There has often been confusion about the relationship between St Mary-le-Bow in the City and Bow Church near the Olympic park.
Bow has different meanings. In the City it is a reference to the church building’s arches whilst in the east end fit recalls the bridge once spanning the River Lea.
It has been suggested that a cockney is someone born between St Mary-le-Bow and Bow on the eastern edge of London. Bow has a Bow Bells pub.
But now there is a link. A new project by St Mary-le-Bow and St Mary’s Church at Bow aims to tackle serious food poverty among families in the Bow district of the East End by the joint running of a food bank.