Whose Plaque is it Anyway?

For over 20 years I've wondered what the text on this plaque in East London actually says. This morning I finally decided to explore a few memorial interactive maps to see if I could discover why this bridge over Bow Creek has a plaque, and what the text on the plaque actually says. 

I thought it might also be a good opportunity to provide a little round-up of the growing number of memorial maps. So here are the cartographic references for my plaque search, and a couple of other memorial maps thrown in for good measure:

Read the Plaque has mapped over 20,000 plaques located around the world. As well as searching for plaques by location you can search Read the Plaque by tag or by the most recently submitted plaques. 

When you select a plaque on the map you can view its dedicated page, which includes a photo of the plaque and a transcription of the text on the plaque. A map also shows the plaque's exact location and the location of nearby plaques.

Anyone can submit a historical plaque to Read the Plaque by taking a photo of the plaque and marking its location on an interactive map.

The Historical Marker Database records the locations of permanent outdoor historical markers and commemorative plaques. The database allows you to explore the locations of markers and plaques around the world which are used to mark sites of historical importance. 

If you click on the 'near you' option and share your location with the Historical Marker Database you can view an interactive map of your nearest 100 markers. There is also an option to search for your nearby markers by topic (e.g. war, architecture, landmarks etc).

Open Benches is an interactive map of 28,592 memorial benches located around the world. These are benches which have been dedicated to the memories of local individuals, usually with a loving plaque.

London Remembers has an interactive map of over 7,000 plaques, monuments, statues, fountains which have been erected in the capital in order to commemorate a person or an event.

KilRoyTrip is an interactive map of World War II memorials in Normandy. It provides a fantastic guide to anyone visiting the region who is interested in the D-Day landings and the liberation of France. If you share your location with KilRoyTrip the map will show you the locations of your closest WWII memorials. Click on a marker and you will be taken to the selected memorial's dedicated place in the KilRoyTrip database. Each memorial entry in the database includes a description of the memorial, photographs of the memorial and links to other nearby memorials. 

© Copyright Stephen Craven and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence .

After only a few minutes of searching I managed to find this memorial entry on Read the Plaque. This isn't the plaque on the bridge over Bow Creek but it is nearby and also attached to the Norther Outfall Sewer so I am almost 100% convinced that it features the very same text memorializing the construction of Bazalgette's magnificent Victorian sewage system.