Samson

Martyrs Memorial

Stratford New Town · 0.6 miles

A 19th-century monument in Stratford New Town marks the site where a group of eleven men and two women were executed for their Protestant convictions during the Marian persecutions of 1556. The stone column stands in St John’s churchyard on Stratford Broadway and was raised in 1879 to honour those who suffered at the hands of the authorities. Designed by J T Newman, the structure comprises an ornate hexagonal shaft topped by a twelve-sided spire that reaches approximately 65 feet. One face bears a terra-cotta relief panel that reproduces an illustration from Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, while the remaining sides list the names of the thirteen individuals, together with Elizabeth Warne, Stephen Harwood, Hugh Laverock, John Apprice, Patrick Packingham and the Reverend Thomas Rose, whose fates were linked to the same period of religious turmoil. The memorial was financed through public subscription, the appeal being chaired by Rev William Jay Bolton, Vicar of Stratford. Its unveiling on 2 August 1879 was conducted under the auspices of the Earl of Shaftesbury, whose address reflected the anti-Catholic sentiment of the time. Contemporary commentary in The Graphic criticised the polarising tone of the speech. The monument is recorded on the National Heritage List for England as a Grade II listed structure, with Historic England confirming its protected status. Visitors can view the memorial within the churchyard, where the surrounding setting remains unchanged since its erection.

Olympic Bell

Fish Island · 0.6 miles

A striking feature of the Olympic Park is the Olympic Bell, a bronze monument commissioned for the 2012 London Olympic Games and now displayed near the former stadium. Cast in 2012, the bell measures about 2 metres in height with a 3.34-metre diameter and weighs roughly 23 tonnes, making it the second-heaviest bell in Europe after Cologne’s Petersglocke and the largest harmonically tuned bell worldwide. Its main pitch is the note B, and the surface bears the inscription “London 2012” together with a line from *The Tempest*: “Be not afeard, the isle is full of noises”, plus the Whitechapel Bell Foundry’s name and coat of arms. The casting process involved the Whitechapel Bell Foundry’s design work, subcontracting the actual pour to Royal Eijsbouts in the Netherlands, and contributions from twenty companies across three countries. After being tested in the stadium at midnight on 1 June 2012, the bell was positioned for the opening ceremony, later moved to make space for the cauldron, and stored within the park until its re-erection on a support structure outside the stadium in May 2016. Although the bell was featured symbolically during the opening ceremony—Bradley Wiggins “ringed” it mechanically and it sounded at key musical moments—it is not currently rung, as authorities consider the sound could disturb nearby residents. The monument remains a permanent memorial within the Olympic Park, accessible to visitors exploring the site.

Old Ford Island

Fish Island · 0.6 miles

Old Ford Island is a nature reserve within the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in the London Borough of Newham.

Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park

East Wick · 0.6 miles

A legacy of the 2012 Summer Olympics, the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park offers a mix of sporting venues and public green space. The site spans parts of Stratford, Bow, Leyton and Hackney Wick in east London, straddling the boroughs of Newham, Tower Hamlets, Hackney and Waltham Forest. Royal Mail allocated the postcode E20 to the park and the adjacent Stratford City development, and the nearest town recorded in OpenStreetMap is East Wick. Construction was completed in 2012, the year the Games were held. Originally called the Olympic Park during the event, it was later renamed to honour the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, although it is not an official Royal Park. After the Games, part of the area reopened in July 2013 and the majority, including the Aquatics Centre, VeloPark and the ArcelorMittal Orbit, reopened in April 2014. Key facilities include the London Stadium, the former Olympic stadium now used for athletics and concerts, the London Aquatics Centre with its distinctive roof, the Copper Box arena and the Lee Valley VeloPark. The ArcelorMittal Orbit, a steel observation tower, forms the park’s most prominent piece of public art. The former athletes’ village has been converted into the East Village, providing around 3,600 apartments adjacent to Stratford City. Additional amenities comprise the Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre, the London Olympics Media Centre, northern parklands and reinstated allotments. Management of the legacy is overseen by the independent charity The Legacy List, established in 2011 to develop art, education and skill-building projects. Plans announced in 2012 for a national Olympic Museum beside the Orbit were later shelved in July 2013. The park was designed by the EDAW Consortium with input from Arup, WS Atkins and landscape architects, and its lighting scheme was created by Speirs + Major. It is described as one of the largest urban parks created in Western Europe for more than 150 years, with restored wetland habitats and native planting.

Mabley Green

Hackney · 1.2 miles

Spanning 35.5 acres (144,000 m²), Mabley Green lies on the eastern edge of the London Borough of Hackney, bordered by Homerton, Clapton Park and Hackney Wick. The land formed part of the historic Hackney Marshes that once stretched across both sides of the Lee Navigation. In 1915 a section was allocated for the National Projectile Factory; after the First World War, the area was laid out as a recreation ground in 1922. The park sits alongside the A12 and is linked to neighbouring districts by the Red Path, a shared pedestrian and cycle route. Visitors can make use of an all-weather football pitch, an outdoor gym and basketball hoops, all of which have contributed to the site receiving a Green Flag Award. A distinctive 60-tonne rock, quarried in Cornwall and installed in 2008, serves both as a public sculpture and a bouldering challenge with several climbing routes. The park’s community activity during the COVID-19 pandemic was recorded in the 2022 photo-journalism book *Mabley Green Class of ‘21*. A 2021 film by Alice May Williams highlighted the centenary of the Football Association’s ban on women’s football, recalling a “Munitionettes” team that played here during the factory era. Mabley Green is managed by Hackney Council, with opening times displayed on the council’s listing. The User Group that looks after the park has proposed converting the site into the UK’s first edible park, suggesting the planting of fruit and nut trees and bushes for public use, and is also consulting on the addition of another all-weather football pitch.

Victoria Park

Homerton · 1.9 miles

Covering 86.18 hectares, Victoria Park ranks as the largest green space in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets and attracts around nine million visitors annually. Situated on the north-eastern fringe of the borough, it lies between Bethnal Green to the west, Bow to the south, Hackney Wick to the east and the borough of Hackney to the north, with Homerton identified as the nearest town. The A1205 Grove Road bisects the park, and a network of gates provides access for pedestrians, cyclists and motor vehicles on all sides. The layout, commissioned after a 1841 Act of Parliament and executed by Sir James Pennethorne between 1842 and 1846, reflects the design principles of Regent’s Park. Waterways frame the site: the Regent’s Canal runs along its western edge and the former Hertford Union Canal borders the south. Notable features include replica Dogs of Alcibiades statues at the Sewardstone Road entrance, and two Grade II-listed pedestrian alcoves at the eastern end that incorporate stone fragments from the 1760 refurbishment of Old London Bridge. A former bathing pond gave way to a lido opened in 1936, which after wartime damage reopened in 1952, closed in 1986 and was demolished in 1990. The park has also served as a venue for public speech, political rallies and, during the Second World War, as an anti-aircraft site. The London Borough of Tower Hamlets manages the park and publishes its opening times. Visitors can enter through multiple gates, and the park contains canals, statues and listed alcoves. Facilities such as the historic lido site and the open lawns are available for recreational use, while the park’s heritage status is reflected in the listed structures within its boundaries.