WANSTEAD

When in 1715 the foundations to build WANSTEAD HOUSE were being excavated ROMAN artefacts were found:  pottery, glass, coins, a fine floor mosaic. A SUBSTANTIAL Roman settlement occupied this area. WANSTEAD PARK is considered an ARCHAEOLOGICAL PRIORITY ZONE.

GROVE RD, WOODBINE PL.

SPRATT HALL GREEN (south side), SPRATT HALL RIAS (small section)

There is evidence that the line (picked up from areal pictures) of the Roman ROAD from STRATFORD to DUNMOW runs through the area (to WANSTEAD FLATS, to RODING LANE)

WODEN, a supreme deity among TEUTONIC tribes

WAIN, a wagon house

WEN, a hill

+STEAD

DB: the recorded pop. was of 11.Domesday Book is a detailed survey and valuation of landed property in England at the end of the 11th century. The survey was ordered by William the Conqueror at Christmas 1085 and undertaken the following year. It records who held the land and how it was used.

Rural parish, on the edge of the EPPING FOREST, sparsely populated. The patterns of settlement are little known.

The first recorded rector appears in 1207

Little is known of it, before 1700.

No.32 HIGH ST. is the oldest extant building , dating probably to the 16th., but substantially altered. 
In the 18th c.WANSTEAD began to attract v wealthy residents, London merchants, thanks to the improved communications (MIDDLESEX and ESSEX TURNPIKE ROADS)

Only 40 people recorded as late as 1670. 150 by 1796. 70 mansions out of 112 houses, in 1762.

NORTH of WABSTEAD HOUSE is where most of the urbanisation was concentrated.

REYDON HALL, ELM HALL, CLOCK HALL (now “PARADE”), THE MALL (consis. of MALL HOUSE, STONE HALL, MOUNT PLEASANT, MANOR HOUSE -surv.-, SHERIDAN HOUSE -surv.-). SPRATT HALL.

WANSTEAD GROVE was the second largest residence.

The Wealth of the place is evident looking at the new ST.MARY’s church.

1796 is date of the first PARROCHIAL SCHOOL. Of later on, BLORE’s building.

Other important 18th & 19th cs buildings:

1716.  THE GEORGE, prev. THE GEORGE  AND DRAGON coaching inn, with stables. And the parish meetings to consider the construction of a new church convened here.

The FIRE ENGINE was based here, but in 1867 bought to CHURCH PATH. 

In 1485 a circulating library was set up.

While the owners of WANSTEAD HOUSE attempted to close public paths across the estate , and ACT/PARL  1816 authorised the construction of BLACK HALL ROAD , in place of a former footpath. Other footpaths became OVERTON DR., ST.ANNE’S AVE. and LANGLEY DRIVE.

WANSTEAD HOUSE, sold, demolished and contents auctioned, However, the DEMESNE (land retained by the Lord of the manor, for their own use, the areas South of the  village),  could not be sold, its development was precluded.

Prosperity and growth increased thanks to the new stage coach routes. Still the extent of woodland and the restrictions on its redevelopment made that 70% of the parish was wood, in 1796. In 1841, only 40%. The MANOR COURT was making voluntary grants o& land for building, in the centre and to the N of the village. Large number of cottages were built (more modest people attracted to the village) despite the opposition of the vestry. Nos 16-19 WOOBINE PLACE.

Then, in 1856, the ECR opened the station at SNARESROOK, on the LAUGHTON BRANCH. The outward spread of London was in motion.

2.742 people were occupied in agricultural and service jobs to the wealthy, in 1861. In 1871, they were 5.119.

Then, came here an emerging middle class. Demand for housing.

The BOARD OF HEALTH was set up in 1854. Offices were erected on the site of SPRATT HALL. And the old manorial wasteland (SPRATT HALL GREEN) was acquired for public recreation. That is, modern  CHRISTCHURCH GREEN .

The URBAN DISTRICT COUNCIL was formed. The previous buildings were superseded by new ones, in 1894 (now the WANSTEAD HEALTH CLINIC)

In 1934 the UDs of WANSTEAD and WOODFORD were united.

In 1937 that new UDC was incorporated as a MUNICIPAL BOROUGH. And offices were moved to the former RECTORY. 

