Part of the Lower Lea Valley, it is 6 miles (9.7 km) northeast of Charing Cross, and includes Maryland and East Village.

Stratford grew rapidly in the 19th century after the railway came to the area in 1839, forming part of the conurbation of London, similar to much of south-west Essex.

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 tree is thought to have stood in the vicinity of the modern Channel Sea rail junction, around 200 metres north-north-west of the London Aquatics Centre.

[3] In 1110 Matilda, wife of Henry I, ordered a distinctively bow-shaped (arched) bridge to be built over the River Lea, together with a causeway across the marshes along the line now occupied by Stratford High Street.

Nothing visible remains on the site, as after it dissolution by Henry VIII in 1538, local landowners took away much of the stone for their own buildings and the land was subsequently urbanised.

[2] A stone window and a carving featuring skulls – thought to have been over the door to the charnel house – remain in All Saints Church, West Ham (dating from about 1180).

Using a process that was patented in 1744, Edward Heylin and Thomas Frye operated a factory near Bow Bridge called "New Canton" to produce some of the first soft-paste porcelain to be made in the country.

[11] The Victorian era saw growth hugely accelerated by three major factors: the Metropolitan Buildings Act 1844, the arrival of the railway and the creation of the nearby Royal Docks.

Consequently, many of these activities were relocated to the banks of the river, and West Ham became one of Victorian Britain's major manufacturing centres for pharmaceuticals, chemicals, and processed foods.

[19] Around this time, the Stratford Shopping Centre was built, beginning efforts to guide the area through the process of transformation from a working-class industrial and transport hub to a retail and leisure destination for the contemporary age.

[20] Stratford began as a hamlet in the northwest part of the ancient parish of West Ham, as the area urbanised it expanded, increased in population and merged with neighbouring districts.

[25] In 1892–93, before the land was acquired by the local council, the open plot opposite West Ham Police Station, was let to Castle Swifts F.C.

[26] Directly to the south of the churchyard stands a 12.80-metre tall granite obelisk, which was erected in 1861 as a memorial to the Quaker philanthropist and abolitionist, Samuel Gurney (1766 to 1856).

The plinth carries two brass drinking fountain heads on opposite sides, with the inscription: IN REMEMBRANCE OF SAMUEL GURNEY / WHO DIED 5 June 1856 / ERECTED BY HIS FELLOW PARISHIONERS AND FRIENDS / 1861 / "When the ear heard him then it blessed him"[27] (a paraphrase from the Book of Job, Chapter 29 verse 11).

Designed by Lewis Angell and John Giles in the Italianate style with a 100-foot (30-metre) tall domed tower, Stratford Town Hall opened in 1869 as the public offices for the West Ham Local board of health.

[28] On 26 June 1982, the main part of the building was badly damaged by fire; after a painstaking reconstruction of the original features and refurbishment as a conference centre, it was reopened by the Queen in July 1986.

[29] The balcony of the Old Town Hall has provided the climax of victory celebrations for West Ham United FC, winning major trophies such as the FA Cup in 1980 and the UEFA Europa Conference League in 2023.

[34] Built in 1868, as part of the new London sewerage system by Sir Joseph Bazalgette, the building originally housed steam pumps and is a notable example of Italian style Gothic Revival architecture.

The older centre has a range of accessibly-priced stores, its indoor and outdoor market stalls, and the 'inshops' network of small retail outlets.

The Theatre Royal Stratford East was designed by architect James George Buckle, who was commissioned by the actor-manager Charles Dillon in 1884.

Stratford Circus is a contemporary performing arts venue that was designed by Levitt Bernstein architects and built with funding from the National Lottery which opened in 2001.

[47] Stratford has been used as a shooting location for numerous films, notably Sparrows Can't Sing (1963) and Bronco Bullfrog (1970), Batman Begins (2005) and Attack the Block (2011).

In addition, Birkbeck College, part of the University of London, has launched courses in the area, initially using space provided by UEL, with a view to constructing its own campus in Stratford.

[65] The station is served by several train operating companies: Stratford International, sited to the north-west, is on the High Speed 1 line from St Pancras to Kent.

Services link Stratford to Poplar, Canary Wharf, Lewisham, London City Airport, the Excel Centre, Beckton and Woolwich Arsenal.

[67] National Express run coaches from Stratford City bus station to Stansted Airport and destinations in East Anglia.

In a 2018 report, Leytonstone Road in Stratford recorded the highest percentage of Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) in roadside air of all monitoring sites in Newham, with an annual mean of 60%.

National Cycle Route 1 (NCN1) skirts around Stratford on its northwestern edge, running along the Hertford Union Canal and Lee Navigation towpaths.

NCN1 is a long cycle route between Dover, Kent, and the Shetland Islands, running in north London non-stop between the Greenwich Foot Tunnel and Waltham Abbey.