View source for Lea Bridge

{{Short description|District of London, England}}
{{for|the place in Derbyshire|Lea Bridge, Derbyshire}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2015}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2015}}
{{Infobox UK place
| country                   = England
| map_type                  = Greater London
| region                    = London
| population                = 29,710
| population_ref            = (Both Lea Bridge wards 2011 Census)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=13689110&c=Lea+Bridge&d=14&e=62&g=6338881&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&o=362&m=0&r=1&s=1476872345984&enc=1|title= Waltham Forest Ward population 2011|access-date=19 October 2016|publisher=Office for National Statistics |work=Neighbourhood Statistics}}</ref>
| official_name             = Lea Bridge
| static_image_name         = Middlesex Filter Beds Weir-Head.jpg
| static_image_caption      = Below Lea Bridge, the flow of the river continues over the head of the [[Middlesex Filter Beds Weir]]. [[Hackney Cut]] continues the navigation to the right. The island between contains a nature reserve in the former filter beds.
| london_borough            = Hackney
| constituency_westminster  = [[Hackney North and Stoke Newington (UK Parliament constituency)|Hackney North and Stoke Newington]]
| post_town                 = LONDON
| postcode_district         = E5, E10
| postcode_area             = E
| dial_code                 = 020
| os_grid_reference         = TQ355865
| coordinates               = {{coord|51.5621|-0.0456|display=inline,title}}
| charingX_distance_mi      = 7
| charingX_direction        = SW
| london_borough1           = Waltham Forest
| constituency_westminster1 = [[Leyton and Wanstead (UK Parliament constituency)|Leyton and Wanstead]]
}}

'''Lea Bridge''' is a district in the [[London Borough of Hackney]] and the [[London Borough of Waltham Forest]] in [[London]], [[England]]. It lies 7 miles (11.3&nbsp;km) northeast of [[Charing Cross]].

The area it takes its name from a bridge built over the [[River Lea]] in either 1745 – or sometime after 1757 – and the [[Lea Bridge Road]] which leads through the area and across the bridge. The bridge also gives its name to a ward in Waltham Forest ([[Lea Bridge (Waltham Forest ward)|Lea Bridge]]) on the eastern, [[Leyton]], bank of the river, and to a ward in Hackney on the Western side of the river, also called Lea Bridge ward. The boundary between the two boroughs runs down the middle of the river at this point.

Within Hackney, [[Lea Bridge Road]] forms the customary boundary between [[Upper Clapton|Upper]] and [[Lower Clapton]].

==History==
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = {{visible anchor|Jeremy's Ferry Bridge, River Lee Act 1778}}
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of Great Britain
| long_title            = An Act to continue and enlarge the Term and Powers of an Act, made in the Thirtieth Year of the Reign of King George the Second, for building a Bridge over the River Lea, at or near a Place called Jeremy's Ferry; and for making, repairing and widening Roads, from thence into the great Roads at Snaresbrook, in the County of Essex, and at Clapton, in the County of Middlesex.
| year                  = 1778
| citation              = [[18 Geo. 3]]. c. 10
| territorial_extent    = [[Great Britain]]
| royal_assent          = 6 March 1778
| commencement          = 20 November 1777{{efn|Start of session.}}
| repeal_date           = 1 January 1827
| repealing_legislation = [[Metropolis Roads Act 1826]]
| related_legislation   = 
| status                = Repealed
| original_text         = https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=FcAuAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA11-IA44
| collapsed             = yes
}}
In 1582 ''Mill Fields Lane'' ran from [[Upper Clapton|Clapton]] to ''Jeremy's Ferry'' in the [[Leyton Marshes]]. At the same spot a timber bridge was built in either 1745,<ref>[http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=22693 'Hackney: Communications', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 10: Hackney (1995), pp. 4-10] Date accessed: 1 November 2006</ref> or sometime after 1757.<ref>'Leyton: Introduction', in A History of the County of Essex: Volume 6, ed. W R Powell (London, 1973), pp. 174-184. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/essex/vol6/pp174-184 [accessed 27 July 2021].</ref> After this, the road became known as ''Lea Bridge Road'', with a tollgate at the Clapton end. A toll house was built on the west bank of the river in 1757, and the bridge rebuilt in iron in 1820&ndash;1. Tolls continued to be levied until 1872.{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}}

[[Leyton Orient F.C.|Clapton Orient]] played at the [[Lea Bridge Stadium]] between 1930 and 1937 before moving to [[Brisbane Road]]. The stadium was also used for [[Motorcycle speedway|speedway]] and was the home track of the [[Lea Bridge (speedway)|Lea Bridge speedway team]]. It was demolished in the 1970s and a housing estate built on the site.

==Local area==
There are few crossing points for the Lea Marshes. The nearest major river crossing to the south is at [[Hackney Wick]] and to the north at [[Tottenham Hale]].