Wanstead Station opened in December 1947 as part of London Transport’s ‘New Works Programme’ to extend the Central line eastwards. The architect was Charles Holden (1875-1960) who was part of the architectural practice of, Adams, Holden and Pearson. Wanstead Station is locally listed by Redbridge.

The station had been originally designed just before the outbreak of the 2nd World War, but the advent of hostilities delayed completion of the extension. Due to post-war austerity, the final result was somewhat spartan and less inspiring than originally envisaged.

1. GEORGE III represented above the front.The HANOVERIAN period is illustrated inside, by means of pictures and posters. 
   George III reigned from 1760 - 1820. He is remembered for being the king against whom the American colonists rebelled to secure their independence. In later life he suffered from bouts if mental illness, probably caused by porphyria.
2. In 1716 it was called THE GEORGE AND DRAGON. The present building dates from 1903. More history…

In 1752 a workman stretched out his hand and stole a cherry pie from a passing baker. The magistrates found him guilty and was fines half a Guinea.

Definetely this stone inscription has been preserved from the previous inn building

During ESSEX festivities, as elsewhere  in the  18th c., montruous pies were a feature. The GALPTON GOOSEBERRY in DEVON still exists.

Other inns were famed for their pies: THE REINDEER (now the WARREN HOUSE, in LAUGHTON, rabbit; THE KING’S AD, CHIGWELL, pigeon.

Here, in WANSTEAD, cherry orchards were famous in the 1830s, as they were mentioned by resident poet THOMAS HOOD.

Most likely  CHERRY is a corruption of (DAVID) JERSEY after years and years of repainting…

This 4-storey block containing 20 small 1-bedroom flats was built in 2019-21. The concept known as Pocket Homes is intended for sale to local first-time buyers for an affordable price. Built on an old garage site it won a housing design award in 2022 for the best use of a brownfield land. It was designed by architects Haworth Tompkins.

The father of the founder of PENNSYLVANIA lived, after marrying,  in TOWER GARDENS, where NAVY HQs were (logically, neighbour PEPYS knew him and recorded that he was planning planning to buy a house here, after being promoted although it is not clear if he finally completed the purchase).

This might have be the birth place of son WILLIAM., in 1644, and where he was brought up. The family had acquired, as well, a house in WALTHAMSTOW, where SAMUEL PEPYS was, as well, entertained.

This was the country retreat for ADMIRAL PENN after he retired from the NAVY BOARD, in 1669. Sir WILLIAM dried here, and was buried in BRISTOL )1670].

Penn was an English real estate entrepreneur, philosopher, Quaker, founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, and an advocate of democracy and religious freedom known for fostering peaceful and positive relations with the Lenape Indian tribe through a number of treaties. Under Penn's direction, Philadelphia was planned and developed and served as the largest city and national capital until 1800 when it was surpassed in population by New York City and a new national capital was constructed in Washington, D.C.

The bust, commissioned for the conservative association where Churchill served as MP from 1924 to 1964, is mounted on a plinth made from a large piece of stone from RENNIE’s   Waterloo Bridge.

He was based here in the 1930s. “What a fine club it is”. This was a bustling place. The bar on the GF (were his cigars kept behind the counter?) was open to all members. The meeting rooms were in the FF

In 1936 he spoke in approval of the WAN. & WOOD. DISTR. COUN. application to become a BOROUGH. It was a success and himself presented the new borough with a MACE (now owned by REDBRIDGE)

He suffered dissent following his speach in the H.of C on the MUNICH AGREEMENT. But after the predictions he made came true, including that CZECHOSLOVAKIA would be engulfed in the Nazi regime, local opinion began to turn back in his favour.

During the War years he did not visit his constituency, but his wife CLEMENTINE did. Meanwhile, HAWKEY served s Mayor.

A WAR WEAPONS WEEK , held in CHIGWELL, in 1941, raised £900.000.  Later on, a. CHURCHILL WEEK  in WOODFORD ade thousands more for the war effort. A CHURCHILL TANK WEEK raised money for 13 tanks. IN 44Bthe constituency took part in a national SALUTE THE SOLDIER WEEK as the Allied Forces momentum increased.

CHU thanked the constituency for his loyal support

Following the end of WW2, a general election was held, and a a desire of reform swept the country. “They wanted Churchill but voted Labour “ a journalist said. He served the constituency  until 1964 (89 years), and was PM in 51 and 55.

