Ray Park

Ray Park is a fragment of a large C16th estate, formerly the seat of the Clevelands and Hannots, later owned by Sir James Wright, who purchased the Rayhouse estate in 1770. The estate is now divided by the M11 forming two distinctive parks, Ray Park to the west and Ashton Playing Fields to the east, and has been developed on its north and west fringes. The house was razed to the ground by a serious fire in 1838 and replaced by a smaller house in 1846 to the east.

James Wright (b.1717-1803 ), the son of Thomas Wright of Coventry, was educated at Winchester College, and Trinity College Cambridge. He was nephew of Lord Northington, Lord Chancellor and later President of the Council. In 1754 Wright married Catherine Stapleton whose father was Sir William Stapleton of Greys Court in Oxfordshire, from whom she inherited £30,000. After their marriage, the Wrights went abroad, visiting Venice, Rome, Naples, Germany, the Low Countries and France. In 1762 Wright was appointed Groom of the Bedchamber and in July 1766 was knighted and appointed as British Minister to Venice; he was made baronet in 1772. Between late 1769 and early July 1771 the Wrights were on leave in England due to ill-health, and his Term as Resident in Venice ended late 1773. Sir James was a well-known collector and connoisseur with a fine collection of pictures mostly acquired in Italy; the family’s last tour of Italy was in 1790, returning to England in 1792. Wright owned a number of houses during his lifetime including Rayhouse Estate in Essex, which he bought in 1770 with several adjoining estates. The estate’s principal house was Ray House, with other houses on the estate being Ray Lodge, Ray Villa (or Farm) and Monkhams as well as a number of cottages. Wright commissioned a new mansion, Ray Hall, from the Adam brothers. The house suffered a serious fire in 1838, and replaced in 1846 by a smaller house to the east. 

An artificial slate factory was located in the grounds of the estate from c.1770 to c.1811, built by Wright who used techniques he had seen in Italy to manufacture clay-based products, exporting large quantities to the West Indies. Daniel Lysons, in his ‘Environs of London’ (1796) mentions that 'the buildings where the manufacture [of slate] is carried out are of this slate, and were erected about thirty years ago'. In 1999 this presented a grey, rather dilapidated building with nearby hedged shrubbery and seating area but since then it has been demolished following a fire, although the stables survived.

The late C18th octagonal walled garden formed part of Wright's improvements in his creation of a ‘Brownian’ estate. His then great friend, the former Prime Minister and plant collector Lord Bute, had a walled garden of the same unusual shape at Luton Hoo, suggesting the Woodford garden to be the product not only of Wright’s wealth and ambition but also made in emulation of Bute’s Bedfordshire garden. The Woodford garden is first depicted on the Chapman and André map, where the south facing wall is seen to extend northwards to form an alcove at its central point, suggesting it as the position of a greenhouse or hothouse. The map also depicts two lengths of additional walling projecting from the north side of the garden’s south-east facing wall. These align with an area of additional cultivation to illustrate a serious and perhaps experimental approach to horticulture. The early C19th map by John Doyley shows the garden without its additional walls and belonging to Ray Lodge rather than Ray House.  A number of trees near the walled garden today can probably be associated with Wright’s plant collection. 

Ray Park became a public park after its purchase by the borough council in 1958. Ray Lodge was a house on a site to the south-west where Ray Lodge School is now. An asphalt road leads beside the school grounds from Snakes Lane East into the park, which has notable cedar, sycamore, horse chestnut, lime and oak trees but otherwise largely provides playing fields and a children’s playground.

The James Leal Centre, built on the site of the C19th house and earlier stable block, opened in December 2009. Its main objective is to increase public access to the Roding Valley and Ray Park and to offer high quality training at low cost to voluntary groups. It also houses the LB Redbridge Nature Conservation Team who offer talks, events and information on the nature and history of this locality. During 2009 Ray Park Play Area was upgraded and features mounds, tunnels, a sand pit with fossils, a space net and a bridge, almost all made from natural materials. Reeds will be planted by the sand to create the impression of a dried river bed and there are quieter areas and planter seats for a more sensory experience. Older equipment also remains providing an extensive play area. In January 2010, the new adiZone outdoor gym was opened next to the James Leal Centre, inspired by Olympic and Paralympic sports.

The walled garden, which has long been inaccessible and by the late C20th was being used as a vehicle store and nursery ground by Redbridge Council is now being transformed into a community garden, following a successful crowd-funding initiative by local gardening group, Woodford Greeners in 2022. Their plans include installing mains water, creating a planting area for perennial flowers that will later be moved to public planters in the Woodford Green neighbourhood, creating a small medicinal garden and erecting a gazebo where workshops for the local community will be held.