention the of site the commemorates

from Spitalfields Market. Many of the specialist food food specialist the of Many Market. Spitalfields from

International Station now stands, stood the Great Great the stood stands, now Station International

Kalandar was one of the many car repair sites in the the in sites repair car many the of one was Kalandar

A plaque on a wall in Wallis Road, Hackney Wick Wick Hackney Road, Wallis in wall a on plaque A 3

at Pentaluck Food store, who shipped vegetables vegetables shipped who store, Food Pentaluck at

Near Stratford Town Centre, close to where the the where to close Centre, Town Stratford Near 7 Javed Iqbal, Kalandar Japanese Used Car Parts, 2007 G

Jenny provided Chinese meals for the night workers workers night the for meals Chinese provided Jenny

such as pens, knife handles, combs and buttons. and combs handles, knife pens, as such

grade II grade .

The company have moved to Bow. to moved have company The 2006

producing a range of products from the new material material new the from products of range a producing

south-eastern end of the Olympic Park. It is listed listed is It Park. Olympic the of end south-eastern

H G this company makes products for the couture market. market. couture the for products makes company this Jenny Man, Chinese food van, Pentaluck forecourt, C

Parkesine at the Hackney Wick factory in Wallis Road, Road, Wallis in factory Wick Hackney the at Parkesine

stations built in the late 1860s, is situated at the the at situated is 1860s, late the in built stations

specialised machines that replicate hand-processing, hand-processing, replicate that machines specialised

7 6

(1813-1890). Spill agreed in 1864 to manufacture manufacture to 1864 in agreed Spill (1813-1890).

Olympic Park, the brothers took early retirement. early took brothers the Park, Olympic

foul water. Abbey Mills, one of the ornate pumping pumping ornate the of one Mills, Abbey water. foul

in the area. Using traditional techniques and over 20 20 over and techniques traditional Using area. the in

early form of plastic invented by Alexander Parkes Parkes Alexander by invented plastic of form early

Stratford. Just before the start of development of the the of development of start the before Just Stratford.

and pumping stations across London to deal with the the with deal to London across stations pumping and

Panache was one of the many clothing manufacturers manufacturers clothing many the of one was Panache

became interested in a material called ‘Parkesine’, an an ‘Parkesine’, called material a in interested became

their arrival from Delhi in 1955, before moving out to to out moving before 1955, in Delhi from arrival their

pioneering sewage system with a network of sewers sewers of network a with system sewage pioneering

Seamstress, Panache Outerwear Ltd, 2006 F

the International Exhibition at Kensington and and Kensington at Exhibition International the

years. They started the business in Southall soon after after soon Southall in business the started They years. engineer Joseph Bazalegette designed and built a a built and designed Bazalegette Joseph engineer

during the Crimean War. In 1862 Daniel Spill visited visited Spill Daniel 1862 In War. Crimean the during

now relocated to Enfield. to relocated now The Singh brothers sold toys and party gifts for 40 40 for gifts party and toys sold brothers Singh The Members of Parliament to the problem, the civil civil the problem, the to Parliament of Members

sheets and capes, which were supplied to the troops troops the to supplied were which capes, and sheets

curtains. In Stratford for 19 years, the company has has company the years, 19 for Stratford In curtains. 2007 River Thames carrying the sewage upstream alerted alerted upstream sewage the carrying Thames River

waterproof goods were produced, including ground ground including produced, were goods waterproof

distributing home furnishings, especially lace and voile voile and lace especially furnishings, home distributing Messrs Singh, Directors, Lucky Wholesale Company, B the ‘Great Stink’ of 1858, when the stench of the the of stench the when 1858, of Stink’ ‘Great the

cloth factory, managed by his brother Daniel. Here Here Daniel. brother his by managed factory, cloth

1978. The firm specialises in manufacturing and and manufacturing in specialises firm The 1978.

contaminating the capital’s drinking water. Following Following water. drinking capital’s the contaminating

Olympic site but failed to win a contract. a win to failed but site Olympic

At Hackney Wick George Spill founded a waterproof waterproof a founded Spill George Wick Hackney At 2

Tyrone Textiles Ltd is a family business founded in in founded business family a is Ltd Textiles Tyrone

20,000 deaths from cholera caused by raw sewage sewage raw by caused cholera from deaths 20,000

her colleagues wished to continue serving food on the the on food serving continue to wished colleagues her

Tyrone Textiles Ltd, 2006

healthiest place to live. In 1854 there were almost almost were there 1854 In live. to place healthiest

Hackney Wick works. works. Wick Hackney

beginning at 4 a.m every day for 13 years. She and and She years. 13 for day every a.m 4 at beginning

Tony Geere, Jyotindra Patel, Scott Cullen: stock takers, E

London in the mid-nineteenth century was not the the not was century mid-nineteenth the in London 6

Carless truck being loaded with petrol cans at the the at cans petrol with loaded being truck Carless Tracey provided breakfast to the local workers workers local the to breakfast provided Tracey

trade name ‘petrol’. This photograph c1950 shows the the shows c1950 photograph This ‘petrol’. name trade

to Chelmsford in Essex. in Chelmsford to Centre, 2006 1956, competed here. competed 1956,

for the burgeoning motor car industry was given the the given was industry car motor burgeoning the for

craftsmen. The family-run business has now relocated relocated now has business family-run The craftsmen. Tracey Manning, working men’s café, East End A meters steeplechase at the Melbourne Olympics in in Olympics Melbourne the at steeplechase meters

spirit that Carless, Capel and Leonard finally provided provided finally Leonard and Capel Carless, that spirit

5 4 Chris Brasher, who won gold for Britain in the 3,000 3,000 the in Britain for gold won who Brasher, Chris

perfected its refining techniques and the petroleum petroleum the and techniques refining its perfected

the record-breaking four-minute mile in July 1954, and and 1954, July in mile four-minute record-breaking the

changed to Carless, Capel and Leonard. The company company The Leonard. and Capel Carless, to changed

Leyton where it was re-laid. Roger Bannister, who ran ran who Bannister, Roger re-laid. was it where Leyton

which have closed or relocated. or closed have which

new partners entered the business and the name name the and business the entered partners new

athletics track was taken up and transported to to transported and up taken was track athletics

entrepreneurial spirit of the diverse business communities in the Lower Lea Valley, many of of many Valley, Lea Lower the in communities business diverse the of spirit entrepreneurial became the leading distiller in Britain. By 1872 1872 By Britain. in distiller leading the became

post-wa r Olympic Games at Wembley in 1948, the the 1948, in Wembley at Games Olympic r

refining the newly imported American crude oil and and oil crude American imported newly the refining

Davies and Debra Rapp captured pictures of the activities which portray the hard work and and work hard the portray which activities the of pictures captured Rapp Debra and Davies Eton M Eton anor Athletic Club, Leyton, c1955. After the the After c1955. Leyton, Club, Athletic anor

partnership dissolved in 1870 Carless turned to to turned Carless 1870 in dissolved partnership

The for The 5 mer sports ground and running track of the the of track running and ground sports mer

processing. On the eve of the development of the Olympic Park, photographers Marion Marion photographers Park, Olympic the of development the of eve the On processing.

shale oil and coal tar for use in lamps. When the the When lamps. in use for tar coal and oil shale

deman d of the strikers. the of d Carless and his company began to refine British British refine to began company his and Carless businesses such as scrap yards, light industrial manufacturing, textile production and food food and production textile manufacturing, industrial light yards, scrap as such businesses

for thei for r stance that the company conceded to every every to conceded company the that stance r In the 1860s, in partnership with William Blagden, Blagden, William with partnership in 1860s, the In F

local East Enders and immigrants arriving in post-war London and wishing to set up small small up set to wishing and London post-war in arriving immigrants and Enders East local

women matchmakers. Such was the public sympathy sympathy public the was Such matchmakers. distiller and refiner of mineral oils in Hackney Wick. Wick. Hackney in oils mineral of refiner and distiller

A hundred years later, the area around Hackney Wick and Stratford proved attractive to to attractive proved Stratford and Wick Hackney around area the later, years hundred A to their to plight, which provoked a strike by the 700 700 the by strike a provoked which plight, In 1859 Eugene Carless set up a business as a a as business a up set Carless Eugene 1859 In 1

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post-war athletes competed. athletes post-war and furniture making. making. furniture and

north of the Olympic Park at Leyton, where Leyton, at Park Olympic the of north many leading leading many operating in a residential area – tanning, textile production, printing printing production, textile tanning, – area residential a in operating

plastic and petrol. Sporting history was made was history Sporting petrol. and plastic in the area to the the to area the in which to set up the sort of business that was not compatible with with compatible not was that business of sort the up set to which

on our modern world: porcelain, matches, lo matches, porcelain, world: modern our on comotive engines, engines, comotive lower than other parts of the city, and spacious sites available on on available sites spacious and city, the of parts other than lower

places where factories produced goods whic goods produced factories where places h have had an impact impact an had have h outer edges of the East End of London where land and rents were were rents and land where London of End East the of edges outer

rial in nature, nature, in rial indust are Many interest. historic special of sites are originally established closer to the centre of London moved to the the to moved London of centre the to closer established originally

lympic Park Park lympic O the , beneath buried sometimes and rounding, Sur From the mid-nineteenth century, many industries that were were that industries many century, mid-nineteenth the From

T T INTERES HISTORIC OF SITES PEOPLE, BUSINESS AND COMMUNITY AND BUSINESS PEOPLE,

A B 1

INTRODUCTION HACkNEY WICk TO TRINITY BUOY WHARF

The Olympic Park lies in the East End of London, north of the River Throughout the nineteenth century the excellent waterways were Thames and on the east side of the River Lea, which flows southward to used to transport goods, predominantly timber; many timber London’ Lea y:alleVs the Thames. This area, known as the Lower Lea Valley, was until recently merchants and saw millers built their premises close to the canal at a little-known and largely uninhabited landscape of wild vegetation Hackney Wick and Old Ford. The area became one of intense noisy, the Ol P storarympic yk peppered with pylons, canals, locks, bridges and towpaths – mostly silent smelly activity where factories produced toxic and chemical products and still – a no-man’s land ripe for development. Yet it has a fascinating to supply London and the rest of the world: paint, varnish, printing ink, past that shaped the area, traces of which can still be seen, and which oil, gum, resins, soap and glue were all made in works lining the canals. are celebrated in this leaflet.

