St. Paul's Churchyard, London - 020 7332 3456 Piccadilly Circus Underground - 0343 222 1234 visit@cityoflondon.gov.uk

Stratford is a district in the West Ham area of the London Borough of Newham, in East London, England.

Historically an agrarian settlement in the county of Essex, it was transformed into an industrial suburb following the introduction of the railway in 1839.

The late 20th Century was a period of severe economic decline, eventually reversed by regeneration associated with the 2012 Summer Olympics, for which Stratford's Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park was the principal venue.

Stratford is now East London's primary retail, cultural and leisure centre. It has also become the second most significant (after Canary Wharf) business location in the east of the capital.

Stratford’s early significance was as the point where the originally Roman road from Aldgate in the City, to Romford, Chelmsford and Colchester, crossed the River Lea. At that time the various branches of the river were tidal and unchannelised, while the marshes surrounding them had yet to be drained. The Lea valley formed a natural boundary between Essex on the eastern bank and Middlesex on the west, and was a formidable obstacle to overland trade and travel.

The name is first recorded in 1067 as Strætforda and means 'ford on a Roman road'. It is formed from Old English 'stræt' (in modern English 'street' - or paved way) and 'ford'. The former crossing lay at an uncertain location north of Stratford High Street.

The district of Old Ford in northern Bow - west of the Lea and now in Tower Hamlets – is named after the former crossing, while Bow itself was also initially named Stratford, after the same ford, and a variety of suffixes were used to distinguish the two distinct settlements.

The settlement to the east of the Lea was also known as Estratford referring to the location east of the other Stratford, Statford Hamme alluding to the location within the parish of West Ham, Abbei Stratford, referring to the presence of Stratford Langthorne Abbey and Stretford Langthorne after a distinctive thorn tree (probably a pollarded Hawthorn) which was mentioned in a charter of 958 AD.

The entire are now occupied by the Olympic Park was previously Temple Mills - a massive railway marshalling yard and rail works that built 1,702 locomotives; 5,500 passenger vehicles and 33,000 goods wagons. Temple Mills is the site of the replacement maintenance depot for all Eurostar sets in the UK. Located near Stratford International and on the edge of the Olympic Park, it replaced the North Pole depot over the course of late 2007, with operations to coincide with the opening of the new international terminal at St Pancras.

Temple Mills depot in the northen part of the site is designed to house eight train-roads. The overall dimensions of the 8-road shed are just under 450m long by 64m wide, with a floor to ceiling height of approximately 12m. High level walkways in the trusses provide access to the shed services and facilities.