Fish Island is an area of east
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, England. It is one of 58 designated
conservation areas
Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewood ...
in the
London Borough of Tower Hamlets
The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London boroughs, borough in London, England. Situated on the north bank of the River Thames and immediately east of the City of London, the borough spans much of the traditional East End of London and ...
, with many of its buildings considered important to Britain's industrial heritage, though there are no
listed buildings
In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...
in the area.
Regeneration and construction projects in Fish Island from 2016 onwards have caused the area to be referred to as "the new
Shoreditch
Shoreditch is an area in London, England and is located in the London Borough of Hackney alongside neighbouring parts of Tower Hamlets, which are also perceived as part of the area due to historic ecclesiastical links. Shoreditch lies just north ...
", in reference to the
gentrification
Gentrification is the process whereby the character of a neighborhood changes through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents (the "gentry") and investment. There is no agreed-upon definition of gentrification. In public discourse, it has ...
of that neighbourhood in the late 1990s.
Nearby
Hackney Wick
Hackney Wick is a neighbourhood in East London, England. The area forms the south-eastern part of the district of Hackney, and also of the wider London Borough of Hackney. Adjacent areas of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, namely Fish I ...
has a similar character to Fish Island and this sometimes leads to Fish Island being described as part of Hackney Wick, though they are in different boroughs.
Fish Island, despite its name, is not an actual
island
An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...
.
Location
The area of Fish Island runs along the
river Lea
The River Lea ( ) is in the East of England and Greater London. It originates in Bedfordshire, in the Chiltern Hills, and flows southeast through Hertfordshire, along the Essex border and into Greater London, to meet the River Thames at Bow Cr ...
and borders the
Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park
Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park is a sporting complex and public park in Stratford, Hackney Wick, Leyton and Bow, in east London. It was purpose-built for the 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics, situated adjacent to the Stratford City devel ...
to the east.
It is separated from
Bow to the west by the
A12 and its southern border is the intersection of the A12, the river Lea and the train tracks to and from Stratford.
According to the council's Fish Island Area Action plan, the area extends north past the
Hertford Union Canal to border with the
London Borough of Hackney
The London Borough of Hackney ( ) is a London boroughs, London borough in Inner London, England. The historical and administrative heart of Hackney is Mare Street, which lies north-east of Charing Cross. The borough is named after Hackney, Lond ...
along the
Hackney Wick railway station
Hackney Wick is a station on the Mildmay line of the London Overground, located in the district of Hackney Wick, East London. Situated in Travelcard Zone 2, the station was opened on 12 May 1980 by British Rail as part of the Crosst ...
.
The area of the Olympic park belonging to Tower Hamlets is also considered as part of Fish Island by the council, making it the north-easternmost part of the borough.
History
Early history
Although it is thought the area has had
human settlements
In geography, statistics and archaeology, a settlement, locality or populated place is a community of people living in a particular place. The complexity of a settlement can range from a minuscule number of dwellings grouped together to th ...
since
pre-historic
Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use o ...
times, evidence of human activity prior to the
Roman period
The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...
is sparse.
Evidence from the Roman period, however, is abundant.
The exact nature of the Roman settlements is undetermined, though there is evidence that the area was occupied until the end of the 4th or 5th century and, according to the
London and Middlesex Archaeological Society
The London and Middlesex Archaeological Society (LAMAS) is a society founded in 1855 for the study of the archaeology and English local history, local history of the City of London and the historic county of Middlesex. It also takes an interest i ...
(LAMAS) "it produced large quantities of
Roman pottery
Pottery was produced in enormous quantities in ancient Rome, mostly for utilitarian purposes. It is found all over the former Roman Empire and beyond. Monte Testaccio is a huge waste mound in Rome made almost entirely of broken amphorae used fo ...
,
coins
A coin is a small object, usually round and flat, used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order to facilitate trade. They are most often issued by ...
, burials, ditches, pits and animal bones, particularly of cattle".
Pye Road
Pye Road is a Roman road running from the capital of the Iceni at Venta Icenorum (Caistor St Edmund near Norwich) to the original Roman provincial capital and legionary base at Camulodunum (Colchester). The road was later extended, connecting it ...
, the main Roman road linking London to
Colchester
Colchester ( ) is a city in northeastern Essex, England. It is the second-largest settlement in the county, with a population of 130,245 at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 Census. The demonym is ''Colcestrian''.
Colchester occupies the ...
, passed through the area and would likely have crossed the river Lea at what is now Fish Island, though the nature or exact location of the crossing point is not fully understood.