The Lower Lea Valley with two single locks built in the 1770s Not all the buildings were industrial. In to bypass part of the River Lea, and the the 1850s the North London Railway London’s River Lea rises on Leagrave Hertford Union Canal, opened in 1830 Line arrived in Hackney Wick, and from Common, Bedfordshire and flows about Maureen Dyson wins the 100 yards hurdles at Eton An Eton Manor athlete competing in the long jump between Hackney Cut and the Regent’s 1878 the Gas, Light and Coke Company fifty miles south until it meets the River Manor Athletics Ground, 1951 c1955 Canal. The Old Ford locks, a pair of laid out a small factory town with streets Thames. While the valley has a relatively locks that allowed boats to move in two lined with terraced houses, factories and small geographical footprint, it has left a English Heritage is the Government’s Acknowledgements directions at the same time, were built a school. The housing has gone but some huge industrial legacy, one that produced Three Mills at Bromley-by-Bow with the House Mill advisor on the historic environment in Text: Susie Barson, Dr Jim Lewis in 1865. The Lea and the canals around of the warehouses, stables and industrial (1776, listed grade I) and the miller’s house in the the technologies and inventions that have England. The role of the organisation is to Photographs: Damian Grady, Derek Old Ford are navigable waterways with buildings remain today within the Fish centre, and the Clock Mill (1817, listed grade II) shaped the modern world. ensure that the most important historic kendall, Marion Davies, Debra Rapp associated banks, towpaths and walls, Island Conservation Area. This protected buildings, sites and monuments are Many of the streams and channels were area – called Fish Island because the streets Editors: Dr Robin Taylor and Sarah many of which are now protected. identified, protected, valued, cared for and harnessed from the eleventh century to were named after freshwater fish: meed,S Enticknap, English Heritage Publishing enjoyed by the inhabitants of England and form transport routes and millstreams Dace, Monier, Bream and Roach – is now the country’s many visitors. English Heritage Map: James Gulliver Hancock to provide water power for the flour an artistic and creative hub, with artists’ aims to protect and promote England’s mills. Development accelerated when workshops accommodated in the former Design and production: Ledgard Jepson history and heritage, in all its diverse forms, the Navigation Improvement Act was factories whose workers once processed for future generations to enjoy, understand Archival images: Newham Heritage and passed in 1425, followed by a further rubber or made cardboard boxes. and appreciate for years to come. Archives; Bishopsgate Library, Bishopsgate Act of 1571 which encouraged the use South of the Olympic Park a handsome Institute; Vestry House Museum, London of the river as a major transport route. group of eighteenth- and nineteenth- For more information on the work HMS Warrior built in 1860 at the Thames Ironworks Borough of Waltham Forest; London During this period, the Lee Navigation century tide mills are located at Three Mills. of English Heritage please go to Borough of Hackney Archives; Petrochem Canal – 42 miles long – was created to The mills produced flour orf the bakers of Buoy Wharf where, in 1852, the eminent www.english-heritage.org.uk Carless Limited speed up the progress of the boats. London, gin for the taverns and bacon scientist Michael Faraday oversaw the first If you would like this document in a for the Royal Navy. Further south is the experiments to illuminate the lighthouse © English Heritage 2012 At Old Ford, close to the earliest main different format, please contact our crossing place between London and Bromley-by-Bow gas plant, the site of by electricity. On the east bank, the Thames customer services department on Essex, the area was surrounded by marshy the gunpowder rocket factory of William Ironworks was located, which, in 1860, built telephone: 0870 333 1181 flood plain. Two canals were cut across Congreve II who provided rockets that the HMS Warrior, the world’s first seagoing Please remember to recycle this broadsheet were fired by the British no the Americans ironclad battle cruiser. The Thames fax: 01793 414926 the marsh in the late eighteenth- and when you no longer need it. in 1812. Where the Lea meets the Ironworks later built the HMS Thunderer in early nineteen centuries. These were textphone: 01793 414878 Thames are two important sites. On the 1911, which fought in the battle of Jutland the Hackney Cut, a two-mile-long canal Old Bow Bridge with George Hodgson’s Bow Brewery to email: [email protected] 51769. Code Product Printed Pureprint by Limited. Group the right, with smoking chimneys west bank is the lighthouse of the Trinity during the First World War.

socialist and activist, Annie Besant, drew attention attention drew Besant, Annie activist, and socialist mov mployed 20 skilled skilled 20 mployed ed to Stratford where they e they where Stratford to ed hotographs © Marion Davies and Debra Rapp All p

deteriorate and their teeth to fall out. A female female A out. fall to teeth their and deteriorate Works at Stratford, with workers. with Stratford, at Works selli niture. The factory factory The niture. ng fine traditional English fur English traditional fine ng

toxic phosphorous which caused their bones to to bones their caused which phosphorous toxic Holden, supervisor of the Great Eastern Railway Railway Eastern Great the of supervisor Holden, Ron s in making and and making in s ald Priest in 1950, specialise 1950, in Priest ald

O uterwear Ltd, 2006

suffered long hours and low wages while handling handling while wages low and hours long suffered nineteenth-century photograph shows James James shows photograph nineteenth-century Prie hnal Green by by Green hnal st Brothers, established in Bet in established Brothers, st

P H reparing next season’s Burberry coats, Panache

buildings of the Bryant and May match factory built built factory match May and Bryant the of buildings miles per hour in 30 seconds from a standing standing a from seconds 30 in hour per miles a nd returned to Pakistan. to returned nd Ken D ting a bow end to ney Tingey, cabinet maker: fit

Just west of the Olympic Park stand the surviving surviving the stand Park Olympic the of west Just 4 (0-10-0). The engine could attain a speed of 30 30 of speed a attain could engine The (0-10-0). o peration, Javed sold his business to JJ Autos Ltd Ltd Autos JJ to business his sold Javed peration,

mov ed to Leyton. to ed

to build railway engines, including the Decapod Decapod the including engines, railway build to p arts. Pictured here in the last days of Kalandar’s Kalandar’s of days last the in here Pictured arts.

at the Parkesine Works in 1866. 1866. in Works Parkesine the at com Olympic Park Park Olympic panies around the site of the of site the around panies

Eastern Railway Works, established in the 1840s 1840s the in established Works, Railway Eastern

Lo wer Lea Valley and was full of second-hand car car second-hand of full was and Valley Lea wer

commemorates the site of the invention of ‘Parkesine’, ‘Parkesine’, of invention the of site the commemorates from f the specialist food food specialist the f Spitalfields Market. Many o Many Market. Spitalfields

International Station now stands, stood the Great Great the stood stands, now Station International

K alandar was one of the many car repair sites in the the in sites repair car many the of one was alandar

A plaque on a wall in Wallis Road, Hackney Wick Wick Hackney Road, Wallis in wall a on plaque A 3 at P at pped vegetables vegetables pped entaluck Food store, who shi who store, Food entaluck

Near Stratford Town Centre, close to where the the where to close Centre, Town Stratford Near 7 Ja G ved Iqbal, Kalandar Japanese Used Car Parts, 2007

Jenn the night workers workers night the y provided Chinese meals for meals Chinese provided y

such as pens, knife handles, combs and buttons. and combs handles, knife pens, as such

grade II grade .

T he company have moved to Bow. to moved have company he 200 6

producing a range of products from the new material material new the from products of range a producing

south-eastern end of the Olympic Park. It is listed listed is It Park. Olympic the of end south-eastern

H G th is company makes products for the couture market. market. couture the for products makes company is Jenn C ntaluck forecourt, y Man, Chinese food van, Pe

Parkesine at the Hackney Wick factory in Wallis Road, Road, Wallis in factory Wick Hackney the at Parkesine

stations built in the late 1860s, is situated at the the at situated is 1860s, late the in built stations sp ecialised machines that replicate hand-processing, hand-processing, replicate that machines ecialised

7 6

(1813-1890). Spill agreed in 1864 to manufacture manufacture to 1864 in agreed Spill (1813-1890).

Olym early retirement. early pic Park, the brothers took took brothers the Park, pic

foul water. Abbey Mills, one of the ornate pumping pumping ornate the of one Mills, Abbey water. foul in the area. Using traditional techniques and over 20 20 over and techniques traditional Using area. the

early form of plastic invented by Alexander Parkes Parkes Alexander by invented plastic of form early

Stra development of the the of development tford. Just before the start of of start the before Just tford.

and pumping stations across London to deal with the the with deal to London across stations pumping and

Pa nache was one of the many clothing manufacturers manufacturers clothing many the of one was nache

became interested in a material called ‘Parkesine’, an an ‘Parkesine’, called material a in interested became thei before moving out to to out moving before r arrival from Delhi in 1955, 1955, in Delhi from arrival r

pioneering sewage system with a network of sewers sewers of network a with system sewage pioneering

S F eamstress, Panache Outerwear Ltd, 2006

the International Exhibition at Kensington and and Kensington at Exhibition International the yea n Southall soon after after soon Southall n rs. They started the business i business the started They rs. engineer Joseph Bazalegette designed and built a a built and designed Bazalegette Joseph engineer

during the Crimean War. In 1862 Daniel Spill visited visited Spill Daniel 1862 In War. Crimean the during n ow relocated to Enfield. to relocated ow The party gifts for 40 40 for gifts party Singh brothers sold toys and and toys sold brothers Singh Members of Parliament to the problem, the civil civil the problem, the to Parliament of Members

sheets and capes, which were supplied to the troops troops the to supplied were which capes, and sheets cu rtains. In Stratford for 19 years, the company has has company the years, 19 for Stratford In rtains. 200 7 River Thames carrying the sewage upstream alerted alerted upstream sewage the carrying Thames River

waterproof goods were produced, including ground ground including produced, were goods waterproof d istributing home furnishings, especially lace and voile voile and lace especially furnishings, home istributing Me B holesale Company, ssrs Singh, Directors, Lucky W the ‘Great Stink’ of 1858, when the stench of the the of stench the when 1858, of Stink’ ‘Great the

cloth factory, managed by his brother Daniel. Here Here Daniel. brother his by managed factory, cloth

1 978. The firm specialises in manufacturing and and manufacturing in specialises firm The 978.

contaminating the capital’s drinking water. Following Following water. drinking capital’s the contaminating

Olym ontract. pic site but failed to win a c a win to failed but site pic

At Hackney Wick George Spill founded a waterproof waterproof a founded Spill George Wick Hackney At 2

Ty rone Textiles Ltd is a family business founded in in founded business family a is Ltd Textiles rone

20,000 deaths from cholera caused by raw sewage sewage raw by caused cholera from deaths 20,000

her her e serving food on the the on food serving e colleagues wished to continu to wished colleagues

Ty rone Textiles Ltd, 2006

healthiest place to live. In 1854 there were almost almost were there 1854 In live. to place healthiest

Hackney Wick works. works. Wick Hackney beg 13 years. She and and She years. 13 inning at 4 a.m every day for day every a.m 4 at inning

To E ny Geere, Jyotindra Patel, Scott Cullen: stock takers,

London in the mid-nineteenth century was not the the not was century mid-nineteenth the in London 6

Carless truck being loaded with petrol cans at the the at cans petrol with loaded being truck Carless Trac local workers workers local ey provided breakfast to the the to breakfast provided ey

trade name ‘petrol’. This photograph c1950 shows the the shows c1950 photograph This ‘petrol’. name trade to Chelmsford in Essex. in Chelmsford tre, 2006 Cen 1956, competed here. competed 1956,

for the burgeoning motor car industry was given the the given was industry car motor burgeoning the for aftsmen. The family-run business has now relocated relocated now has business family-run The aftsmen. cr afé, East End ey Manning, working men’s c Trac A meters steeplechase at the Melbourne Olympics in in Olympics Melbourne the at steeplechase meters

spirit that Carless, Capel and Leonard finally provided provided finally Leonard and Capel Carless, that spirit

5 4 Chris Brasher, who won gold for Britain in the 3,000 3,000 the in Britain for gold won who Brasher, Chris

perfected its refining techniques and the petroleum petroleum the and techniques refining its perfected

the record-breaking four-minute mile in July 1954, and and 1954, July in mile four-minute record-breaking the

changed to Carless, Capel and Leonard. The company company The Leonard. and Capel Carless, to changed

Leyton where it was re-laid. Roger Bannister, who ran ran who Bannister, Roger re-laid. was it where Leyton which ated. reloc or closed have

new partners entered the business and the name name the and business the entered partners new

athletics track was taken up and transported to to transported and up taken was track athletics

entre ities in the Lower Lea Valley, many of of many Valley, Lea Lower the in ities commun business diverse e th of spirit preneurial became the leading distiller in Britain. By 1872 1872 By Britain. in distiller leading the became

post-war Olympic Games at Wembley in 1948, the the 1948, in Wembley at Games Olympic post-war

refining the newly imported American crude oil and and oil crude American imported newly the refining

ities which portray the hard work and and work hard the portray which ities activ the of pictures ptured ca Rapp Debra and s Davie Eton Manor Athletic Club, Leyton, c1955. After the the After c1955. Leyton, Club, Athletic Manor Eton

partnership dissolved in 1870 Carless turned to to turned Carless 1870 in dissolved partnership

