East Ham

East Ham is a district of the London Borough of Newham, England, 8 miles (12.8 km) east of Charing Cross. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Essex, East Ham is identified in the London Plan as a Major Centre. The population is 76,186. History Toponymy The first known written use of the term, as 'Hamme', is in an Anglo-Saxon charter of 958, in which King Edgar granted the Manor of Ham, which was undivided at that time, to Ealdorman Athelstan. A subsequent charter on 1037 describes a transfer of land, which has been identified with East Ham, indicating that the first division of the territory occurred between 958 and 1037. The place name derives from Old English 'hamm' and means 'a dry area of land between rivers or marshland', referring to the location of the settlement within boundaries formed by the rivers Lea, Thames and Roding and their marshes. North Woolwich seems likely to have been removed from Ham in the aftermath of the Norman Conquest.