Immediately after the Roman period, little is known of what became of the local settlements. In the
Domesday Book
Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...
of 1086, the wider area is known
Old Ford
Old Ford is an area in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets that is named after the natural ford which provided a crossing of the River Lea.
History Administration and boundaries
Historically, Old Ford was a cluster of houses and a mill, around ...
and is listed as part of
the Manor of Stepney and remained as such until at least the early 1300s.
At some point the Roman road and crossing will have fallen into disrepair,
though the area remained the main crossing point between London and Essex until the early 12th century, at which point a stone bridge was constructed approximately half a mile downstream.
There are few historical references of the area from the
medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...
and
post-medieval periods. The first known map of the area, from 1665, shows what is now Fish Island as an undeveloped
marshland
In ecology, a marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous plants rather than by woody plants.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p More in general ...
only sparsely populated.
Industrialisation
In the late 18th and early 19th century, the
Hackney Cut and the
Hertford Union Canal were cut into the local marshes and a series of railway lines were established through the area
which precipitated the shift from
rural
In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry are typically desc ...
to
industrial.
Crown Wharf, the oldest industrial site in the area, was developed from 1853 onwards, with a wallpaper works located there by E.M. Coley and an ironworks subsequently being established next door.
Toxic processing plants for commodities such as
crude oil
Petroleum, also known as crude oil or simply oil, is a naturally occurring, yellowish-black liquid chemical mixture found in geological formations, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons. The term ''petroleum'' refers both to naturally occurring u ...
and
coal tar
Coal tar is a thick dark liquid which is a by-product of the production of coke and coal gas from coal. It is a type of creosote. It has both medical and industrial uses. Medicinally it is a topical medication applied to skin to treat psoria ...
were set up along the Hertford Union Canal. These factories were soon followed by others using these materials to produce things like
printing ink
Ink is a gel, sol, or solution that contains at least one colorant, such as a dye or pigment, and is used to color a surface to produce an image, text, or design. Ink is used for drawing or writing with a pen, brush, reed pen, or quill. ...
,
rubber
Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds.
Types of polyisoprene ...
and
dry cleaning
Dry cleaning is any cleaning process for clothing and textiles using a solvent other than water. Clothes are instead soaked in a water-free liquid solvent (usually non-polar, as opposed to water which is a Solvent#Solvent classifications, polar ...
. The waterways were a vital part of this industry, allowing for raw materials and finished products to be moved to and from the docks.
It was at one point London's largest waterside industrial area.
In 1865, a 30-acre plot of surplus railway land in the area was purchased by the Imperial Gas Light & Co. in order to establish a new
gasworks
A gasworks or gas house is an industrial plant for the production of flammable gas. Many of these have been made redundant in the developed world by the use of natural gas, though they are still used for storage space.
Early gasworks
Coal ...
. However, a decision was made to set up the new works in a different location and so the land was sold on to the
Gas Light and Coke Company
The Gas Light and Coke Company (also known as the Westminster Gas Light and Coke Company, and the Chartered Gas Light and Coke Company), was a company that made and supplied coal gas and Coke (fuel), coke. The headquarters of the company were l ...
(separate company). They instead used the land to build a
factory town comprising a series of small houses and multi-storey
factories
A factory, manufacturing plant or production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery, where workers manufacture items or operate machines which process each item into another. Th ...
and a network of new roads. These roads were given the names of fresh water fish (Dace, Bream, Roach) and, as the local area had been known to residents as "the Island", it eventually became known as Fish Island.
By the end of the 19th century, Fish Island had become an area of intense and diverse industrial activity, often dangerous or noxious in nature.
At this time the area had a population of approximately 6,000 inhabitants, mostly consisting of local workers and their families and although local living conditions were improving towards the beginning of the 20th century, most residents of Fish Island lived in poverty and squalor in makeshift accommodation.
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, Fish Island suffered extensive
bomb damage with many of the buildings either completely destroyed or seriously damaged.
Post-war and recent regeneration

Following the war, the area changed greatly as local industries shifted to "low employment uses", such as
waste disposal
Waste management or waste disposal includes the processes and actions required to manage waste from its inception to its final Waste disposal, disposal. This includes the Waste collection, collection, transport, Sewage treatment, treatm ...
,
timber yards and
warehouses
A warehouse is a building for storing goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial parks on the outskirts of cities, to ...
, and much of the population left the area. Houses and local amenities were cleared and converted to industrial use. As a result, by the 1970s, the area became almost exclusively
light industrial
Light industry are industries that usually are less capital-intensive than heavy industries and are more consumer-oriented than business-oriented, as they typically produce smaller consumer goods. Most light industry products are produced fo ...
in nature and was virtually devoid of other uses,
with many waste disposal sites and warehouses.