The former sports ground and running track of the the of track running and ground sports former The 5

proce lympic Park, photographers Marion Marion photographers Park, lympic O the of development he t of eve the On ng. ssi

shale oil and coal tar for use in lamps. When the the When lamps. in use for tar coal and oil shale

demand of the strikers. the of demand Carless and his company began to refine British British refine to began company his and Carless busin turing, textile production and food food and production textile turing, manufac industrial light rds, ya scrap as such es ess

for their stance that the company conce company the that stance their for ded to every every to ded In the 1860s, in partnership with William Blagden, Blagden, William with partnership in 1860s, the In

local local London and wishing to set up small small up set to wishing and London post-war in arriving grants immi and Enders t Eas

women matchmakers. Such was the pub the was Such matchmakers. women lic sympathy sympathy lic distiller and refiner of mineral oils in Hackney Wick. Wick. Hackney in oils mineral of refiner and distiller

and Stratford proved attractive to to attractive proved Stratford and Wick Hackney around area the later, years ed ndr hu A to their plight, which provoked a strike b strike a provoked which plight, their to y the 700 700 the y In 1859 Eugene Carless set up a business as a a as business a up set Carless Eugene 1859 In 1

D C 3 2

post-war athletes competed. athletes post-war and fu and . . making rniture

north of the Olympic Park at Leyton, where many leading leading many where Leyton, at Park Olympic the of north opera extile production, printing printing production, extile t tanning, – area ntial reside a in ting

plastic and petrol. Sporting history was made in the area to the to area the in made was history Sporting petrol. and plastic which which was not compatible with with compatible not was that business of sort the up set to

on our modern world: porcelain, matches, locomotive engines, engines, locomotive matches, porcelain, world: modern our on lower lower acious sites available on on available sites acious sp and city, the of ts par other than

places where factories produced goods which have had an imp an had have which goods produced factories where places act act outer outer here land and rents were were rents and land here w London of End ast E the of edges

are sites of special historic interest. Many are industrial in nature in industrial are Many interest. historic special of sites are , , origin of London moved to the the to moved London of centre the to closer established ally

Surrounding, and sometimes buried beneath, the Olympic Park Park Olympic the beneath, buried sometimes and Surrounding, ndustries that were were that ndustries i many century, enth mid-ninete the From

SITES OF HISTORIC INTEREST INTEREST HISTORIC OF SITES OMMUNITY C AND NESS BUSI OPLE, PE

A B 1

NTRI ODUCTION HACkNEY WICk TO TRINITY BUOY WHARF

The Ol Parympic k lies in the East End of London, north of the River Throughout the nineteenth century the excellent waterways were Thames and on the east side of the River Lea, which flows southward to used to transport goods, predominantly timber; many timber London’s Lea Valley: Thames.the This area, known as the Low Lea ,alleyVer was until recently merchants and saw millers built their premises close to the canal at a little-known and largely uninhabited landscape of wild vegetation Hackney Wick and Old Ford. The area became one of intense noisy, the Olympic Park story peppered with p canals,ylons, locks, br idges and towpaths – mostly silent smelly activity where factories produced toxic and chemical products and still – a no-man’ land r fs or devipe elopment. Y et it has a fascinating to supply London and the rest of the world: paint, varnish, printing ink, past that shaped the area, traces of which can still be seen, and which oil, gum, resins, soap and glue were all made in works lining the canals. are celebrated in this leaflet.

yalleVer Lea wThe LowThe Lea yalleVer with two single locks built in the 1770s Not all the buildings were industrial. In to bypass part of the River Lea, and the the 1850s the North London Railway er Le a rs RivLondon’ er Lea rs ises on Leagr va e tfHer ord Union Canal, opened in 1830 Line arrived in Hackney Wick, and from Common, Bedfordshire and flows about Maureen Dyson wins the 100 yards hurdles at Eton An Eton Manor athlete competing in the long jump between Hackney Cut and the Regent’s 1878 the Gas, Light and Coke Company fifty miles south until it meets the River Manor Athletics Ground, 1951 c1955 Canal. The Old Ford locks, a pair of laid out a small factory town with streets Thames. While the valley has a relatively locks that allowed boats to mo e in twv o lined with terraced houses, factories and small geographical f int,ootpr it has left a English Heritage is the Government’s Acknowledgements directions at the same time w, ere b uilt a school. The housing has gone but some huge industr legacy,ial one that produced Three Mills at Bromley-by-Bow with the House Mill advisor on the historic environment in Text: Susie Barson, Dr Jim Lewis in 1865. The Lea and the canals around of the warehouses, stables and industrial (1776, listed grade I) and the miller’s house in the the technologies and inventions that have England. The role of the organisation is to Photographs: Damian Grady, Derek Old Ford are navigable waterways with buildings remain today within the Fish centre, and the Clock Mill (1817, listed grade II) shaped the moder w ld.orn ensure that the most important historic kendall, Marion Davies, Debra Rapp associated banks, towpaths and walls, Island Conservation Area. This protected buildings, sites and monuments are Many of the streams and channels were area – called Fish Island because the streets Editors: Dr Robin Taylor and Sarah many of which are now protected. identified, protected, valued, cared for and harnessed from the eleventh century to were named after freshwater fish: Smeed, Enticknap, English Heritage Publishing enjoyed by the inhabitants of England and trorf ansporm t routes and millstreams Dace, Monier, Bream and Roach – is now the country’s many visitors. English Heritage Map: James Gulliver Hancock to provide water po er fw or the flour an artistic and creative hub, with artists’ aims to protect and promote England’s Devmills. elopment accelerated when workshops accommodated in the former Design and production: Ledgard Jepson history and heritage, in all its diverse forms, the Navigation Improvement Act was factories whose workers once processed for future generations to enjoy, understand Archival images: Newham Heritage and passed in 1425, f bwollo y a fured ther rubber or made cardboard boxes. and appreciate for years to come. Archives; Bishopsgate Library, Bishopsgate Act of 1571 which encouraged the use South of the Olympic Park a handsome Institute; Vestry House Museum, London the rivof er as a major transpor route.t group of eighteenth- and nineteenth- For more information on the work HMS Warrior built in 1860 at the Thames Ironworks Borough of Waltham Forest; London During this period, the Lee Navigation century tide mills are located at Three Mills. of English Heritage please go to Borough of Hackney Archives; Petrochem Canal – 42 miles long – was created to The mills produced flour for the bakers of Buoy Wharf where, in 1852, the eminent www.english-heritage.org.uk Carless Limited speed up the progress of the boats. London, gin for the taverns and bacon scientist Michael Faraday oversaw the first If you would like this document in a for the Royal Navy. Further south is the experiments to illuminate the lighthouse © English Heritage 2012 At Old Ford, close to the earliest main different format, please contact our crossing place between London and Bromley-by-Bow gas plant, the site of by electricity. On the east bank, the Thames customer services department on Essex, the area was surrounded b marshy y the gunpowder rocket factory of William Ironworks was located, which, in 1860, built telephone: 0870 333 1181 flood plain. o canals wwT ere cut across Congreve II who provided rockets that the HMS Warrior, the world’s first seagoing Please remember to recycle this broadsheet reprint Group Limited. Product Code 51769. reprint Group Limited. were fired by the British on the Americans ironclad battle cruiser. The Thames fax: 01793 414926 the marsh in the late eighteenth- and when you no longer need it. in 1812. Where the Lea meets the Ironworks later built the HMS Thunderer in lear y nineteen centuries. These w ere textphone: 01793 414878 Thames are two important sites. On the 1911, which fought in the battle of Jutland the Hackney Cut, a two-mile-long canal Bow BrOld idge with George Hodgson’ Bo Bres werw y to email: [email protected] Printed Pu by right,the with smoking chimneys west bank is the lighthouse of the Trinity during the First World War.

Outerwear Ltd, 2006

Preparing next season’s Burberry coats, Panache H

moved to Leyton. to moved

to build railway engines, including the Decapod Decapod the including engines, railway build to parts. Pictured here in the last days of Kalandar’s Kalandar’s of days last the in here Pictured parts.

at the Parkesine Works in 1866. 1866. in Works Parkesine the at companies around the site of the Olympic Park Park Olympic the of site the around companies

Eastern Railway Works, established in the 1840s 1840s the in established Works, Railway Eastern

Lower Lea Valley and was full of second-hand car car second-hand of full was and Valley Lea Lower

commemorates the site of the invention of ‘Parkesine’, ‘Parkesine’, of invention the of site the commemorates from Spitalfields Market. Many of the specialist food food specialist the of Many Market. Spitalfields from

International Station now stands, stood the Great Great the stood stands, now Station International

Kalandar was one of the many car repair sites in the the in sites repair car many the of one was Kalandar

A plaque on a wall in Wallis Road, Hackney Wick Wick Hackney Road, Wallis in wall a on plaque A 3 at Pentaluck Food store, who shipped vegetables vegetables shipped who store, Food Pentaluck at

Near Stratford Town Centre, close to where the the where to close Centre, Town Stratford Near 7 Javed Iqbal, Kalandar Japanese Used Car Parts, 2007 G

Jenny provided Chinese meals for the night workers workers night the for meals Chinese provided Jenny

such as pens, knife handles, combs and buttons. and combs handles, knife pens, as such

grade II grade .

The company have moved to Bow. to moved have company The 2006

producing a range of products from the new material material new the from products of range a producing

south-eastern end of the Olympic Park. It is listed listed is It Park. Olympic the of end south-eastern

H G this company makes products for the couture market. market. couture the for products makes company this Jenny Man, Chinese food van, Pentaluck forecourt, C

Parkesine at the Hackney Wick factory in Wallis Road, Road, Wallis in factory Wick Hackney the at Parkesine

stations built in the late 1860s, is situated at the the at situated is 1860s, late the in built stations specialised machines that replicate hand-processing, hand-processing, replicate that machines specialised

7 6

(1813-1890). Spill agreed in 1864 to manufacture manufacture to 1864 in agreed Spill (1813-1890).

Olympic Park, the brothers took early retirement. early took brothers the Park, Olympic

early form of plastic invented by Alexander Parkes Parkes Alexander by invented plastic of form early

Stratford. Just before the start of development of the the of development of start the before Just Stratford.

and pumping stations across London to deal with the the with deal to London across stations pumping and

Panache was one of the many clothing manufacturers manufacturers clothing many the of one was Panache

becam e interested in a material called ‘Parkesine’, an an ‘Parkesine’, called material a in interested e their arrival from Delhi in 1955, before moving out to to out moving before 1955, in Delhi from arrival their

pioneering sewage system with a network of sewers sewers of network a with system sewage pioneering

Seamstress, Panache Outerwear Ltd, 2006 F

the Int the ernational Exhibition at Kensington and and Kensington at Exhibition ernational years. They started the business in Southall soon after after soon Southall in business the started They years. engineer Joseph Bazalegette designed and built a a built and designed Bazalegette Joseph engineer

during during the Crimean War. In 1862 Daniel Spill visited visited Spill Daniel 1862 In War. Crimean the now relocated to Enfield. to relocated now The Singh brothers sold toys and party gifts for 40 40 for gifts party and toys sold brothers Singh The Members of Parliament to the problem, the civil civil the problem, the to Parliament of Members

sheets sheets and capes, which were supplied to the troops troops the to supplied were which capes, and curtains. In Stratford for 19 years, the company has has company the years, 19 for Stratford In curtains. 2007 River Thames carrying the sewage upstream alerted alerted upstream sewage the carrying Thames River

waterp roof goods were produced, including ground ground including produced, were goods roof distributing home furnishings, especially lace and voile voile and lace especially furnishings, home distributing Messrs Singh, Directors, Lucky Wholesale Company, B the ‘Great Stink’ of 1858, when the stench of the the of stench the when 1858, of Stink’ ‘Great the

cloth f cloth actory, managed by his brother Daniel. Here Here Daniel. brother his by managed actory,

1978. The firm specialises in manufacturing and and manufacturing in specialises firm The 1978.

contaminating the capital’s drinking water. Following Following water. drinking capital’s the contaminating

Olympic site but failed to win a contract. a win to failed but site Olympic

At Hac At 2 kney Wick George Spill founded a waterproof waterproof a founded Spill George Wick kney

Tyrone Textiles Ltd is a family business founded in in founded business family a is Ltd Textiles Tyrone

