Bow Creek is the two and a half mile extension of the river Lea leading to the Thames at Leamouth and Trinity Buoy Wharf, it is one of the oldest navigations in the country with records dating back to 1190. This was a busy and bustling waterway, there were numerous barges trading with mills, warehouses, and factories along the river bank. In 1665 the river bargemen were given the right to access the Thames without help from the Thames Lightermen, a great honour, in recognition of the bravery they had shown supplying food to London during the Plague.
Stratford Langthorne Abbey, founded in 1135, acquired Three Mills some time in the 12th or 13th centuries, and the local area became known by the name. By the time Henry VIII dissolved the abbey in the 1530s, the mills were grinding flour for the bakers of Stratford-atte-Bow, who were celebrated for the quality of their bread and who supplied the huge City of London market.
In 1588, one of the mills was even described as a "gunpowder mill", showing the site's rich history and diverse uses. During the 16th century, the three mills were reduced to two (which today are the House Mill and the Clock Mill). In the 17th century, the mills were put to excellent use, grinding grain to be used in the production of alcohol. The mills became a major supplier to the alcohol trade and gin palaces of London.
The House Mill was built in 1776, but a fire destroyed it. It was quickly rebuilt by Daniel Bisson. It's a grade I listed building.[2]The Clock Mill was rebuilt by Philip Metcalfe between 1815 and 1817, and the old clock and bell were used again. And let's not forget the windmill that stood strong until around 1840! The House Mill continued to operate until 1940 and the Clock Mill until 1952, making it a true historical treasure.
In 1777 the Limehouse cut from the Bow tidal gates to the Limehouse basin was opened giving access to the Thames without having to go down the meandering Bow creek round the Isle of Dogs.
In 1850 there was a thriving fishing community with a rowdy reputation at the mouth of Bow Creek catching shrimps, unfortunately it was disbanded in 1935 when Bow Creek was subject to a slum clearance order.
In 1887 Buffalo Bill set up his “Wild West spectacular” on the banks of the Lea which became a huge countrywide success.
By 1900 Bow Creek continued to be used servicing the warehouses and businesses along its banks but as industry changed and the Limehouse cut became more popular the river was in less demand.
Distruction by the Blitz and decline of the waterways nationally saw the creek fall into disuse, pollution, and underinvestment. By 1968 the Bow Back Rivers had fallen into such disrepair they were classified as “remainder waterways” in the British Waterways Act.
The advent of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link at nearby Stratford and the construction Olympic games site in 2012 saw a brief regeneration of Bow Creek with barges being used once more to move construction materials and machinery.
Today the value of Bow Creek like many other waterways has been readdressed seeing the river as a haven for birds, green spaces and recreation. Organisations such as Thames 21, The Lea Valley Trust, Surge co-operative, The canal and river trust, and the London Borough of Newham are cleaning up the river giving improved access to wild life habitats.
Where the warehouses and factories once stood there are now high-rise dwellings, thriving new communities, and the legacy of the Olympic site,
Along the river banks of Bow Creek are still to be found the docks and quays and camp sheds that once served the multitude of barges that proudly plied their trade on this, one of London’s oldest waterways. It is on one of these quays, once used by barges coming in from the Thames to the factories and warehouses, later used by barges tying up whilst working on the Olympic site, that we now want to moor.
