Forest Lane Park

The area's name of Forest Gate derives from a gate erected in the C17th to stop cattle straying onto Romford Road from Wanstead Flats; the gate existed until 1883. Forest Lane Park is on the site of Wood Grange Manor, and was largely open fields in agricultural use until the arrival of the railway in the 1840s. In 1847 philanthropist and Quaker banker Samuel Gurney purchased the land, which he conveyed to the Whitechapel Board of Guardians in 1852, who built the Forest Gate Industrial School for the poor children of residents at the Workhouse in 1854. The OS Map of 1863 shows a rectangle of open land behind the Industrial School and Infirmary with a Windmill. The school remained until 1906, and was the scene of a tragedy in 1890 when a fire caused the deaths of 26 children. In 1908 it became the branch workhouse of Poplar Union, and in 1911 it was purchased by West Ham Union who re-opened it as a workhouse infirmary in 1913, shown as Forest Gate Sick Home on the OS Map of 1913. From 1929 this became Forest Gate Maternity Hospital, which was expanded in 1931 and 1950, although the main Victorian building remained. It suffered bomb damage during WWI. IForest Gate Hospital finally became redundant in 1984 when the new Newham General Hospital opened, and it closed in 1985. The back part of the original main building was subsequently demolished and houses were built on the site, and most of the remainder of the building was demolished in 1993. However, the facade was retained and the southern and central part of the grounds remained. Gladys Dimson House was originally one of the maternity buildings before it was developed for residential use. It named after Gladys Dimson, Labour politician, who was elected to the new GLC in 1964, and became its chair of housing from 1973-77. She worked strenuously to improve the housing and social conditions of the poor, and in 1979 became founding chair of East London Housing Association. She died in 1999.  

Forest Lane Park was developed by Newham Council from 1991 as an environmentally themed facility, with lake, dipping pond, raised bed garden area, a small orchard with pear and cherry trees, and woodland to the east, and wildflower meadow. Along the southern edge are mature trees including lime, sycamore, plane, horse chestnut and red horse chestnut. Adjacent to the park is Forest Lane Lodge, which became a community facility. Two sculptures by local artist Helen Stylianides, 'Pulse of Life' and 'Guardian' (1996) carved from oak donated by Epping Forest, were installed in the park and unveiled in 1997. Newham Council working with Friends of Forest Lane Park commissioned the artist, who used local midwife Lucel Tate as the model for 'Guardian', which shows her as a nurse holding a baby. Lucel, a pioneer and local activist, worked in the maternity hospital here in the 1970s, and was the first chair of the Hibiscus Caribbean Elderly Association and founder of the Hibiscus Community Centre. 

The park became neglected in later years but is now being restored through the Forest Lane Park Restoration Project. In 2023 Newham Council was awarded a National Lottery Heritage Grant of £990,682 to restore the park landscape and improve accessibility, create a sensory garden and growing space and restore the ponds. The project is also dedicated to Lucel Tate, with a new statue dedicated to her commissioned as part of the restoration, which will replace the sculpture 'Guardian' by Helen Stylianides that had deteriorated and was removed for reasons of safety. Public consultation with local residents and community groups took place in 2024 / 2025, launched by Newham and landscape architects Arkwood. Following unveiling of final designs a testing phase will take place in order to introduce activities in 2026, with full restoration works anticipated to commence in 2027.