20,000 deaths from cholera caused by raw sewage sewage raw by caused cholera from deaths 20,000

her colleagues wished to continue serving food on the the on food serving continue to wished colleagues her

Tyrone Textiles Ltd, 2006

healthiest place to live. In 1854 there were almost almost were there 1854 In live. to place healthiest

Hackn ey Wick works. works. Wick ey beginning at 4 a.m every day for 13 years. She and and She years. 13 for day every a.m 4 at beginning

Tony Geere, Jyotindra Patel, Scott Cullen: stock takers, E

London in the mid-nineteenth century was not the the not was century mid-nineteenth the in London 6

Carless truck being loaded with petrol cans at the the at cans petrol with loaded being truck acey provided breakfast to the local workers workers local the to breakfast provided acey Tr

trade n trade ame ‘petrol’. This photograph c1950 shows the the shows c1950 photograph This ‘petrol’. ame to Chelmsford in Essex. in Chelmsford to Centre, 2006 1956, competed here. competed 1956,

for the the for burgeoning motor car industry was given the the given was industry car motor burgeoning

spirit t spirit hat Carless, Capel and Leonard finally provided provided finally Leonard and Capel Carless, hat

4 5 Chris Brasher, who won gold for Britain in the 3,000 the in Britain for gold won who Brasher, Chris

perfect ed its refining techniques and the petroleum petroleum the and techniques refining its ed

the record-breaking four-minute mile in July 1954, a 1954, July in mile four-minute record-breaking the nd nd

change d to Carless, Capel and Leonard. The company company The Leonard. and Capel Carless, to d

Leyton where it was re-laid. Roger Bannister, who ra who Bannister, Roger re-laid. was it where Leyton n n

which have closed or relocated. or closed have which

new p new artners entered the business and the name name the and business the entered artners

athletics track was taken up and transported to to transported and up taken was track athletics

entrepreneurial spirit of the diverse b diverse the of spirit entrepreneurial usiness communities in the Lower Lea Valley, many of of many Valley, Lea Lower the in communities usiness becam e the leading distiller in Britain. By 1872 1872 By Britain. in distiller leading the e

post-war Olympic Games at Wembley in 1948, the 1948, in Wembley at Games Olympic post-war

refining the newly imported American crude oil and and oil crude American imported newly the

Davies and Debra Rapp captured pic captured Rapp Debra and Davies tures of the activities which portray the hard work and and work hard the portray which activities the of tures Eton Manor Athletic Club, Leyton, c1955. After the the After c1955. Leyton, Club, Athletic Manor Eton

partne rship dissolved in 1870 Carless turned to to turned Carless 1870 in dissolved rship

The former sports ground and running track of the the of track running and ground sports former The 5

processing. On the eve of the develo the of eve the On processing. pment of the Olympic Park, photographers Marion Marion photographers Park, Olympic the of pment

shale o shale il and coal tar for use in lamps. When the the When lamps. in use for tar coal and il

demand of the strikers. the of demand Carless and his company began to refine British British refine to began company his and businesses such as scrap yards, light i light yards, scrap as such businesses ial manufacturing, textile production and food food and production textile manufacturing, ial ndustr

for their stance that the company conceded to ever to conceded company the that stance their for y y In the the In 1860s, in partnership with William Blagden, Blagden, William with partnership in 1860s,

local East Enders and immigrants arri immigrants and Enders East local ving in post-war London and wishing to set up small small up set to wishing and London post-war in ving

women matchmakers. Such was the public sympath public the was Such matchmakers. women y y and refiner of mineral oils in Hackney Wick. Wick. Hackney in oils mineral of refiner and distiller

d Hackney Wick and Stratford proved attractive to to attractive proved Stratford and Wick Hackney d aroun area the later, years hundred A to their plight, which provoked a strike by the 700 700 the by strike a provoked which plight, their to 9 Eugene Carless set up a business as a a as business a up set Carless Eugene 9 185 In 1

D C 3 2

post- war athletes competed. athletes war and furniture making. making. furniture and

north of the Olympic Park at Leyton, where many leading leading many where Leyton, at Park Olympic the of operating in a residential are residential a in operating a – tanning, textile production, printing printing production, textile tanning, – a

plasti c and petrol. Sporting history was made in the area to the the to area the in made was history Sporting petrol. and c which to set up the sort of of sort the up set to which business that was not compatible with with compatible not was that business

on o on ur modern world: porcelain, matches, locomotive engines, engines, locomotive matches, porcelain, world: modern ur lower than other parts of th of parts other than lower e city, and spacious sites available on on available sites spacious and city, e

place s where factories produced goods which have had an impact impact an had have which goods produced factories where s outer edges of the East End End East the of edges outer of London where land and rents were were rents and land where London of

tes of special historic interest. Many are industrial in nature, nature, in industrial are Many interest. historic special of tes si are originally established closer t closer established originally ved to the the to ved mo London of centre the o

Surrounding, and sometimes buried beneath, the Olympic Park Park Olympic the beneath, buried sometimes and Surrounding, ntury, many industries that were were that industries many ntury, ce mid-nineteenth the From

SITES OF HISTORIC INTEREST INTEREST HISTORIC OF SITES S AND COMMUNITY AND S ES BUSIN PEOPLE,

A B 1

INTRODUCTION NEYkCAH ICW OTk BRINITYT YUO HARFW

The Olympic Park lies in the East End of London, north of the River Throughout the nineteenth century the excellent waterways were Thames and on the east side of the River Lea, which flows southward to used to transport goods, predominantl timber man;y y timber London’s Lea Valley: the Thames. This area, known as the Lower Lea Valley, was until recently merchants and sa millers bw uilt their premises close to the canal at a little-known and largely uninhabited landscape of wild vegetation Hackney Wick and Old Ford. The area became one of intense noisy, the Olympic Park story peppered with pylons, canals, locks, bridges and towpaths – mostly silent smelly activity where factories produced toxic and chemical products and still – a no-man’s land ripe for development. Yet it has a fascinating to supply London and the rest of the w paint,ld:or var prnish, inting ink, past that shaped the area, traces of which can still be seen, and which gum,oil, resins, soap and glue were all made in works lining the canals. are celebrated in this leaflet.

The Lower Lea Valley with two single locks built in the 1770s toN lla eht sgnidliub erew .lairtsudni I n to bypass part of the River Lea, and the eht s0581 eht htroN nodnoL awliaR y London’s River Lea rises on Leagrave Hertford Union Canal, opened in 1830 eniL devirra ni yenkcaH ,kciW dna orf m Common, Bedfordshire and flows about Maureen Dyson wins the 100 yards hurdles at Eton An Eton Manor athlete competing in the long jump between Hackney Cut and the Regent’s 8781 eht ,saG thgiL dna ekoC napmoC y fifty miles south until it meets the River Manor Athletics Ground, 1951 c1955 Canal. The Old Ford locks, a pair of dial tuo a llams yrotcaf nwot htiw teerts s Thames. While the valley has a relatively locks that allowed boats to move in two denil htiw decarret ,sesuoh seirotcaf na d small geographical footprint, it has left a English Heritage is the Government’s Acknowledgements directions at the same time, were built a .loohcs ehT gnisuoh sah enog tub mos e huge industrial legacy, one that produced Three Mills at Bromley-by-Bow with the House Mill advisor on the historic environment in ext:T Susie Barson, Dr Jim Lewis in 1865. The Lea and the canals around fo eht ,sesuoheraw selbats dna airtsudni l (1776, listed grade I) and the miller’s house in the the technologies and inventions that have England. The role of the organisation is to Photographs: Damian Gr ,ady Derek Old Ford are navigable waterways with sgnidliub niamer yadot nihtiw eht siF h ,centre and the Clock Mill (1817, listed grade II) shaped the modern world. ensure that the most important historic kendall, Marion Davies, Debra Rapp associated banks, towpaths and walls, dnalsI noitavresnoC .aerA sihT etcetorp d buildings, sites and monuments are Many of the streams and channels were aera – dellac hsiF dnalsI esuaceb eht teerts s Editors: Dr Robin Taylor and Sarah many of which are now protected. identified, protected, valued, cared for and harnessed from the eleventh century to erew deman retfa retawhserf :hsfi ,deemS Enticknap, English Heritage Publishing enjoyed by the inhabitants of England and form transport routes and millstreams ,ecaD ,reinoM maerB dna hcaoR – si on w the country’s many visitors. English Heritage Map: James Gulliver Hancock to provide water power for the flour na citsitra dna evitaerc ,buh htiw ’stsitra aims to protect and promote England’s mills. Development accelerated when spohskrow detadommocca ni eht emrof r Design and production: Ledgard Jepson history and heritage, in all its diverse forms, the Navigation Improvement Act was seirotcaf esohw srekrow ecno essecorp d for future generations to enjoy, understand Archival images: Newham Heritage and passed in 1425, followed by a further rebbur ro edam draobdrac .sexob and appreciate for years to come. Archives; Bishopsgate Library, Bishopsgate Act of 1571 which encouraged the use htuoS fo eht cipmylO kraP a emosdnah Institute; Vestry House Museum, London of the river as a major transport route. puorg fo -htneethgie dna -htneetenin For more information on the work HMS iorrarW built in 1860 at the Thames Ironworks Borough of Waltham Forest; London During this period, the Lee Navigation yrutnec edit sllim era detacol ta eerhT .slliM of English Heritage please go to Borough of Hackney Archives; Petrochem Canal – 42 miles long – was created to ehT sllim decudorp ruofl rof eht srekab fo youB frahW ,erehw ni ,2581 eht nenime t www.english-heritage.org.uk Carless Limited speed up the progress of the boats. ,nodnoL nig rof eht snrevat dna ocab n tsitneics leahciM yadaraF wasrevo eht srfi t If you would like this document in a rof eht layoR .yvaN rehtruF htuos si ht e stnemirepxe ot etanimulli eht suohthgil e © English Heritage 2012 At Old Ford, close to the earliest main different format, please contact our crossing place between London and woB-yb-yelmorB sag ,tnalp eht etis o f yb .yticirtcele nO eht tsae ,knab eht emahT s customer services department on Essex, the area was surrounded by marshy eht redwopnug tekcor yrotcaf fo ailliW m skrownorI saw ,detacol ,hcihw ni ,0681 liub t telephone: 0870 333 1181 flood plain. Two canals were cut across evergnoC II ohw dedivorp stekcor aht t eht SMH roirraW , eht s’dlrow tsrfi niogaes g Please remember to recycle this broadsheet erew derfi yb eht hsitirB no eht naciremA s dalcnori elttab .resiurc ehT emahT s fax: 01793 414926 the marsh in the late eighteenth- and when you no longer need it. ni .2181 erehW eht aeL steem ht e skrownorI retal tliub eht SMH rerednuhT i n early nineteen centuries. These were textphone: 01793 414878 semahT era owt tnatropmi .setis nO ht e ,1191 hcihw thguof ni eht elttab fo naltuJ d the Hackney Cut, a two-mile-long canal Old Bow Bridge with George Hodgson’s Bow Brewery to email: [email protected] Product Code 51769. Printed Pureprint by Group Limited. the right, with smoking chimneys tsew knab si eht esuohthgil fo eht tinirT y gnirud eht tsriF dlroW .raW

socialist and activist, Annie Besant, drew attention attention drew Besant, Annie activist, and socialist moved to Stratford where they em they where Stratford to moved ployed 20 skilled skilled 20 ployed All photographs © Marion Davies and Debra Rapp

deteriorate and their teeth to fall out. A female female A out. fall to teeth their and deteriorate Works at Stratford, with workers. with Stratford, at Works selling fine traditional English furnit English traditional fine selling ure. The factory factory The ure.

toxic phosphorous which caused their bones to to bones their caused which phosphorous toxic Holden, supervisor of the Great Eastern Railway Railway Eastern Great the of supervisor Holden, Ronald Priest in 1950, specialises i specialises 1950, in Priest Ronald n making and and making n

Outerwear Ltd, 2006

suffered long hours and low wages while handling handling while wages low and hours long suffered nineteenth-century photograph shows James James shows photograph nineteenth-century Priest Brothers, established in Beth in established Brothers, Priest nal Green by by Green nal

Preparing next season’s Burberry coats, Panache H

moved to Leyton. to moved

to build railway engines, including the Decapod Decapod the including engines, railway build to parts. Pictured here in the last days of Kalandar’s Kalandar’s of days last the in here Pictured parts.

at the Parkesine Works in 1866. 1866. in Works Parkesine the at companies around the site of the the of site the around companies Olympic Park Park Olympic

Eastern Railway Works, established in the 1840s 1840s the in established Works, Railway Eastern

Lower Lea Valley and was full of second-hand car car second-hand of full was and Valley Lea Lower

commemorates the site of the invention of ‘Parkesine’, ‘Parkesine’, of invention the of site the commemorates from Spitalfields Market. Many of of Many Market. Spitalfields from the specialist food food specialist the

International Station now stands, stood the Great Great the stood stands, now Station International

Kalandar was one of the many car repair sites in the the in sites repair car many the of one was Kalandar

A plaque on a wall in Wallis Road, Hackney Wick Wick Hackney Road, Wallis in wall a on plaque A 3 at Pentaluck Food store, who shipp who store, Food Pentaluck at ed vegetables vegetables ed

Near Stratford Town Centre, close to where the the where to close Centre, Town Stratford Near 7 Javed Iqbal, Kalandar Japanese Used Car Parts, 2007 G

Jenny provided Chinese meals for t for meals Chinese provided Jenny he night workers workers night he

such as pens, knife handles, combs and buttons. and combs handles, knife pens, as such

grade II grade .

