Bow Creek

Bow Creek is a tidal estuary where the River Lea meets the Thames in East London. It winds for 3.6 kilometres through low-lying land once known as Bromley Marsh. Trading estates and former gas works now line its banks, marking the creek’s long industrial past. The creek forms the boundary between the London Boroughs of Newham and Tower Hamlets. Below Bow Locks, its waters remain tidal, limiting navigation at low tide. The creek is part of the Bow Back Rivers, a network of waterways shaped by centuries of trade and engineering. The creek has been a key route since at least 1190, when bargemen supplied London during the Great Plague of 1665. In 1425, Parliament authorised improvements, making it one of Britain’s earliest navigated rivers. Engineers like John Smeaton surveyed the creek in 1765, proposing new cuts and locks to speed up trade. A bridge collapsed during construction in 1770, delaying the opening of a shorter route to Limehouse. By 1777, the widened channel linked Bow Creek directly to Limehouse Basin. Later upgrades in the 1930s and 2010s restored navigation for larger barges. Visitors today can walk along the creek’s banks or visit Bow Creek Ecology Park. The Iron Bridge, built in 1810, once spanned the creek near the modern A13 crossing. Its surviving abutments now support the Jubilee Bridge for pedestrians. Remnants of tide mills and shipyards recall the creek’s role in London’s trade and industry. The Prescott Channel, added in the 1930s, connects Bow Creek to the Bow Back Rivers. Views of the Thames and the Isle of Dogs frame the creek’s historic waters.