…gel, Edmonton (Enfield) Angell Town (Lambeth) Archway (Islington) Arnos Grove (Enfield) Arnos Grove station (Enfield) The Guide Arsenal (Islington) Ashburnham Triangle (Greenwich) Avery Hill (Greenwich) B Bakers Arms (Waltham Forest) Balham (Wandsworth) Barking (Barking & Dagenham) Barnehurst (Bexley) Barnes Cray (Bexley) Barnet Gate (Barnet) Barnsbury (Islington) Barons Court (Hammersmith & Fulham) Battersea (Wandsworth) Beavers Farm (Ho…
Lea Bridge, Waltham Forest/Hackney An industrial and working-class residential district straddling the River Lea east of Clapton The photograph overstates the beauty of Lea Bridge, much of which is given over to industry and utilities There has been water-related industry here since the time it was called Jeremy’s Ferry. The first waterwheel was erected in 1707 and this was followed by mills grinding corn (and even pins and needles), and …
North Chingford, Waltham Forest The far north-eastern corner of Chingford (and of the borough of Waltham Forest), not identified on most maps but well-signposted and known locally as ‘the village’ A local resident prowls Forest View shortly before sunset Chingford station is here, inconveniently located for most of the district, but ideal for access to Epping Forest, although the closest part of the forest has more open space (and golf cou…
Whipps Cross, Waltham Forest A road junction and its vicinity, separating the eastern edge of Walthamstow from the northern tip of Leytonstone It is said that persons found stealing sheep or deer from adjacent parts of Epping Forest were whipped all the way from here to Walthamstow, but a more likely explanation of the name is that it is a corruption of Phippe’s Cross, after late-14th-century resident John Phippe. Forest House was built in …
Higham Hill, Waltham Forest The disadvantaged north-western part of Walthamstow Priory Court, Higham Hill Saxons made a clearing in the forest here and the manor of Higham is recorded in Domesday Book. The original Higham House was located here, near present-day Sutton Road. The house was subsequently rebuilt in the far east of the manor, facing Woodford Green. The manor went through several subdivisions and reunifications and this part…
Blackhorse Road, Waltham Forest A station and commercial thoroughfare in west Walthamstow Blackhorse Road station, with a fibreglass relief of a black stallion by David McFall ‘Blackhorse’ is a corruption of Black House, a mansion that stood at the southern end of the road. Originally called Werdestrete and later Black House Lane, the road came into existence in Saxon times as a route from the common lands of Higham Hill to the nearest mills, a…
…d by Humphry Repton. Its huge grounds stretched a considerable way into Walthamstow and were afterwards developed as the Highams Park. Woodford New Road provided a stimulus to further development when it was cut through the forest in 1829, allegedly to expedite the king’s journeys to Newmarket. After the mid-19th century the High Road became a prestigious shopping centre for the wider district. Epping Forest continued to cover much of the are…
St James Street, Waltham Forest A station and street situated at the southern end of Blackhorse Road in west Walthamstow The rear of houses in St James Street, seen from the station The first St James’s church was erected in 1842. A replacement was built in 1902 and demolished sixty years later. The site is now occupied by a health clinic. Much of the area was developed by the local builder Sir TCT Warner during the 1890s. It was called the Clo…
Temple Mills, Newham/Waltham Forest An industrial, commercial and railway area beside the River Lea in west Leyton, recently transformed in preparation for the 2012 Olympics The demolition of housing in the Clays Lane area in advance of Temple Mills’ Olympic transformation A crossing point on the river brought early human activity to this locality and evidence has been found of a Roman camp nearby. In 1185 William of Hastings, steward to Henr…
Wood Street, Waltham Forest A commercial thoroughfare in Upper Walthamstow, north of Whipps Cross Appropriately, Wood Street has become the sort of place you’ll find joinery shops and timber yards, as well as a variety of other builders’ merchants A small linear settlement was established here by the seventh century, one of the four that later formed the parish of Walthamstow. At the time of Domesday Book, Wood Street’s farms were arable but …