The company have moved to Bow. to moved have company The 2006

producing a range of products from the new material material new the from products of range a producing

south-eastern end of the Olympic Park. It is listed listed is It Park. Olympic the of end south-eastern

H G this company makes products for the couture market. market. couture the for products makes company this Jenny Man, Chinese food van, Pent C aluck forecourt,

Parkesine at the Hackney Wick factory in Wallis Road, Road, Wallis in factory Wick Hackney the at Parkesine

stations built in the late 1860s, is situated at the the at situated is 1860s, late the in built stations specialised machines that replicate hand-processing, hand-processing, replicate that machines specialised

7 6

(1813-1890). Spill agreed in 1864 to manufacture manufacture to 1864 in agreed Spill (1813-1890).

Olympic Park, the brothers took ea took brothers the Park, Olympic rly retirement. rly

early form of plastic invented by Alexander Parkes Parkes Alexander by invented plastic of form early

Stratford. Just before the start of d of start the before Just Stratford. evelopment of the the of evelopment

and pumping stations across London to deal with the the with deal to London across stations pumping and

Panache was one of the many clothing manufacturers manufacturers clothing many the of one was Panache

became interested in a material called ‘Parkesine’, an an ‘Parkesine’, called material a in interested became their arrival from Delhi in 1955, b 1955, in Delhi from arrival their efore moving out to to out moving efore

pioneering sewage system with a network of sewers sewers of network a with system sewage pioneering

Seamstress, Panache Outerwear Ltd, 2006 F

the International Exhibition at Kensington and and Kensington at Exhibition International the years. They started the business in in business the started They years. Southall soon after after soon Southall engineer Joseph Bazalegette designed and built a a built and designed Bazalegette Joseph engineer

during the Crimean War. In 1862 Daniel Spill visited visited Spill Daniel 1862 In War. Crimean the during now relocated to Enfield. to relocated now The Singh brothers sold toys and p and toys sold brothers Singh The arty gifts for 40 40 for gifts arty Members of Parliament to the problem, the civil civil the problem, the to Parliament of Members

sheets and capes, which were supplied to the troops troops the to supplied were which capes, and sheets curtains. In Stratford for 19 years, the company has has company the years, 19 for Stratford In curtains. 2007 River Thames carrying the sewage upstream alerted alerted upstream sewage the carrying Thames River

waterproof goods were produced, including ground ground including produced, were goods waterproof distributing home furnishings, especially lace and voile voile and lace especially furnishings, home distributing Messrs Singh, Directors, Lucky Wh B olesale Company, the ‘Great Stink’ of 1858, when the stench of the the of stench the when 1858, of Stink’ ‘Great the

cloth factory, managed by his brother Daniel. Here Here Daniel. brother his by managed factory, cloth

1978. The firm specialises in manufacturing and and manufacturing in specialises firm The 1978.

contaminating the capital’s drinking water. Following Following water. drinking capital’s the contaminating

Olympic site but failed to win a co a win to failed but site Olympic ntract.

At Hackney Wick George Spill founded a waterproof waterproof a founded Spill George Wick Hackney At 2

Tyrone Textiles Ltd is a family business founded in in founded business family a is Ltd Textiles Tyrone

20,000 deaths from cholera caused by raw sewage sewage raw by caused cholera from deaths 20,000

her colleagues wished to continue continue to wished colleagues her serving food on the the on food serving

Tyrone Textiles Ltd, 2006

healthiest place to live. In 1854 there were almost almost were there 1854 In live. to place healthiest

Hackney Wick works. works. Wick Hackney beginning at 4 a.m every day for 1 for day every a.m 4 at beginning 3 years. She and and She years. 3

Tony Geere, Jyotindra Patel, Scott Cullen: stock takers, E

London in the mid-nineteenth century was not the the not was century mid-nineteenth the in London 6

Carless truck being loaded with petrol cans at the the at cans petrol with loaded being truck Carless Tracey provided breakfast to the lo the to breakfast provided Tracey cal workers workers cal

trade name ‘petrol’. This photograph c1950 shows the the shows c1950 photograph This ‘petrol’. name trade to Chelmsford in Essex. in Chelmsford to Centre, 2006 1956, competed here. competed 1956,

for the burgeoning motor car industry was given the the given was industry car motor burgeoning the for craftsmen. The family-run business has now relocated relocated now has business family-run The craftsmen. fé, East End Tracey Manning, working men’s ca A meters steeplechase at the Melbourne Olympics in in Olympics Melbourne the at steeplechase meters

spirit that Carless, Capel and Leonard finally provided provided finally Leonard and Capel Carless, that spirit

5 4 Chris Brasher, who won gold for Britain in the 3,000 3,000 the in Britain for gold won who Brasher, Chris

perfected its refining techniques and the petroleum petroleum the and techniques refining its perfected

the record-breaking four-minute mile in July 1954, and and 1954, July in mile four-minute record-breaking the

changed to Carless, Capel and Leonard. The company company The Leonard. and Capel Carless, to changed

Leyton where it was re-laid. Roger Bannister, who ran ran who Bannister, Roger re-laid. was it where Leyton which have closed or reloca or closed have which ted.

new partners entered the business and the name name the and business the entered partners new

athletics track was taken up and transported to to transported and up taken was track athletics

entrepreneurial spirit of the the of spirit entrepreneurial diverse business communities in the Lower Lea Valley, many of of many Valley, Lea Lower the in communities business diverse became the leading distiller in Britain. By 1872 1872 By Britain. in distiller leading the became

post-war Olympic Games at Wembley in 1948, the the 1948, in Wembley at Games Olympic post-war

refining the newly imported American crude oil and and oil crude American imported newly the refining

Davies and Debra Rapp cap Rapp Debra and Davies tured pictures of the activities which portray the hard work and and work hard the portray which activities the of pictures tured Eton Manor Athletic Club, Leyton, c1955. After the the After c1955. Leyton, Club, Athletic Manor Eton

partnership dissolved in 1870 Carless turned to to turned Carless 1870 in dissolved partnership

The former sports ground and running track of the the of track running and ground sports former The 5

processing. On the eve of th of eve the On processing. e development of the Olympic Park, photographers Marion Marion photographers Park, Olympic the of development e

shale oil and coal tar for use in lamps. When the the When lamps. in use for tar coal and oil shale

demand of the strikers. the of demand Carless and his company began to refine British British refine to began company his and Carless businesses such as scrap yar scrap as such businesses ds, light industrial manufacturing, textile production and food food and production textile manufacturing, industrial light ds,

for their stance that the company conceded to every every to conceded company the that stance their for In the 1860s, in partnership with William Blagden, Blagden, William with partnership in 1860s, the In

local East Enders and immig and Enders East local rants arriving in post-war London and wishing to set up small small up set to wishing and London post-war in arriving rants

women matchmakers. Such was the public sympathy sympathy public the was Such matchmakers. women distiller and refiner of mineral oils in Hackney Wick. Wick. Hackney in oils mineral of refiner and distiller

ea around Hackney Wick and Stratford proved attractive to to attractive proved Stratford and Wick Hackney around ea ar the later, years hundred A to their plight, which provoked a strike by the 700 700 the by strike a provoked which plight, their to In 1859 Eugene Carless set up a business as a a as business a up set Carless Eugene 1859 In 1

D C 3 2

post-war athletes competed. athletes post-war and furniture making. making. furniture and

north of the Olympic Park at Leyton, where many leading leading many where Leyton, at Park Olympic the of north operating in a residen a in operating tial area – tanning, textile production, printing printing production, textile tanning, – area tial

plastic and petrol. Sporting history was made in the area to the the to area the in made was history Sporting petrol. and plastic which to set up the s the up set to which ort of business that was not compatible with with compatible not was that business of ort

on our modern world: porcelain, matches, locomotive engines, engines, locomotive matches, porcelain, world: modern our on lower than other part other than lower s of the city, and spacious sites available on on available sites spacious and city, the of s

places where factories produced goods which have had an impact impact an had have which goods produced factories where places outer edges of the Ea the of edges outer st End of London where land and rents were were rents and land where London of End st

are sites of special historic interest. Many are industrial in nature, nature, in industrial are Many interest. historic special of sites are originally established established originally closer to the centre of London moved to the the to moved London of centre the to closer

Surrounding, and sometimes buried beneath, the Olympic Park Park Olympic the beneath, buried sometimes and Surrounding, enth century, many industries that were were that industries many century, enth mid-ninete the From

SITES OF HISTORIC INTEREST INTEREST HISTORIC OF SITES NESS AND COMMUNITY AND NESS BUSI EOPLE, P

A B 1

INTRODUCTION HACkNEY WICk TO TRINITY BUOY WHARF

The Olympic Park lies in the East End of London, north of the River Throughout the nineteenth century the excellent waterways were Thames and on the east side of the River Lea, which flows southward to used to transport goods, predominantly timber; many timber London’s Lea Valley: the Thames. This area, known as the Lower Lea Valley, was until recently merchants and saw millers built their premises close to the canal at a little-known and largely uninhabited landscape of wild vegetation Hackney Wick and Old Ford. The area became one of intense noisy, the Olympic Park story peppered with pylons, canals, locks, bridges and towpaths – mostly silent smelly activity where factories produced toxic and chemical products and still – a no-man’s land ripe for development. Yet it has a fascinating to supply London and the rest of the world: paint, varnish, printing ink, past that shaped the area, traces of which can still be seen, and which oil, gum, resins, soap and glue were all made in works lining the canals. are celebrated in this leaflet.