The area contains large amounts of open space, dominated by the Millfields [[recreation ground]]s, one of the largest parks in Hackney, which in 2023 was awarded the [[Green Flag Award]] to mark the high standard of the park environment and its maintenance.<ref>{{Cite web |author-link=Green Flag Award |title=Millfields Park |url=https://www.greenflagaward.org/park-summary/?park=2534 |access-date=2024-07-29 |website=Green Flag Award}}</ref> Along the southern border of the park sits the former coal-fired [[Hackney Power Station|Millfields power station]], now used as electrical sub-stations on the London Ring, and recently upgraded.<ref>{{Cite web |author-link=National Grid (Great Britain) |title=North London Reinforcement Project {{!}} National Grid ET |url=https://www.nationalgrid.com/electricity-transmission/network-and-infrastructure/infrastructure-projects/north-london-reinforcement |access-date=2024-07-29 |website=National Grid}}</ref> This was built in 1901, well before the creation of the [[National Grid (UK)|National Grid]] in 1938, a period when power had to be generated near to the consumer. It provided electric street lighting throughout the then [[Metropolitan Borough of Hackney]].

[[File:Princess of wales lea bridge 1.jpg|thumb|left|The Princess of Wales pub from Lea Bridge (October 2005)|219x219px]]
Lea Bridge gives ready access to the lower reaches of the extensive [[Lee Valley Park]], which stretches for about {{convert|42|km|mi|1}} on both banks of the river. Next to the south side of the bridge is a [[pub]], the "Princess of Wales" and a Grade *II listed Victorian Old Schoolhouse, built in 1841,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Victorian era restored at Clapton schoolhouse – Eastlondonlines |url=https://www.eastlondonlines.co.uk/2012/02/victorian-learning-restored-at-leabridge-schoolhouse/ |access-date=2024-07-29 |website=www.eastlondonlines.co.uk}}</ref> which provided free education for the children of "transient boatmen and bargees",<ref>{{Cite web |title=At The Old Schoolhouse {{!}} Spitalfields Life |url=https://spitalfieldslife.com/2018/07/12/at-the-old-schoolhouse/ |access-date=2024-07-29 |language=en}}</ref> now flats. To the south are the [[Hackney Marshes]], and beyond Leyton Marsh to the north are the [[Walthamstow Marshes]] and Nature Reserve. Also to the south is the [[Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park]], site of the [[2012 Summer Olympics|2012 Olympic Games]].

Below the bridge, the river flows over the [[Middlesex Filter Beds Weir]], marking the boundary with [[Leyton]] and providing the supply for the former [[East London Waterworks Company]]. The old Middlesex Filter Beds have been converted into a nature reserve, and on the Leyton side the corresponding Essex Filter Beds are now a reserve for birds.<ref>{{Cite web |title=WaterWorks Centre nature reserve and field & Middlesex Filter Beds {{!}} Lee Valley Regional Park |url=https://www.visitleevalley.org.uk/waterworks-nature-reserve |access-date=2024-07-29 |website=Visit Lee Valley |language=en}}</ref> The Lee Navigation continues south in an artificial channel known as '[[Hackney Cut]]', to the next lock at [[Old Ford Lock|Old Ford]] (about 1.7 miles), where the natural channel rejoins the Navigation after its {{convert|2|mi|km|1}} meander towards Leyton.

To the North of the river is an ice rink, which got a planning application granted (in October 2020) to demolish and replace with a double pad ice rink and other leisure facilities. There is also Oxbow Island, created by the meandering of the river, along the north bank, which is one of the remaining areas of wild land and wildlife in the area and is the responsibility of the [[Canal & River Trust]].

== Geography ==
{{Further|Geography of London}}

==Education==
{{See also|List of schools in the London Borough of Hackney|List of schools in the London Borough of Waltham Forest}}

==Transport==
[[File:Lea Bridge Station re-opening after 31 years (26432053793).jpg|thumb|Lea Bridge Railway Station when it reopened in 2016.]]
The local station for Lea Bridge is [[Lea Bridge railway station]] on the [[Lea Valley lines]]. Also close by is [[Clapton railway station]] on the Liverpool Street to Chingford line. Lea Bridge Road is well served by buses having seven bus routes in total, two of which are night routes, and one 24-hour route. Buses in the area include routes [[London Buses route 55|55]], 56, 58 and W19, with the addition of [[Night buses in London|night routes]] N38, N55 and 24-hour operated route 158.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://content.tfl.gov.uk/bus-route-maps/lea-bridge-road-a4-0716.pdf|title=Buses from Lea Bridge Road|website=Transport for London|access-date=30 April 2019}}</ref> More recently, there is now a 308 bus which comes from Lea Bridge roundabout and turns into Chatsworth Road, going to Stratford.

From Lea Bridge roundabout intersection with Upper and Lower Clapton roads, a number of buses travel south through Hackney, and to the city, and to the north through Stamford Hill and Stoke Newington.

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.leevalleypark.org.uk/ Lee Valley Park]
* [http://www.leevalleypark.org.uk/en/fe/fileloader/load_docs.asp?filePathPrefix=3559&fileLanguage=e Lea Bridge Road Nature Reserves Leaflet (PDF)]
* [http://www.leevalleypark.org.uk/en/fe/fileloader/load_docs.asp?filePathPrefix=3560&fileLanguage=e Lea Bridge Road Nature Reserves Map (PDF)]

{{LB Hackney}}{{LB Waltham Forest}}
{{Geographic Location
|title     = Neighbouring areas of London
|Northwest = [[Stamford Hill]]
|North     = [[Upper Clapton]]
|Northeast = [[Walthamstow]]
|West      = [[Stoke Newington]]
|Centre    = Lea Bridge
|East      = [[Leyton]]
|Southwest = [[Hackney Central]]
|South     = [[Lower Clapton]]
|Southeast = [[Hackney Marshes]]
}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Districts of the London Borough of Hackney]]
[[Category:Areas of London]]