Originally it was a doctor’s surgery, run by Dr Corner – hence “Cornerhouse”. Latterly, owned by Redbridge, it housed Age Concern’s meals service; it was recently renovated by local architects who were concerned that the building continued to be valued by local residents; they commissioned local builders and craftsmen for the work, which has included a new sundial for the front of the house as well as many other features.

In ESSEX, SUFFOLK and NORFOLK was common the practice of making quick designs in the cement or clay, on the outside of buildings, before it had time to set or dry. In some places called “pinking”. SAFFRON WALDEN has good examples.

The first to demonstrate that Earth moves around the Sun.

Rev. James Bradley's early observations were made at the rectory of Wanstead under the tutelage of Rev. James Pound, his uncle and himself a skilled astronomer.

CUCKFIELD? ++

East of High Street

1935. Art Deco or Moderne streamlining style. It has generally been unaltered and contains many original features both externally and internally. It’s listed by Historic England as Grade 2.
Arch. COCKETT, HENDERSON and GILLOW for NE LONDON PROP.Co.                U-shaped, flatvroof behind parapet. Central courtyard garden and drive.

1861, arch.JOHN JOHNSON. EUSTON ROAD. Replaced by a church in OSENEY CRESCENT, KENTISH TOWN.
Dismantled brick by brick, In order to built the STATION, as a terminus for the. MIDLAND RWY (railway boom age, when companies had an overriding power)and eventually rebuilt here with a few alterations.

HERE, originally a CONGREGATINAL church The URC was formed in 1972, out of the amalgamation of the PRESBYTARIAN Church of England and the CONGREGATIONAL Church of England and Wales.

This was an age of an e landing population of NON=CONFORMISTS. An interim place of worship -the WEAVERS ALMSHOUSES site- was offered, but when the fabric of the  current church came up for sale, for £526, the offer was accepted, and the original architect (JOHNSON) was commissioned to adapt it. Dismantling, transportation and rebuilding cost £2.000. A spire was planned,

West elevation: dominant massive windows and angle buttresses.Tracery.

Interior: impressive, with pleasant details, carved stone capitals and ironwork balustrades.

This small but rather extravagantly fronted Methodist Church in Cambridge Park was built in 1875. It was designed by the architect Frederick Boreham who also designed other Victorian Methodist churches. The church closed in 2010 and the congregation joined with the Hermon Hill Methodist Church. It was subsequently converted into a children’s nursery.

This modern interpretation of a Gothic Roman Catholic Church, sited in Cambridge Park, was built 1927-28 with aisles added 1934 and 1940. The architect was Geoffrey Raymond (1881-1972) and the building is not listed. Wanstead first became a Roman Catholic Parish in 1919 and the need for a permanent parish church resulted in Our Lady of Lourdes. Geoffrey Raymond was from an architectural practice of Scoles & Raymond who designed a large number of Catholic churches and schools. A detailed description of the church can be found on the ‘taking-stock’ website (see link below).

This single storey low-rise staggered modern building tightly fitted onto a corner site was opened in 1969. In 1970 it won a Civic Trust Award for its architectural merit. The library has an adjacent meeting room, the Churchill Room. It was designed by the Redbridge Borough Architects, D. Meyer and B. Ettridge, but is not listed nationally or locally.

Sculpture in the entrance hall of Wanstead Public Library in Spratt Hall Road. This shows a nude woman and infant children. It was probably a plaster cast prepared before being cast in bronze. It was presented to the library in 1975.

1912. FRANCK WHITMORE arch.

rather distinctive red brick three-storey building built in 1886 but closed in 2013 for redevelopment into housing.designed by John Butler (1828-1900) who was surveyor to the Metropolitan Police 1881-95, [not to be confused with his more renowned son, John Dixon Butler (1861-1920) who took over from his father in 1895 as surveyor and designed many fine late Victorian and Edwardian London police stations as well as assisting in the design of New Scotland Yard].

Several new police stations were built across London in the 1880s/90s due to an increase in crime and political activity, partly financed by the Metropolitan Police Act of 1886. The Wanstead station was hidden away amongst a housing estate

Built as aCHAPEL OF EASYT ofvST.MARY’S (population was expanding thanks to the railway boom. This mid 19th-century Gothic revival church (1860-90) was designed to be evocative of a late 13th-century mediaeval parish church, in a geometrical style. The original architect was Sir George Gilbert Scott.