The Lower Lea Valley with two single locks built in the 1770s Not all the buildings were industrial. In to bypass part of the River Lea, and the the 1850s the North London Railway London’s River Lea rises on Leagrave Hertford Union Canal, opened in 1830 Line arrived in Hackney Wick, and from Common, Bedfordshire and flows about Maureen Dyson wins the 100 yards hurdles at Eton An Eton Manor athlete competing in the long jump between Hackney Cut and the Regent’s 1878 the Gas, Light and Coke Company fifty miles south until it meets the River Manor Athletics Ground, 1951 c1955 Canal. The Old Ford locks, a pair of laid out a small factory town with streets Thames. While the valley has a relatively locks that allowed boats to move in two lined with terraced houses, factories and small geographical footprint, it has left a English Heritage is the Government’s Acknowledgements directions at the same time, were built a school. The housing has gone but some huge industrial legacy, one that produced Three Mills at Bromley-by-Bow with the House Mill advisor on the historic environment in Text: Susie Barson, Dr Jim Lewis in 1865. The Lea and the canals around of the warehouses, stables and industrial (1776, listed grade I) and the miller’s house in the the technologies and inventions that have England. The role of the organisation is to Photographs: Damian Grady, Derek Old Ford are navigable waterways with buildings remain today within the Fish centre, and the Clock Mill (1817, listed grade II) shaped the modern world. ensure that the most important historic kendall, Marion Davies, Debra Rapp associated banks, towpaths and walls, Island Conservation Area. This protected buildings, sites and monuments are Many of the streams and channels were area – called Fish Island because the streets Editors: Dr Robin Taylor and Sarah many of which are now protected. identified, protected, valued, cared for and harnessed from the eleventh century to were named after freshwater fish: Smeed, Enticknap, English Heritage Publishing enjoyed by the inhabitants of England and form transport routes and millstreams Dace, Monier, Bream and Roach – is now the country’s many visitors. English Heritage Map: James Gulliver Hancock to provide water power for the flour an artistic and creative hub, with artists’ aims to protect and promote England’s mills. Development accelerated when workshops accommodated in the former Design and production: Ledgard Jepson history and heritage, in all its diverse forms, the Navigation Improvement Act was factories whose workers once processed for future generations to enjoy, understand Archival images: Newham Heritage and passed in 1425, followed by a further rubber or made cardboard boxes. and appreciate for years to come. Archives; Bishopsgate Library, Bishopsgate Act of 1571 which encouraged the use South of the Olympic Park a handsome Institute; Vestry House Museum, London of the river as a major transport route. group of eighteenth- and nineteenth- For more information on the work HMS Warrior built in 1860 at the Thames Ironworks Borough of Waltham Forest; London During this period, the Lee Navigation century tide mills are located at Three Mills. of English Heritage please go to Borough of Hackney Archives; Petrochem Canal – 42 miles long – was created to The mills produced flour for the bakers of Buoy Wharf where, in 1852, the eminent www.english-heritage.org.uk Carless Limited speed up the progress of the boats. London, gin for the taverns and bacon scientist Michael Faraday oversaw the first If you would like this document in a for the Royal Navy. Further south is the experiments to illuminate the lighthouse © English Heritage 2012 At Old Ford, close to the earliest main different format, please contact our crossing place between London and Bromley-by-Bow gas plant, the site of by electricity. On the east bank, the Thames customer services department on Essex, the area was surrounded by marshy the gunpowder rocket factory of William Ironworks was located, which, in 1860, built telephone: 0870 333 1181 flood plain. Two canals were cut across Congreve II who provided rockets that the HMS Warrior, the world’s first seagoing Please remember to recycle this broadsheet were fired by the British on the Americans ironclad battle cruiser. The Thames fax: 01793 414926 the marsh in the late eighteenth- and when you no longer need it. in 1812. Where the Lea meets the Ironworks later built the HMS Thunderer in early nineteen centuries. These were textphone: 01793 414878 Thames are two important sites. On the 1911, which fought in the battle of Jutland the Hackney Cut, a two-mile-long canal Old Bow Bridge with George Hodgson’s Bow Brewery to email: [email protected] Product Code 51769. Printed Pureprint by Group Limited. the right, with smoking chimneys west bank is the lighthouse of the Trinity during the First World War.

socialist and activist, Annie Besant, drew attention attention drew Besant, Annie activist, and socialist moved t moved o Stratford where they employed 20 skilled skilled 20 employed they where Stratford o All photographs © Marion Davies and Debra Rapp

deteriorate and their teeth to fall out. A female female A out. fall to teeth their and deteriorate Works at Stratford, with workers. with Stratford, at Works selling fi selling ne traditional English furniture. The factory factory The furniture. English traditional ne

toxic phosphorous which caused their bones to to bones their caused which phosphorous toxic Holden, supervisor of the Great Eastern Railway Railway Eastern Great the of supervisor Holden, Ronald P Ronald riest in 1950, specialises in making and and making in specialises 1950, in riest

Outerwear Ltd, 2006

suffered long hours and low wages while handling handling while wages low and hours long suffered nineteenth-century photograph shows James James shows photograph nineteenth-century Priest Br Priest others, established in Bethnal Green by by Green Bethnal in established others,

Preparing next season’s Burberry coats, Panache H

moved t moved o Leyton. o

to build railway engines, including the Decapod Decapod the including engines, railway build to parts. Pictured here in the last days of Kalandar’s Kalandar’s of days last the in here Pictured parts.

at the Parkesine Works in 1866. 1866. in Works Parkesine the at compan ies around the site of the Olympic Park Park Olympic the of site the around ies

Eastern Railway Works, established in the 1840s 1840s the in established Works, Railway Eastern

Lower Lea Valley and was full of second-hand car car second-hand of full was and Valley Lea Lower

commemorates the site of the invention of ‘Parkesine’, ‘Parkesine’, of invention the of site the commemorates from Spi from talfields Market. Many of the specialist food food specialist the of Many Market. talfields

International Station now stands, stood the Great Great the stood stands, now Station International

Kalandar was one of the many car repair sites in the the in sites repair car many the of one was Kalandar

A plaque on a wall in Wallis Road, Hackney Wick Wick Hackney Road, Wallis in wall a on plaque A 3 at Penta at luck Food store, who shipped vegetables vegetables shipped who store, Food luck

Near Stratford Town Centre, close to where the the where to close Centre, Town Stratford Near 7 Javed Iqbal, Kalandar Japanese Used Car Parts, 2007 G

Jenny pr Jenny ovided Chinese meals for the night workers workers night the for meals Chinese ovided

such as pens, knife handles, combs and buttons. and combs handles, knife pens, as such

grade II grade .

The company have moved to Bow. to moved have company The 2006

producing a range of products from the new material material new the from products of range a producing

south-eastern end of the Olympic Park. It is listed listed is It Park. Olympic the of end south-eastern

H G this company makes products for the couture market. market. couture the for products makes company this Jenny M C an, Chinese food van, Pentaluck forecourt,

Parkesine at the Hackney Wick factory in Wallis Road, Road, Wallis in factory Wick Hackney the at Parkesine

stations built in the late 1860s, is situated at the the at situated is 1860s, late the in built stations specialised machines that replicate hand-processing, hand-processing, replicate that machines specialised

7 6

(1813-1890). Spill agreed in 1864 to manufacture manufacture to 1864 in agreed Spill (1813-1890).

Olympic Park, the brothers took early retirement. early took brothers the Park,

early form of plastic invented by Alexander Parkes Parkes Alexander by invented plastic of form early

Stratford . Just before the start of development of the the of development of start the before Just .

and pumping stations across London to deal with the the with deal to London across stations pumping and

Panache was one of the many clothing manufacturers manufacturers clothing many the of one was Panache

became interested in a material called ‘Parkesine’, an an ‘Parkesine’, called material a in interested became their arr their ival from Delhi in 1955, before moving out to to out moving before 1955, in Delhi from ival

pioneering sewage system with a network of sewers sewers of network a with system sewage pioneering

Seamstress, Panache Outerwear Ltd, 2006 F

the International Exhibition at Kensington and and Kensington at Exhibition International the years. Th years. ey started the business in Southall soon after after soon Southall in business the started ey engineer Joseph Bazalegette designed and built a a built and designed Bazalegette Joseph engineer

during the Crimean War. In 1862 Daniel Spill visited visited Spill Daniel 1862 In War. Crimean the during now relocated to Enfield. to relocated now The Sing The h brothers sold toys and party gifts for 40 40 for gifts party and toys sold brothers h Members of Parliament to the problem, the civil civil the problem, the to Parliament of Members

sheets and capes, which were supplied to the troops troops the to supplied were which capes, and sheets curtains. In Stratford for 19 years, the company has has company the years, 19 for Stratford In curtains. 2007 River Thames carrying the sewage upstream alerted alerted upstream sewage the carrying Thames River

waterproof goods were produced, including ground ground including produced, were goods waterproof distributing home furnishings, especially lace and voile voile and lace especially furnishings, home distributing Messrs S B ingh, Directors, Lucky Wholesale Company, the ‘Great Stink’ of 1858, when the stench of the the of stench the when 1858, of Stink’ ‘Great the

cloth factory, managed by his brother Daniel. Here Here Daniel. brother his by managed factory, cloth

1978. The firm specialises in manufacturing and and manufacturing in specialises firm The 1978.

contaminating the capital’s drinking water. Following Following water. drinking capital’s the contaminating

Olympic site but failed to win a contract. a win to failed but site

At Hackney Wick George Spill founded a waterproof waterproof a founded Spill George Wick Hackney At 2

Tyrone Textiles Ltd is a family business founded in in founded business family a is Ltd Textiles Tyrone

20,000 deaths from cholera caused by raw sewage sewage raw by caused cholera from deaths 20,000

her colle her agues wished to continue serving food on the the on food serving continue to wished agues

Tyrone Textiles Ltd, 2006

healthiest place to live. In 1854 there were almost almost were there 1854 In live. to place healthiest

Hackney Wick works. works. Wick Hackney beginnin g at 4 a.m every day for 13 years. She and and She years. 13 for day every a.m 4 at g

Tony Geere, Jyotindra Patel, Scott Cullen: stock takers, E

London in the mid-nineteenth century was not the the not was century mid-nineteenth the in London 6

Carless truck being loaded with petrol cans at the the at cans petrol with loaded being truck Carless Tracey p Tracey rovided breakfast to the local workers workers local the to breakfast rovided

trade name ‘petrol’. This photograph c1950 shows the the shows c1950 photograph This ‘petrol’. name trade to Chelmsford in Essex. in Chelmsford to 006 Centre, 2 1956, competed here. competed 1956,

for the burgeoning motor car industry was given the the given was industry car motor burgeoning the for craftsmen. The family-run business has now relocated relocated now has business family-run The craftsmen. anning, working men’s café, East End Tracey M A meters steeplechase at the Melbourne Olympics in in Olympics Melbourne the at steeplechase meters

spirit that Carless, Capel and Leonard finally provided provided finally Leonard and Capel Carless, that spirit

5 4 Chris Brasher, who won gold for Britain in the 3,000 3,000 the in Britain for gold won who Brasher, Chris

perfected its refining techniques and the petroleum petroleum the and techniques refining its perfected

the record-breaking four-minute mile in July 1954, and and 1954, July in mile four-minute record-breaking the

changed to Carless, Capel and Leonard. The company company The Leonard. and Capel Carless, to changed

Leyton where it was re-laid. Roger Bannister, who ran ran who Bannister, Roger re-laid. was it where Leyton which ha which ve closed or relocated. or closed ve

new partners entered the business and the name name the and business the entered partners new

athletics track was taken up and transported to to transported and up taken was track athletics

entrepre neurial spirit of the diverse business communities in the Lower Lea Valley, many of of many Valley, Lea Lower the in communities business diverse the of spirit neurial became the leading distiller in Britain. By 1872 1872 By Britain. in distiller leading the became

post-war Olympic Games at Wembley in 1948, the the 1948, in Wembley at Games Olympic post-war

refining the newly imported American crude oil and and oil crude American imported newly the refining

Davies a Davies nd Debra Rapp captured pictures of the activities which portray the hard work and and work hard the portray which activities the of pictures captured Rapp Debra nd Eton Manor Athletic Club, Leyton, c1955. After the the After c1955. Leyton, Club, Athletic Manor Eton

partnership dissolved in 1870 Carless turned to to turned Carless 1870 in dissolved partnership

The former sports ground and running track of the the of track running and ground sports former The 5

processin g. On the eve of the development of the Olympic Park, photographers Marion Marion photographers Park, Olympic the of development the of eve the On g.