During the 1990s, the area saw an expansion of new
creative industries
The creative industries refers to a range of economic activities which are concerned with the generation or exploitation of knowledge and information. They may variously also be referred to as the cultural industries (especially in Europe) or the ...
and an influx of artists, who converted old and dilapidated warehouses into studios or lofts. It is claimed that the area had the highest density of artists in Europe in the 1990s and Fish Island, together with neighbouring Hackney Wick, became better known for its local art scene than its industry.
In the early 2000s, Fish Island received new attention given its proximity to the site of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, the venue for the London
2012 Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
. Local councils identified Fish Island, together with Hackney Wick, as key areas for regeneration as part of the development for the Olympic Games.
As a result, the area saw the construction of a number of large residential and
mixed use
Mixed use is a type of Real estate development, urban development, urban design, urban planning and/or a zoning classification that blends multiple Land use, uses, such as residential, commercial, cultural, institutional, or entertainment, into ...
buildings, with more planned for completion in later years.
This regeneration of the area and the associated increase in living cost and property prices led many to draw parallels with the
gentrification
Gentrification is the process whereby the character of a neighborhood changes through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents (the "gentry") and investment. There is no agreed-upon definition of gentrification. In public discourse, it has ...
of
Shoreditch
Shoreditch is an area in London, England and is located in the London Borough of Hackney alongside neighbouring parts of Tower Hamlets, which are also perceived as part of the area due to historic ecclesiastical links. Shoreditch lies just north ...
in the late 1990s, with the Daily Telegraph calling Fish Island "the new Shoreditch" in 2016.
Governance
Fish Island falls within the parliamentary constituency of
Bethnal Green and Bow
Bethnal Green and Bow was a United Kingdom constituencies, constituency in Greater London, represented in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons of the UK Parliament from 2010 until its abolition for the 2024 United Kingdom ...
within the
London Borough of Tower Hamlets
The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London boroughs, borough in London, England. Situated on the north bank of the River Thames and immediately east of the City of London, the borough spans much of the traditional East End of London and ...
. The electoral ward it falls within is the Bow East ward.
In popular culture
Fish Island has a long tradition as a home to artists and art spaces.
In 2009 the Island, and adjoining Hackney Wick, was found to have "one of the highest densities of fine artists, designers and artisans in Europe", with around 600 artists' studios in the area.
The London Centre for Book Arts has been based in the Britannia Works building, part of
Space Studios, since 2012. The centre promotes book arts and artist-led publishing, with printing, binding and publishing facilities. The Heath Studio, a premier venue and art gallery, photography, fashion, commercial, and film projects. Dating back to 1853, the site originally housed a wallpaper works, followed by a paper staining operation in the 1860s. In 1873, it was taken over by Fredrick Layton Contractor, and by 1889, it became home to a Construction Ironwork Company, leading to its designation as the Iron Foundry from 1893.
In 2014, a partnership between tech hub The Trampery and the
Barbican Centre
The Barbican Centre is a performing arts centre in the Barbican Estate of the City of London, England, and the largest of its kind in Europe. The centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings a ...
, led to the establishment of Fish Island Labs, a mentored art and technology project, which allowed 40 to 50 participants to share a low-cost workspace for ten months.
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...
’s ''
The Big Breakfast
''The Big Breakfast'' is a British breakfast light entertainment television programme that was broadcast on Channel 4 from 1992 to 2002, and as a revival from 2021 to 2022. The show had various presenters, starting with Chris Evans (presenter), ...
'' was broadcast from the Lock Keeper's Cottage at Fish Island from 1992 to 2002.
Nearest places
*
Bow
*
Hackney Wick
Hackney Wick is a neighbourhood in East London, England. The area forms the south-eastern part of the district of Hackney, and also of the wider London Borough of Hackney. Adjacent areas of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, namely Fish I ...
*
Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park
Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park is a sporting complex and public park in Stratford, Hackney Wick, Leyton and Bow, in east London. It was purpose-built for the 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics, situated adjacent to the Stratford City devel ...
*
Stratford
*
Old Ford
Old Ford is an area in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets that is named after the natural ford which provided a crossing of the River Lea.
History Administration and boundaries
Historically, Old Ford was a cluster of houses and a mill, around ...
*
Victoria Park
References
External links
Mapping the Change: Old Ford Voices & Island Memoriesat Tower Hamlets Borough Council 'Idea'.
{{LB Tower Hamlets
Areas of London
Old Ford