Unusually the main church body doesn’t have the height commonly found in other city churches because of the absence of an upper part (clerestory) above the centre nave. With the nave and adjacent aisles being roughly the same height, the vertically is provided by the tower and its spire, a major landmark in the village.

This late 19th century rather bleak-looking grey brick building in Wanstead Place was for many years in the first half of the 20th century, the council offices for when Wanstead had its own local government. An example of Wanstead’s civic architecture at that time with an adjacent fire station from 1913 and the nearby Police Station of 1886. Today the building is a local health clinic and is listed locally

1913-1957. Small scale  domestic architecture, reflecting the size of WANSTEAD. Practice tower incorporates the. Himney flute. Decorative corbelling and diapered brickwork.

Wanstead Church School was originally founded in 1786 by the Rector at the time, Samuel Glasse. There is a stone set into the wall on the front of our building, which can be seen from the High Street, which reads “Parochial Schools 1790”. It is believed to be the foundation stone of the first school building, laid by Dr Samuel Glasse, which was likely recut in 1928 and again in 1980 when the current building was built. However, it is thought that the date 1790 is actually incorrect and that the school was in fact established in 1786. The confusion, according to records relating to the school, seems to have come about because the stone became worn. It is documented that Dr Glasse laid the foundation stone in 1796, and that the 6 became worn and looked more like a 0. One Headmaster actually thought it read 1794!

Historically, Wanstead Church School was in fact 3 schools: a girls’ school, a boys’ school and an infant school. The Nursery is the only remaining original building and is still referred to as the Master's House to this day. This too is actually historically inaccurate as it was the Mistress's House long before it was the Master's House. In fact, the girls' school building was once attached to the back of the existing Nursery building.

More to the East-NE, en route for WOODFORD

running down almost to the River Roding and consisting of a variety of late Victorian and Edwardian suburban housing. Today the area retains much of that era’s original character and appearance although there is some mid and late 20^th century infill or redevelopment.
A few remnants of the area’s 18^th-century landscape also remain. The area contains a small number of specific buildings of architectural interest which are mentioned separately, specifically The Shrubbery, Cottages in Nutter Lane, Applegarth, The Nightingale.

The Grove estate consisted of Grove House, a large 18th-century house with gardens, and extensive farmland. Development of some large villa houses along what is now Grosvenor Road on the edge of the estate had begun in the 1860s and 1870s. Grove House was demolished in 1889 and the land was subsequently sold for housing development. In the 1890s various large houses were built around The Avenue and Grove Park. Later in the early 1900s smaller suburban houses were built further east on the remaining part of the estate – Leicester Road, Gloucester Road, Hereford Road, Warwick Road, Rutland Road and Buckingham Road – which became known as “The Counties Estate”. Houses in the rest of Grosvenor Road date from 1903 onwards.

In the rear gardens of houses in GRISVENOR RD.a GAZEBO and TEMPLE of the old house still stand

This pair of inter-war semi-detached modernist houses in Wellington Road are unusual for North-East London. The pair are very distinctive in a road containing a mix of more traditional architectural styles. The houses were designed and built in 1935 by the same organisation that built the nearby Shrubbery in Grosvenor Road, another example of 1930s modernism. The design is attributed to the architects department of a local group of surveyors called Cockett, Henderson & Gillow Ltd, but there is no specific named architect.

This is a small local corner pub sitting next to Nightingale Green in the back streets of Wanstead. There may have been an older drinking establishment there but the present building dates from the mid-19th century. It is listed by Historic England as Grade 2. It is currently known as Nightingale on the Green.

Tucked away in the grounds of the old Wanstead Hospital is this NHS mental health facility comprising a combination of residential accommodation and a day centre. Built in 1991 it was critically acclaimed within the architectural profession for both its external and internal design as well as its energy-efficiency. It was designed by Richard Burfoot who was an NHS regional architect.

CONVENT OF THE GOOD SHEPHARD

A refuge for women an girls, from 1919 to 1945.

WANSTEAD HOSPITAL

By the ESSEX  COUNTY  COUNCIL. It became part of the  NHS in 1948. It closed in 1986.

