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Woodford Bridge was so-called for its position near an important crossing point over the Roding River. It was one of four hamlets that made up Old Woodford, which became villages then suburbs in the 1850s after the arrival of the railway. The first subdivision of the old parish took place here and by 1851 services were held in a rented room and St Paul's Church was built in 1854, but later rebuilt in 1886 following a fire. The churchyard is surrounded by hedge from the village green and has C19th monuments and a number of yews, conifers and shrubs. The entrance is through a wrought iron gate at the end of a roadway flanked by an avenue of trees.
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Aldborough Hatch was once part of the lands of Barking Abbey, later owned by the Crown. The need for a new parish arose when the hamlet's population expanded following deforestation of the Crown lands in Hainault Forest, permitted under an Act of Parliament in 1851. The Crown provided the land for a church, with funding provided by the Government and an appeal to wealthy local landowners. A small chapel attached to Aldborough House had existed since at least the C18th and was used as a chapel-at-ease until St Peter's Church was built in 1862/3. Portland Stone from the old Westminster Bridge was used in the church construction. The church and its peaceful churchyard retains its rural aspect, entered through a timber lych gate. To mark the new Millennium, a Memorial Wall was built in the south-west corner of the Garden of Remembrance.
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The Shrubberies, a terrace of six identical pairs of houses with a detached house at the east end, was built in the late C19th and remain fronted by the original strip of landscaping, laid out as a setting to the terrace. Built as a speculative residential development when the area was becoming built up following arrival of the railway, these simple Edwardian-style houses retain most of their original features. The garden strip is laid out with grass, some flower and shrub beds and a few trees, including a row of limes.
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* on The National Heritage List for England, Parks & Gardens
The Valentines estate dates from 1688, the mansion built c.1697. House and grounds were enlarged and re-landscaped at various times from 1724 onwards under different private owners. In the C19th it was inherited by Sarah Ingleby, a great benefactor of Ilford, who sold part of the parkland to Ilford UDC and it opened as Central Park in 1899. Mrs Ingleby lived at Valentines until her death in 1906. In 1907 her son gave the house and remaining grounds in her memory, and the park was renamed Valentines Park. In addition to the municipal facilities provided, a number of features from the C18th layout remain, including the rectilinear canal with rockwork grotto and a grotto shelter, dovecote, sundial, walled garden and ha-ha. In 1769 a cutting from the excellent vine here was the origin of the famous Hampton Court Vine. In the south-west of the park is the main lake with ornamental woodland, fed by the canalised Cranbrook. The mansion, gardens and park were restored in 2009 with HLF funding.
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* on The National Heritage List for England, Parks & Gardens
Wanstead Flats is at the most southerly part of Epping Forest and was saved from development as part of the forest in 1878. Known as Wanstead Heath in the early C17th, it has been used for grazing cattle and sheep since the C12th, a practice that continued up until 1996. Wanstead Flats encompasses a number of areas all now managed as part of Epping Forest, including Manor Park Flats, Bush Wood Flats, Bush Wood and Bush Wood North, the latter having remnants of the C18th landscaping of Wanstead Park.
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* on The National Heritage List for England, Parks & Gardens
Wanstead Golf Course contains remnants of the once extensive landscape gardens of Wanstead Park, developed between the C17th-C19th. Wanstead Park Golf Club was founded in 1893, initially leasing the site from Lord Cowley, owner of Wanstead Park, and purchasing it in 1920. The Clubhouse was set up in the late C18th stables of Wanstead House; the house was demolished in 1823/4 but its site remains as a large indentation in the ground. The C18th Octagonal Basin and part of the C19th gardens designed by Humphry Repton also survive. The club was renamed Wanstead Golf Club in 1920 when Wanstead Sports Ground Ltd was formed to secure the future of the golf course.
