Stratford is a district of the London Borough of Newham in East London, England, and a suburb of London 6 miles (9.7 km) east northeast of Charing Cross. Historically an agrarian settlement in the ancient parish of West Ham in the county of Essex, it was transformed into an industrial suburb following the introduction of the railway in 1839. The late 20th Century was a period of severe economic decline, eventually reversed by regeneration associated with the 2012 Summer Olympics, for which Stratford’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park was the principal venue.