Stratford, London

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Stratford

Coordinates: 51.542339° N 0.001835° W
OS grid reference	TQ385845
London borough	Newham
Ceremonial county	Greater London
Region	London
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	LONDON
Postcode district	E15
Dial code	020
Police	Metropolitan
Fire	London
Ambulance	London
UK Parliament	West Ham
London Assembly	City and East
European Parliament	London
List of places: UK • England • London

Stratford, historically Stratford Langthorne, is a place in the London Borough of Newham in East London.

1 History
2 Today
3 Future
4 Things to do
5 Places of interest
6 Transport
7 Famous Names
8 External links

Until the arrival of the railways in 1839 much of Stratford was open contryside in the county of Essex, from 1889 to 1965 it was part of the County Borough of West Ham, which was counterminous with the ancient Parish of West Ham. With the formation of Greater London in 1965 Stratford became a part of the London Borough of Newham.

North of modern Stratford is Stratford New Town, initially called "Hudson Town" after George Hudson the railway entrepreneur, and it was the location of the Eastern Counties Railway's railway works at Temple Mills. It was closed in 1963, but a small depot still exists.

The church of St John in Stratford Broadway, designed by Edward Blore, contains in the churchyard the elaborate Martyrs' Memorial to those Essex protestants burnt in the Marian Persecutions.

Stratford is a major shopping centre and contains Newham's cultural quarter centred around the Theatre Royal Stratford East and Stratford Circus. Stratford station and adjacent bus station is a major transport hub.

Stratford will be the location of Stratford International station on the Channel Tunnel rail link and in 2012 the location of the main Olympic Park, which will contain a significant number of venues to be used in the 2012 Summer Olympics, including the Olympic Stadium, Aquatics Centre, and London Velopark.

Stratford has been a focus of regeneration for some years and as of 2006 the 73 hectare brownfield railway lands to the north of the town centre as far as Temple Mills are to be redeveloped in a multi-billion pound scheme called Stratford City. This will form a new purpose-built community of 5,000 homes, offices, retail spaces, schools, public spaces, municipal and other facilities. It is hoped that this will become a major metropolitan centre for East London. Part of Stratford City will serve as the Olympic Village. There are also plans for several residential and office skyscrapers to be built in the area, including a 55-storey tower designed by architects Allies and Morrison opposite Stratford station.

Stratford is in the London Borough of Newham, which has the fifth highest crime rate of any borough in London and, according to government indices, Newham is also the eleventh most "deprived" district in Britain. Ten years ago Newham was indexed as the second most deprived borough in Britain, which either shows that great strides in urban regeneration and social inclusion have taken place, or that a large-scale process of gentrification is underway.

Stratford also has trainspotting potential, with its DLR, Channel Tunnel rail link, mainline and underground transport services.

The Olympic Park walking tour allows tourists to tour London's future Olympic sites. However, visitors are advised to visit as soon as possible, as from July 2007, sites will start being closed off for remediation and redevelopment.

The Big Breakfast house is also located in Bow, adjacent to the Olympic Park site. It is privately owned, however visitors are able to walk by and view the property. The Big Brother UK house also used to exist at Three Mills Studios.