Converted to APARTMENTS. The name was changed to Clock Court after the tall clock tower.

Carvings by THOMAS EARP (ELEONOR’S CROSS, CHARING CROSS STATION). Maritime themes: ropes and rigging in lintels, cornices and surrounds and sills of windows

No.45: 3 relief carvings of ships of the age in which it was built. One of the carvings on the front, although  damaged, shows a ship under sails, but with a funnel amidships, which shows that it had a steam engine onboard.

One large carving on the main front door, together with the stone commemorative of the PRINCE’s visit.

Originally, the  CHAPEL was paid by LADY MORRISON OF SNARESBROOK. Part of the chapel used as a mortuary, when the Hospital was established here.

After a period of dereliction It was bought up by the BUCKHURST HILL REFORM CONGREGATION, becoming the “SHELTER OF PEACE” SYNAGOGUE.

Many of the fittings and fixtures are from the JEWISH HOSPITAL AND HOME in TOTTENHAM.

This unusual but rather attractive block of terrace housing in Victory Road was built in 1900-01 by the architect Arnold Mitchell. It’s an inventive fusion of different styles from the late 19th century domestic revival period and is listed by Historic England as Grade II.

It was originally built as the infirmary to the adjacent Merchant Seamen’s Orphan Asylum built some 30 years earlier. Later it became the nurse’s home when the site became Wanstead Hospital in 1938. After the hospital closed in 1986 the building was redeveloped as private housing.

A district located eight miles (13 kilometres) east of Charing Cross. 11,868 (2011 Census. 57% of the population is White British, with the second and third largest ethnicities being Other White at 10% and Indian at 9%.

The name, first recorded in 1599] derives from a corruption of Sayers brook, a tributary (no longer visible)  of the River Roding that flows through Wanstead to the East.
Orcwas it the use of snares for trapping animals or birds?

Snaresbrook Ward in the London Borough of Redbridge covers most of Wanstead High Street. The ward forms part of the 2007 parliamentary boundary changes and is currently entirely within the parliamentary constituency of Leyton and Wanstead (UK Parliament.

This is the site of an old coaching inn dating from the early 17th century called the Spread Eagle. The building, possibly from the early 18th century, seems to have been substantially rebuilt in the late 19th century. Once known as The Eagle Hotel but now just The Eagle, it’s listed by Historic England as Grade 2. Decorative cast iron balcony.

WINSTON CHURCHILL local boozer!

An elegant Georgian house in Snaresbrook Road overlooking Eagle Pond. It is said to be probably early 19th century.

Entered through and anonymous gate. 

Opened in 1997 by the BRITISH LEGION

On a stone pediment, a SUNDIAL with the face of the legendary GREEN MAN.

This memorial tries to emphasise the universal nature of the suffering caused by war, rather than glorifying it

SNARES POND

A detached portion

This large impressive Victorian building overlooking Eagle Pond in Snaresbrook was originally built in the 1840s as the ‘Infant orphan Asylum’. It was designed in the Jacobean revival style by Sir George Gilbert Scott and his partner William Moffatt. In later times it became the Royal Wanstead School and in 1974 it was redeveloped as Snaresbrook Crown Court.

The Infant Orphan Asylum for children under 7 years had been established in Hackney in 1827 but by the 1830s required more space and was able to acquire forest land in Snaresbrook. The current building was begun in 1841 to accommodate 400 children and was opened in 1843. In the beginning, there were less than 200 inmates but the infant orphan population expanded during the 19^th century reaching over 500. Later it acquired Royal Patronage changing its name in 1917 to the Royal Infant Orphanage. By the 1930s improvements in childcare and education meant its market was diminishing and it was transformed into a school, known from 1938 as the Royal Wanstead School.  The school closed in 1971 due to a decline in pupils and the building passed to the Crown Commissioners for conversion into Crown Courts opening in 1974. Over the years a number of extensions have been added to increase court capacity to about 20, the largest in the country.

1930s

From EAGLE POND to SOUTH WOODFORD alongside THE DRIVE

I have pointed out on the map SOUTH WOODFORD

According to Pevsner, The Drive has "a particularly sumptuous display" of houses dating from around 1900. No. 30 displays a coat of arms and a monogram on its front wall.