shale oil and coal tar for use in lamps. When the the When lamps. in use for tar coal and oil shale

demand of the strikers. the of demand Carless and his company began to refine British British refine to began company his and Carless businesse s such as scrap yards, light industrial manufacturing, textile production and food food and production textile manufacturing, industrial light yards, scrap as such s

local Eas local t Enders and immigrants arriving in post-war London and wishing to set up small small up set to wishing and London post-war in arriving immigrants and Enders t

ed years later, the area around Hackney Wick and Stratford proved attractive to to attractive proved Stratford and Wick Hackney around area the later, years ed hundr A to their plight, which provoked a strike by the 700 700 the by strike a provoked which plight, their to In 1859 Eugene Carless set up a business as a a as business a up set Carless Eugene 1859 In 1

D C 3 2

post-war athletes competed. athletes post-war and fur and niture making. making. niture

north of the Olympic Park at Leyton, where many leading leading many where Leyton, at Park Olympic the of north operat ing in a residential area – tanning, textile production, printing printing production, textile tanning, – area residential a in ing

plastic and petrol. Sporting history was made in the area to the the to area the in made was history Sporting petrol. and plastic which which to set up the sort of business that was not compatible with with compatible not was that business of sort the up set to

on our modern world: porcelain, matches, locomotive engines, engines, locomotive matches, porcelain, world: modern our on lower lower than other parts of the city, and spacious sites available on on available sites spacious and city, the of parts other than

places where factories produced goods which have had an impact impact an had have which goods produced factories where places outer e outer dges of the East End of London where land and rents were were rents and land where London of End East the of dges

are sites of special historic interest. Many are industrial in nature, nature, in industrial are Many interest. historic special of sites are origina lly established closer to the centre of London moved to the the to moved London of centre the to closer established lly

Surrounding, and sometimes buried beneath, the Olympic Park Park Olympic the beneath, buried sometimes and Surrounding, he mid-nineteenth century, many industries that were were that industries many century, mid-nineteenth he t From

SITES OF HISTORIC INTEREST INTEREST HISTORIC OF SITES PLE, BUSINESS AND COMMUNITY AND BUSINESS PLE, PEO

A B 1

INTRODUCTION HACkNEY WICk TO TRINITY BUOY WHARF

The Olympic Park lies in the East End of London, north of the River Throughout the nineteenth century the excellent waterways were Thames and on the east side of the River Lea, which flows southward to used to transport goods, predominantly timber; many timber London’s Lea Valley: the Thames. This area, known as the Lower Lea Valley, was until recently merchants and saw millers built their premises close to the canal at a little-known and largely uninhabited landscape of wild vegetation Hackney Wick and Old Ford. The area became one of intense noisy, the Olympic Park story peppered with pylons, canals, locks, bridges and towpaths – mostly silent smelly activity where factories produced toxic and chemical products and still – a no-man’s land ripe for development. Yet it has a fascinating to supply London and the rest of the world: paint, varnish, printing ink, past that shaped the area, traces of which can still be seen, and which oil, gum, resins, soap and glue were all made in works lining the canals. are celebrated in this leaflet.

The Lower Lea Valley with two single locks built in the 1770s Not all the buildings were industrial. In to bypass part of the River Lea, and the the 1850s the North London Railway London’s River Lea rises on Leagrave Hertford Union Canal, opened in 1830 Line arrived in Hackney Wick, and from Common, Bedfordshire and flows about Maureen Dyson wins the 100 yards hurdles at Eton An Eton Manor athlete competing in the long jump between Hackney Cut and the Regent’s 1878 the Gas, Light and Coke Company fifty miles south until it meets the River Manor Athletics Ground, 1951 c1955 Canal. The Old Ford locks, a pair of laid out a small factory town with streets Thames. While the valley has a relatively locks that allowed boats to move in two lined with terraced houses, factories and small geographical footprint, it has left a English Heritage is the Government’s Acknowledgements directions at the same time, were built a school. The housing has gone but some huge industrial legacy, one that produced Three Mills at Bromley-by-Bow with the House Mill advisor on the historic environment in Text: Susie Barson, Dr Jim Lewis in 1865. The Lea and the canals around of the warehouses, stables and industrial (1776, listed grade I) and the miller’s house in the the technologies and inventions that have England. The role of the organisation is to Photographs: Damian Grady, Derek Old Ford are navigable waterways with buildings remain today within the Fish centre, and the Clock Mill (1817, listed grade II) shaped the modern world. ensure that the most important historic kendall, Marion Davies, Debra Rapp associated banks, towpaths and walls, Island Conservation Area. This protected buildings, sites and monuments are Many of the streams and channels were area – called Fish Island because the streets Editors: Dr Robin Taylor and Sarah many of which are now protected. identified, protected, valued, cared for and harnessed from the eleventh century to were named after freshwater fish: Smeed, Enticknap, English Heritage Publishing enjoyed by the inhabitants of England and form transport routes and millstreams Dace, Monier, Bream and Roach – is now the country’s many visitors. English Heritage Map: James Gulliver Hancock to provide water power for the flour an artistic and creative hub, with artists’ aims to protect and promote England’s mills. Development accelerated when workshops accommodated in the former Design and production: Ledgard Jepson history and heritage, in all its diverse forms, the Navigation Improvement Act was factories whose workers once processed for future generations to enjoy, understand Archival images: Newham Heritage and passed in 1425, followed by a further rubber or made cardboard boxes. and appreciate for years to come. Archives; Bishopsgate Library, Bishopsgate Act of 1571 which encouraged the use South of the Olympic Park a handsome Institute; Vestry House Museum, London of the river as a major transport route. group of eighteenth- and nineteenth- For more information on the work HMS Warrior built in 1860 at the Thames Ironworks Borough of Waltham Forest; London During this period, the Lee Navigation century tide mills are located at Three Mills. of English Heritage please go to Borough of Hackney Archives; Petrochem Canal – 42 miles long – was created to The mills produced flour for the bakers of Buoy Wharf where, in 1852, the eminent www.english-heritage.org.uk Carless Limited speed up the progress of the boats. London, gin for the taverns and bacon scientist Michael Faraday oversaw the first If you would like this document in a for the Royal Navy. Further south is the experiments to illuminate the lighthouse © English Heritage 2012 At Old Ford, close to the earliest main different format, please contact our crossing place between London and Bromley-by-Bow gas plant, the site of by electricity. On the east bank, the Thames customer services department on Essex, the area was surrounded by marshy the gunpowder rocket factory of William Ironworks was located, which, in 1860, built telephone: 0870 333 1181 flood plain. Two canals were cut across Congreve II who provided rockets that the HMS Warrior, the world’s first seagoing Please remember to recycle this broadsheet were fired by the British on the Americans ironclad battle cruiser. The Thames fax: 01793 414926 the marsh in the late eighteenth- and when you no longer need it. in 1812. Where the Lea meets the Ironworks later built the HMS Thunderer in early nineteen centuries. These were textphone: 01793 414878 Thames are two important sites. On the 1911, which fought in the battle of Jutland the Hackney Cut, a two-mile-long canal Old Bow Bridge with George Hodgson’s Bow Brewery to email: [email protected] Product Code 51769. Printed Pureprint by Group Limited. the right, with smoking chimneys west bank is the lighthouse of the Trinity during the First World War.

socialist and socialist activist, Annie Besant, drew attention attention drew Besant, Annie activist, moved to Stratford where they employed 20 skilled skilled 20 employed they where Stratford to moved All photographs © Marion Davies and Debra Rapp

deteriorate a deteriorate nd their teeth to fall out. A female female A out. fall to teeth their nd Works at Stratford at Works , with workers. with , selling fine traditional English furniture. The factory factory The furniture. English traditional fine selling

toxic phosph toxic orous which caused their bones to to bones their caused which orous Holden, supervisor Holden, of the Great Eastern Railway Railway Eastern Great the of Ronald Priest in 1950, specialises in making and and making in specialises 1950, in Priest Ronald

Outerwear Ltd, 2006

suffered long suffered hours and low wages while handling handling while wages low and hours nineteenth-centur y photograph shows James James shows photograph y Priest Brothers, established in Bethnal Green by by Green Bethnal in established Brothers, Priest

Preparing next season’s Burberry coats, Panache H

in 1861 (list 1861 in ed grade II). In 1888 women workers workers women 1888 In II). grade ed start pulling a trai a pulling start n weighing 300 tons. This late late This tons. 300 weighing n a hall table, Priest Brothers, 2006

buildings of of buildings the Bryant and May match factory built built factory match May and Bryant the miles per hour in 3 in hour per miles 0 seconds from a standing standing a from seconds 0 and returned to Pakistan. to returned and Kenney Tingey, cabinet maker: fitting a bow end to D

Just west of of west Just 4 the Olympic Park stand the surviving surviving the stand Park Olympic the (0-10-0). The engi The (0-10-0). ne could attain a speed of 30 30 of speed a attain could ne operation, Javed sold his business to JJ Autos Ltd Ltd Autos JJ to business his sold Javed operation,

moved to Leyton. to moved

to build railway en railway build to gines, including the Decapod Decapod the including gines,

parts. Pictured here in the last days of Kalandar’s Kalandar’s of days last the in here Pictured parts.

at the Parke the at sine Works in 1866. 1866. in Works sine

companies around the site of the Olympic Park Park Olympic the of site the around companies

Eastern Railway W Railway Eastern orks, established in the 1840s 1840s the in established orks,

Lower Lea Valley and was full of second-hand car car second-hand of full was and Valley Lea Lower

commemora tes the site of the invention of ‘Parkesine’, ‘Parkesine’, of invention the of site the tes

from Spitalfields Market. Many of the specialist food food specialist the of Many Market. Spitalfields from

International Stati International on now stands, stood the Great Great the stood stands, now on

Kalandar was one of the many car repair sites in the the in sites repair car many the of one was Kalandar

A plaque on plaque A 3 a wall in Wallis Road, Hackney Wick Wick Hackney Road, Wallis in wall a

at Pentaluck Food store, who shipped vegetables vegetables shipped who store, Food Pentaluck at

Near Stratford Tow Stratford Near 7 n Centre, close to where the the where to close Centre, n Javed Iqbal, Kalandar Japanese Used Car Parts, 2007 G

Jenny provided Chinese meals for the night workers workers night the for meals Chinese provided Jenny

such as pen as such s, knife handles, combs and buttons. and combs handles, knife s,

grade II grade .

The company have moved to Bow. to moved have company The 2006

producing a a producing range of products from the new material material new the from products of range

south-eastern end south-eastern of the Olympic Park. It is listed listed is It Park. Olympic the of

H G this company makes products for the couture market. market. couture the for products makes company this Jenny Man, Chinese food van, Pentaluck forecourt, C

Parkesine at Parkesine the Hackney Wick factory in Wallis Road, Road, Wallis in factory Wick Hackney the

stations built in th in built stations e late 1860s, is situated at the the at situated is 1860s, late e

specialised machines that replicate hand-processing, hand-processing, replicate that machines specialised

7 6

(1813-1890 ). Spill agreed in 1864 to manufacture manufacture to 1864 in agreed Spill ).

