Bow Bridge was a stone bridge built over the River Lea, in what is now London, in the twelfth century. It took its name from the distinctively bow-shaped (curved) arches.
Bow Bridge depicted in the 19th Century
Matilda, builder of Bow Bridge and the other Stratford Causeway bridges
Painting by Frederick Mackenzie, circa 1810, identified as Bow Bridge by Ralph Hide of the Guildhall Library
The current Bow Bridge, including the high-level Bow Flyover
The River Lea is in the East of England and Greater London. It originates in Bedfordshire, in the Chiltern Hills, and flows southeast through Hertfordshire, along the Essex border and into Greater London, to meet the River Thames at Bow Creek. It is one of the largest rivers in London and the easternmost major tributary of the Thames.
River Lea at Hertford Basin
A pedestrian suspension bridge spans the boating lake created where the widened river flows through Wardown Park in Luton.
The River Lea at Great Amwell, home of the Amwell Magna Fishery, was fished by Izaak Walton – author of The Compleat Angler
River Lea, Diversion, and Flood Relief channels at Tottenham