Description
Before the stone church was built here in the C12th, it appears to have been the site of an earlier Saxon-Norman timber church. Originally called Ilford, the parish was later renamed Little Ilford to distinguish it from Great Ilford. The small church of St Mary the Virgin was rebuilt in the early C18th and stands on a corner site with a clinker and brick wall on Church Road and a low concrete post fence on Winifrede's Avenue, planted with a may hedge. The churchyard has a number of mature horse chestnuts and the gravestones in their original positions are set in grass, including a number of railed chest tombs such as that of Thomas Smith and family, and the C18th sarcophagus for the Hatch family of Claybury Hall, Woodford Bridge. An area of flower beds has been laid out as a small memorial garden.
Practical Information
| Site location | Church Road |
|---|---|
| Postcode | E12 |
| What3Words | ///quiet.warm.handy |
| Type of Site | Churchyard |
| Borough | Newham |
| Open to Public | Yes |
| Opening Times | unrestricted |
| Public Transport | London Overground: Woodgrange Park |
| Research Updated | 1 February 2006 |
| Last Updated | 18 October 2026 |
Full description
In 1724 the chancel was rebuilt, and a chapel for the Lethullier Family of Aldersbrook was added on the north side. In 1801 Little Ilford had 85 inhabitants and was the smallest parish in the Becontree Hundred. It did not substantially expand until the 1860s when residential development began in Manor Park, the name by which the area became generally known. Little Ilford Manor had included that of Aldersbrook, where the City of London Cemetery (q.v.) is now located. An early memorial brass in St Mary's Church commemorates Thomas Heron, the son of a former Lord of the Manor, who died in 1517 as a schoolboy. Thomas's brother, who became Lord of the Manor, was married to the daughter of Sir Thomas More executed under Henry VIII. In the 1890s Little Ilford Manor was sold for housing. St Mary's was the parish church of Little Ilford until 1938. It was the third civil parish that made up the new borough of Newham alongside West Ham and East Ham.
Further Information
| Grid Reference | TQ428852 |
|---|---|
| Site Ownership | Church |
| Site Management | LB Newham Environment Department |
| Dates | C12th |
| Listed Structures | LBI: St Mary's Church |
| On National Heritage List for England (NHLE), Parks & Gardens | No |
| Registered common or village green on Commons Registration Act 1965 | No |
| Protected under London Squares Preservation Act 1931 | No |
| Local Authority | Newham |
| In Conservation Area | No |
| Tree Preservation Order | No |
| Nature Conservation Area | No |
| Green Belt | No |
| Metropolitan Open Land | No |
| Special Policy Area | No |
Please note the Inventory and its content are provided for your general information only and are subject to change. It is your responsibility to check the accuracy.
Nearby parks and gardens
What is now Little Ilford Park was formerly two recreation grounds, Little Ilford Recreation Ground and Manor Park Recreation Ground. They were divided by Reynolds Avenue, which at that time ran up to Church Road. Land for Little Ilford Recreation Ground was purchased in 1909 and that for Manor Park Recreation Ground in 1912. Both were laid out as relief work under the Unemployed Workmen's Act of 1905. The 1920 OS map shows the two separate grounds divided by Reynolds Avenue but by 1939 the Avenue stopped at its junction with Dore Avenue and the two sides had been united, with a triangular area of gardens bounded by trees in the west, which still remains today. This has a pergola feature with brick piers and numerous rose beds surrounded by a path system with seating, and a number of fine trees.
Plashet Jewish Cemetery was opened by the United Synagogue Company in 1896 on a rectangular site, simply laid out on a grid pattern. Originally there was a central prayer hall, which was demolished following bomb damage, but a small brick building is sited just inside the main entrance. The tombstones are generally in straight rows and surrounded by gravel, and while most are simple, among them are monuments topped with columns and urns, and a few family plots set with balustrades. The cemetery was known as the Trade Unionists Cemetery and past secretaries of the Cigars Union and Costermongers Union are buried here.
* on The National Heritage List for England, Parks & Gardens
By 1849 most of the City of London's churchyards were full and unsanitary, and in the early 1850s interment ceased under the Metropolitan Burials Act. In 1854 the City's Commissioners of Sewers purchased farmland at Little Ilford, once part of Epping Forest, for a new cemetery to serve the City. It was designed by William Haywood, Engineer and Surveyor to the Commissioners with an extensive network of curving paths and avenues, two Gothic chapels and Catacomb Valley formed by draining a former fishpond, its grand entrance flanked by porter's lodge and superintendent's house. It was landscaped by William Davidson with gardens, trees and shrubberies. The first burial took place in June 1856. By dint of purchasing the land the City of London became a 'commoner of Epping Forest' and as such was influential in keeping the Forest from further encroachment and enclosure. One of the first crematoria to be built in this country was opened here in 1904, with the first cremation taking place in 1905; in 1971-3 it was replaced by a second Crematorium, the Old Crematorium becoming a chapel of remembrance. A small garden of rest was created near the Crematorium in the 1920s followed by a small Memorial Garden in 1930, but in 1953 well-known landscape architect Richard Sudell was commissioned to design substantial Memorial Gardens on 4 ha. of land, catering for the increased demand for cremation after WWII.
By 1849 most of the City of London's churchyards were full and unsanitary, and in the early 1850s interment ceased under the Metropolitan Burials Act. In 1854 the City's Commissioners of Sewers purchased farmland at Little Ilford, once part of Epping Forest, for a new cemetery to serve the City. It was designed by William Haywood, Engineer and Surveyor to the Commissioners with an extensive network of curving paths and avenues, two Gothic chapels and Catacomb Valley formed by draining a former fishpond, its grand entrance flanked by porter's lodge and superintendent's house. It was landscaped by William Davidson with gardens, trees and shrubberies. The first burial took place in June 1856. By dint of purchasing the land the City of London became a 'commoner of Epping Forest' and as such was influential in keeping the Forest from further encroachment and enclosure. One of the first crematoria to be built in this country was opened here in 1904, with the first cremation taking place in 1905; in 1971-3 it was replaced by a second Crematorium, the Old Crematorium becoming a chapel of remembrance. A small garden of rest was created near the Crematorium in the 1920s followed by a small Memorial Garden in 1930, but in 1953 well-known landscape architect Richard Sudell was commissioned to design substantial Memorial Gardens on 4 ha. of land, catering for the increased demand for cremation after WWII.