Olympic Park, the brothers took early retirement. early took brothers the Park, Olympic

foul water. Abbey M Abbey water. foul ills, one of the ornate pumping pumping ornate the of one ills,

in the area. Using traditional techniques and over 20 20 over and techniques traditional Using area. the in

early form o form early f plastic invented by Alexander Parkes Parkes Alexander by invented plastic f

Stratford. Just before the start of development of the the of development of start the before Just Stratford.

and pumping stat pumping and ions across London to deal with the the with deal to London across ions

Panache was one of the many clothing manufacturers manufacturers clothing many the of one was Panache

became inte became rested in a material called ‘Parkesine’, an an ‘Parkesine’, called material a in rested

their arrival from Delhi in 1955, before moving out to to out moving before 1955, in Delhi from arrival their

pioneering sewage pioneering system with a network of sewers sewers of network a with system

Seamstress, Panache Outerwear Ltd, 2006 F

the Internati the onal Exhibition at Kensington and and Kensington at Exhibition onal

years. They started the business in Southall soon after after soon Southall in business the started They years. engineer Joseph B Joseph engineer azalegette designed and built a a built and designed azalegette

during the C the during rimean War. In 1862 Daniel Spill visited visited Spill Daniel 1862 In War. rimean

now relocated to Enfield. to relocated now The Singh brothers sold toys and party gifts for 40 40 for gifts party and toys sold brothers Singh The Members of Parlia of Members ment to the problem, the civil civil the problem, the to ment

sheets and c and sheets apes, which were supplied to the troops troops the to supplied were which apes,

curtains. In Stratford for 19 years, the company has has company the years, 19 for Stratford In curtains. 2007 River Thames carr Thames River ying the sewage upstream alerted alerted upstream sewage the ying

waterproof g waterproof oods were produced, including ground ground including produced, were oods

distributing home furnishings, especially lace and voile voile and lace especially furnishings, home distributing Messrs Singh, Directors, Lucky Wholesale Company, B the ‘Great Stink’ of Stink’ ‘Great the 1858, when the stench of the the of stench the when 1858,

cloth factory cloth , managed by his brother Daniel. Here Here Daniel. brother his by managed ,

1978. The firm specialises in manufacturing and and manufacturing in specialises firm The 1978.

contaminating the contaminating capital’s drinking water. Following Following water. drinking capital’s

Olympic site but failed to win a contract. a win to failed but site Olympic

At Hackney Hackney At 2 Wick George Spill founded a waterproof waterproof a founded Spill George Wick

Tyrone Textiles Ltd is a family business founded in in founded business family a is Ltd Textiles Tyrone

20,000 deaths fro deaths 20,000 m cholera caused by raw sewage sewage raw by caused cholera m

her colleagues wished to continue serving food on the the on food serving continue to wished colleagues her

Tyrone Textiles Ltd, 2006

healthiest place to place healthiest live. In 1854 there were almost almost were there 1854 In live.

Hackney Wi Hackney ck works. works. ck

beginning at 4 a.m every day for 13 years. She and and She years. 13 for day every a.m 4 at beginning

Tony Geere, Jyotindra Patel, Scott Cullen: stock takers, E

London in the mid the in London 6 -nineteenth century was not the the not was century -nineteenth

Carless truck Carless being loaded with petrol cans at the the at cans petrol with loaded being Tracey provided breakfast to the local workers workers local the to breakfast provided Tracey

trade name name trade ‘petrol’. This photograph c1950 shows the the shows c1950 photograph This ‘petrol’.

to Chelmsford in Essex. in Chelmsford to Centre, 2006 1956, competed h competed 1956, ere.

for the burge the for oning motor car industry was given the the given was industry car motor oning

craftsmen. The family-run business has now relocated relocated now has business family-run The craftsmen. s café, East End Tracey Manning, working men’ A meters steeplecha meters se at the Melbourne Olympics in in Olympics Melbourne the at se

spirit that C that spirit arless, Capel and Leonard finally provided provided finally Leonard and Capel arless,

5 4 Chris Brasher, who Brasher, Chris won gold for Britain in the 3,000 3,000 the in Britain for gold won

perfected its perfected refining techniques and the petroleum petroleum the and techniques refining

the record-breakin the g four-minute mile in July 1954, and and 1954, July in mile four-minute g

changed to to changed Carless, Capel and Leonard. The company company The Leonard. and Capel Carless,

Leyton where it w it where Leyton as re-laid. Roger Bannister, who ran ran who Bannister, Roger re-laid. as

which have closed or relocated. or closed have which

new partner new s entered the business and the name name the and business the entered s

athletics track was track athletics taken up and transported to to transported and up taken

entrepreneurial spirit of the diverse business communities in the Lower Lea Valley, many of of many Valley, Lea Lower the in communities business diverse the of spirit entrepreneurial became the became leading distiller in Britain. By 1872 1872 By Britain. in distiller leading

post-war Olympic Olympic post-war Games at Wembley in 1948, the the 1948, in Wembley at Games

refining the the refining newly imported American crude oil and and oil crude American imported newly

Davies and Debra Rapp captured pictures of the activities which portray the hard work and and work hard the portray which activities the of pictures captured Rapp Debra and Davies Eton Manor Athle Manor Eton tic Club, Leyton, c1955. After the the After c1955. Leyton, Club, tic

partnership partnership dissolved in 1870 Carless turned to to turned Carless 1870 in dissolved

ground and running track of the the of track running and ground sports former The 5

processing. On the eve of the development of the Olympic Park, photographers Marion Marion photographers Park, Olympic the of development the of eve the On processing.

shale oil and oil shale coal tar for use in lamps. When the the When lamps. in use for tar coal

demand of the str the of demand ikers. Carless and and Carless his company began to refine British British refine to began company his businesses such as scrap yards, light industrial manufacturing, textile production and food food and production textile manufacturing, industrial light yards, scrap as such businesses

for their stance th stance their for at the company conceded to every every to conceded company the at In the 1860 the In s, in partnership with William Blagden, Blagden, William with partnership in s, F

local East Enders and immigrants arriving in post-war London and wishing to set up small small up set to wishing and London post-war in arriving immigrants and Enders East local

women matchma women kers. Such was the public sympathy sympathy public the was Such kers. refiner of mineral oils in Hackney Wick. Wick. Hackney in oils mineral of refiner and distiller

A hundred years later, the area around Hackney Wick and Stratford proved attractive to to attractive proved Stratford and Wick Hackney around area the later, years hundred A to their plight, whi plight, their to ch provoked a strike by the 700 700 the by strike a provoked ch ene Carless set up a business as a a as business a up set Carless ene Eug 1859 In 1

D C 3 2

post-war athletes competed. athletes and furniture making. making. furniture and

north of of north leading leading many where Leyton, at Park Olympic the operating in a residential area – tanning, textile production, printing printing production, textile tanning, – area residential a in operating

plastic an plastic e area to the the to area e th in made was history Sporting petrol. d which to set up the sort of business that was not compatible with with compatible not was that business of sort the up set to which

on our m our on ive engines, engines, ive locomot matches, porcelain, world: odern lower than other parts of the city, and spacious sites available on on available sites spacious and city, the of parts other than lower

places w places had an impact impact an had have which goods produced factories here outer edges of the East End of London where land and rents were were rents and land where London of End East the of edges outer

are sites sites are trial in nature, nature, in trial indus are Many interest. historic special of originally established closer to the centre of London moved to the the to moved London of centre the to closer established originally

lympic Park Park lympic O the beneath, buried sometimes and ing, Surround From the mid-nineteenth century, many industries that were were that industries many century, mid-nineteenth the From

OF HISTORIC INTEREST INTEREST HISTORIC OF SITES PEOPLE, BUSINESS AND COMMUNITY AND BUSINESS PEOPLE,

A B 1

INTRODUCTION HACkNEY WICk TO TRINITY BUOY WHARF

The Olympic Park lies in the East End of London, north of the River Throughout the nineteenth century the excellent waterways were Thames and on the east side of the River Lea, which flows southward to used to transport goods, predominantly timber; many timber London’s Lea Valley: the Thames. This area, known as the Lower Lea Valley, was until recently merchants and saw millers built their premises close to the canal at a little-known and largely uninhabited landscape of wild vegetation Hackney Wick and Old Ford. The area became one of intense noisy, the Olympic Park story peppered with pylons, canals, locks, bridges and towpaths – mostly silent smelly activity where factories produced toxic and chemical products and still – a no-man’s land ripe for development. Yet it has a fascinating to supply London and the rest of the world: paint, varnish, printing ink, past that shaped the area, traces of which can still be seen, and which oil, gum, resins, soap and glue were all made in works lining the canals. are celebrated in this leaflet.

The Lower Lea Valley with two single locks built in the 1770s Not all the buildings were industrial. In to bypass part of the River Lea, and the the 1850s the North London Railway London’s River Lea rises on Leagrave Hertford Union Canal, opened in 1830 Line arrived in Hackney Wick, and from Common, Bedfordshire and flows about Maureen Dyson wins the 100 yards hurdles at Eton An Eton Manor athlete competing in the long jump between Hackney Cut and the Regent’s 1878 the Gas, Light and Coke Company fifty miles south until it meets the River Manor Athletics Ground, 1951 c1955 Canal. The Old Ford locks, a pair of laid out a small factory town with streets Thames. While the valley has a relatively locks that allowed boats to move in two lined with terraced houses, factories and small geographical footprint, it has left a English Heritage is the Government’s Acknowledgements directions at the same time, were built a school. The housing has gone but some huge industrial legacy, one that produced Three Mills at Bromley-by-Bow with the House Mill advisor on the historic environment in Text: Susie Barson, Dr Jim Lewis in 1865. The Lea and the canals around of the warehouses, stables and industrial (1776, listed grade I) and the miller’s house in the the technologies and inventions that have England. The role of the organisation is to Photographs: Damian Grady, Derek Old Ford are navigable waterways with buildings remain today within the Fish centre, and the Clock Mill (1817, listed grade II) shaped the modern world. ensure that the most important historic kendall, Marion Davies, Debra Rapp associated banks, towpaths and walls, Island Conservation Area. This protected buildings, sites and monuments are Many of the streams and channels were area – called Fish Island because the streets Editors: Dr Robin Taylor and Sarah many of which are now protected. identified, protected, valued, cared for and harnessed from the eleventh century to were named after freshwater fish: meed,S Enticknap, English Heritage Publishing enjoyed by the inhabitants of England and form transport routes and millstreams Dace, Monier, Bream and Roach – is now the country’s many visitors. English Heritage Map: James Gulliver Hancock to provide water power for the flour an artistic and creative hub, with artists’ aims to protect and promote England’s mills. Development accelerated when workshops accommodated in the former Design and production: Ledgard Jepson history and heritage, in all its diverse forms, the Navigation Improvement Act was factories whose workers once processed for future generations to enjoy, understand Archival images: Newham Heritage and passed in 1425, followed by a further rubber or made cardboard boxes. and appreciate for years to come. Archives; Bishopsgate Library, Bishopsgate Act of 1571 which encouraged the use South of the Olympic Park a handsome Institute; Vestry House Museum, London of the river as a major transport route. group of eighteenth- and nineteenth- For more information on the work HMS Warrior built in 1860 at the Thames Ironworks Borough of Waltham Forest; London During this period, the Lee Navigation century tide mills are located at Three Mills. of English Heritage please go to Borough of Hackney Archives; Petrochem Canal – 42 miles long – was created to The mills produced flour for the akersb of Buoy Wharf where, in 1852, the eminent www.english-heritage.org.uk Carless Limited speed up the progress of the boats. London, gin for the taverns and bacon scientist Michael Faraday oversaw the first If you would like this document in a for the Royal Navy. Further south is the experiments to illuminate the lighthouse © English Heritage 2012 At Old Ford, close to the earliest main different format, please contact our crossing place between London and Bromley-by-Bow gas plant, the site of by electricity. On the east bank, the Thames customer services department on Essex, the area was surrounded by marshy the gunpowder rocket factory of William Ironworks was located, which, in 1860, built telephone: 0870 333 1181 flood plain. Two canals were cut across Congreve II who provided rockets that the HMS Warrior, the world’s first seagoing Please remember to recycle this broadsheet were fired by the British on the mericansA ironclad battle cruiser. The Thames fax: 01793 414926 the marsh in the late eighteenth- and when you no longer need it. in 1812. Where the Lea meets the Ironworks later built the HMS Thunderer in early nineteen centuries. These were textphone: 01793 414878 Thames are two important sites. On the 1911, which fought in the battle of Jutland the Hackney Cut, a two-mile-long canal Old Bow Bridge with George Hodgson’s Bow Brewery to email: [email protected] Code 51769. Product PrintedPureprint by Limited. Group the right, with smoking chimneys west bank is the lighthouse of the Trinity during the First World War.