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Wanstead Hospital was built as the Merchant Seamen's Orphan Asylum in 1861 in an elaborate pseudo-Venetian style. The Asylum buildings were extended over the years and by 1883 housed 270 orphans but in 1920 it moved to Bearwood. It was purchased for a hospital in 1938 by Essex County Council and in 1948 became Wanstead Hospital when it joined the new NHS. The hospital eventually closed in 1986 and in c.2000 the gothic buildings were largely converted into flats, a scheme named Clock Court after the hospital's prominent tower. The hospital once had well laid out flowerbeds but there is little evidence of the gardens as part was lost when the hospital site was developed. The old Asylum fronts onto Hermon Hill between Makepiece Road and Victory Road, and the site is surrounded by a red brick wall.
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* on The National Heritage List for England, Parks & Gardens
The public park, Wanstead Park, contains remnants of the formal gardens, landscape park and lakes created for Wanstead House. Since 1882 it has been a public park managed by the Conservators of Epping Forest. Wanstead Hall was built c.1550 in the hunting park created when part of the forest was enclosed. In 1667 it was acquired by Sir Josiah Child, who laid out formal gardens. In 1715 the old Tudor house was replaced by the palatial Wanstead House and the parkland and gardens were extravagently developed throughout the C18th for the Earls of Tylney. Catherine Tylney Long, who inherited in 1812, and her husband William Pole-Tylney-Long-Wellesley sought advice from Humphry Repton resulting in new water features and planting. Following Wellesley's bankruptcy in 1822 the house was demolished and the estate fell into disrepair. Among historic features that remain in the park are The Temple and The Grotto boathouse by the lake.
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Wanstead Quaker Burial Ground was established on land leased from Epping Forest by the Barking Quakers in 1871, and the first burial took place in 1881. It was once the site of Becontree Archery, a C19th archery ground with lodge where Charles Dickens is reputed to have given readings. The Lodge was demolished in 1967 and the current Quaker Meeting House was built in 1968. The Burial Ground behind the Meeting House is enclosed by C19th brick walls, and has a central green with perimeter trees and shrubbery. A copse has been planted and a snowdrop garden commemorates children. Uniform headstones are arranged in 2 or 3 neat rows each side and among them is that of Elizabeth Fry, transferred here from Barking Quaker Gardens in c.1985 when it was converted to a public garden.
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Wanstead War Memorial is on a triangular site that is adjacent to Wanstead War Memorial Wood, a small detached fragment of Epping Forest, locally known as Tarzy Wood. The memorial was designed by N A Trent and depicts a bronze winged figure of victory holding a palm. It was unveiled by Sir James Roll c.1930, dedicated to people from Wanstead who died fighting in WWI and a plaque now commemorates the dead of both world wars. In 2007 a plaque was unveiled on Remembrance Day, dedicated to the memory of a Redbridge Marine who died in Afghanistan. Wanstead War Memorial Wood to the north west is a small fragment of woodland of Epping Forest and contains mainly pedunculate oak and hornbeam.
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The Weavers' Almshouses at Wanstead were built in 1857-9, designed by Joseph Jennings. They were rebuilt in 1975, retaining their original appearance, by F G Dobson and H M Grellier & Son at which time a parallel range was added behind, with an area of landscaped garden between the two. The almshouse originated from two foundations, the oldest in Shoreditch of 1670 and another of Spitalfields of 1729. The two-storey range has a taller central clock turret with the Weavers' motto 'Weave Truth with Trust' inscribed and a plaque 'The Almshouses of the Worshipful Company of Weavers, 1851, formerly in Porters Fields and Old Street Road Shoreditch'. The buildings are fronted by a garden with hedge to the road, and has a number of mature trees.
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Westwood Recreation Ground is a rolling parkland bisected by the canalised Kings Water, dammed at the centre of the park to form a small pond, with a bridge over the channel. Dating from c.1930s, the park is almost entirely surrounded by houses, with access from east and north through Gothic style gates and the area is surrounded by bare 2m high concrete slatted walls. There are notable C19th limes and planes in the north corner and scattered trees include holly, lime and ash. The children's playground is large and has landscaped mounds and a red metal bridge.