Fish Island
| Fish Island | |
| Middlesex | |
|---|---|
 View down Dace Road, Fish Island | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | TQ372841 |
| Location: | 51°32’20"N, 0°1’26"W |
| Data | |
| Post town: | London |
| Postcode: | E3, E20 |
| Dialling code: | 020 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Tower Hamlets |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Bethnal Green and Bow |
Fish Island is a distinctive area within the urban sprawl of south-eastern Middlesex. Despite its name, this is not an island, nor indeed a fish, but a developed area isolated by a main road, a river and a railway, the shape within these confines resembling a fish. The name has become understood locally and has been adopted in official publications. The river bounding the site, the Lea, marks Middlesex's border with Essex.
The area is a conservation area, with many of its buildings considered important to Britain's industrial heritage, though there are no listed buildings in the area.[1]
During the planning for the 2012 Olympic Games, a plan was published to demolish Fish Island to create a giant car park for the short duration of the Games. This was opposed by the many businesses which operated in Fish Island and their employees: permanent destruction of thriving businesses for a one-month event was not consistent with the alleged aim of the Games developments, to increase employment prospects locally. Eventually the car park was moved to Victoria Park.
Regeneration and construction projects in Fish Island from 2016 onwards have caused the area to be referred to as "the new Shoreditch", in reference to the gentrification of that neighbourhood in the late 1990s.[2][3][4]
Nearby Hackney Wick has a similar character to Fish Island and the two are spoken of together.
Location
The area of Fish Island runs along the River Lea and borders the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Essex 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 along the Hackney Wick railway station.[5]
History
Early history
Pye Road, the main Roman road linking London to Colchester, 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.[6] Roman remains are abundant. [6] Although the nature of Roman settlement is undetermined, 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 "it produced large quantities of Roman pottery, coins, burials, ditches, pits and animal bones, particularly of cattle".[6]
In the Domesday Book of 1086, the wider area is known Old Ford and is listed as part of the Manor of Stepney and remained as such until at least the early 1300s.[6]
At some point the Roman road and crossing will have fallen into disrepair,[6] 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.[1][7][6][8][9]
There are few historical references of the area from the Middle Ages and early modern period. The first known map of the area, from 1665, shows what is now Fish Island as an undeveloped marshland only sparsely populated.[6]
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[1][6][9] which precipitated the shift from rural to industrial.[7] 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.[1] Toxic processing plants for commodities such as crude oil and coal tar were set up along the Hertford Union Canal. These factories were soon followed by others using these materials to produce things like printing ink, rubber and dry cleaning. The waterways were a vital part of this industry, allowing for raw materials and finished products to be moved to and from the docks.[1][7][8] It was at one point London's largest waterside industrial area.[1]
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. 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 (separate company). They instead used the land to build a factory town comprising a series of small houses and multi-storey factories 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.[1][7][8][10]
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.[1][7][8] 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.[7][8][11]
During Second World War, Fish Island suffered extensive bomb damage with many of the buildings either completely destroyed or seriously damaged.[1][11]
Post-war and recent regeneration
Following the War, the area changed greatly as local industries shifted to "low employment uses", such as waste disposal, timber yards and warehouses, 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 in nature and was virtually devoid of other uses,[1][7][8][11] with many waste disposal sites and warehouses.
During the 1990s, the area saw an expansion of new creative industries 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.[2]
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. Local councils identified Fish Island, together with Hackney Wick, as key areas for regeneration as part of the development for the Olympic Games.[5][7][9] As a result, the area saw the construction of a number of large residential and mixed use buildings, with more planned for completion in later years.[2][8][11][12] This regeneration of the area and the associated increase in living cost and property prices led many to draw parallels with the gentrification of Shoreditch in the late 1990s, with the Daily Telegraph calling Fish Island "the new Shoreditch" in 2016.[2][3][4]
Outside links
- Mapping the Change: Old Ford Voices & Island Memories at Tower Hamlets Borough Council 'Idea'
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 "Fish Island Conservation Area". November 4, 2009. https://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/Documents/Planning-and-building-control/Development-control/Conservation-areas/Fish-Island-compressed-.pdf.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Fraser, Isabelle (October 2, 2016). "Welcome to Fish Island, the new Shoreditch". https://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/house-prices/welcome-to-fish-island-the-new-shoreditch/.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Wadeson, Oliver (January 15, 2018). "Fish Island might just be London's latest hipster paradise". https://www.metro.news/fish-island-might-just-be-londons-latest-hipster-paradise/898773/.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lawford, Melissa (February 9, 2018). "Help to Buy replaces 'bank of mum and dad' in Hackney Wick". https://www.ft.com/content/f0092a54-00f7-11e8-9e12-af73e8db3c71.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Fish Island Area Action Plan, 2012". September 2012. https://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/Documents/Planning-and-building-control/Strategic-Planning/Local-Plan/Fish_Island_Area_Action_PLan_2012.pdf.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 6.7 Stephenson, Angus (January 2014). "Bridging the Lea: Ecavations at Crown Wharf, Dace Road, Tower Hamlets". http://www.lamas.org.uk/images/documents/Transactions59/039-060%20Crown%20Wharf.pdf.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7 Bevan, Robert (January 2014). "Fish Island and Hackney Wick South - Conservation Area Appraisal & Draft Management Guidelines". https://www.queenelizabetholympicpark.co.uk/~/media/lldc/conservation%20areas/caa_mg_fihws_140127lldc.pdf.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 Agnew, Megan (June 20, 2018). "The fishy tale of Fish Island". https://romanroadlondon.com/history-fish-island/.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 "Hackney Wick and Fish Island - Baseline and Key Issues Report". April 2008. https://www.hackney.gov.uk/media/3271/Hackney-Wick-and-Fish-Island-baseline-and-key-issues-report-April-2008/pdf/Hackney_Wick_and_Fish_Island_Baseline_and_Key_Issues_Report_April_2008.
- ↑ Bridget Cherry; Charles O'Brien; Nikolaus Pevsner (2005). London: East. Yale University Press. p. 626. ISBN 978-0-300-10701-2. https://books.google.com/books?id=EW7k2KA4UkwC&pg=PA626.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 Bird, Edmund (November 2009). "Design for London - Heritage Scoping Report for Hackney Wick". http://www.hackneywicked.co.uk/pdf/Hackney-Wick-Heritage-Scoping-report-Edmund-Bird.pdf.
- ↑ "Fish Island, Tower Hamlets". http://hidden-london.com/gazetteer/fish-island/.