Description
St Peter-in-the-Forest is one of a number of 'daughter' churches to St Mary Walthamstow founded in 1840 in recognition that parts of the growing parish lay over 2.5 miles from the parish church. It was sited strategically on the fringe of the busy Wood Street area and serves an area known as 'The Forest'. The yellow brick church is in Italianate Romanesque style and, surrounded by its churchyard, is approached from Epping Forest abutting common land. Now closed for burials, the graveyard has numerous headstones in a natural, semi-wild setting with mature trees including oak, horse chestnut, yew and holly. In spring some of the tombs are literally covered with snowdrops.
Practical Information
| Site location | Woodford New Road |
|---|---|
| Postcode | E17 3PP |
| What3Words | ///neat.valve.salsa |
| Type of Site | Churchyard |
| Borough | Waltham Forest |
| Open to Public | Yes |
| Opening Times | unrestricted |
| Public Transport | Tube: Snaresbrook (Central). Rail: Wood Street Walthamstow. Bus: 20 |
| Research Updated | 1 March 2011 |
| Last Updated | 18 October 2026 |
Further Information
| Grid Reference | TQ390894 |
|---|---|
| Size in hectares | 0.46 |
| Site Ownership | Church |
| Site Management | LB Waltham Forest Green Space Service, Environment and Regeneration |
| Dates | 1840 |
| Listed Structures | Local list: St Peter's-in-the-Forest 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 | Waltham Forest |
| In Conservation Area | No |
| Tree Preservation Order | No |
| Nature Conservation Area | No |
| Green Belt | Yes |
| 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
Now sited in a suburban front garden is a small pond surviving from the former C18th landscape gardens around The Clock House, a large house built in c.1735 for a Dutch merchant, Sir Jacob Jacobson. Coe's survey map of 1822 shows a tree-lined approach avenue following the present outline of Woodside Park Avenue and a small pond to the east, close to the site of a larger canal, which may also partially survive on common land adjoining Whipps Cross Roundabout. The Clock House, so called because it originally had a large clock in front of the stables, was largely rebuilt in the early C19th. It had various owners over the years, and was at one time used by the Salvation Army. A listed building, it still stands on Wood Street and has now converted into flats.
The late C18th Snaresbrook House can be seen beyond its early C19th gate piers on the Woodford Road entrance, and its early C19th White Lodge is visible from Snaresbrook Road. A small rectangular Memorial Garden was created on part of the grounds, and a plaque erected by The Royal British Legion commemorates the opening of the garden by Cllr Richard Hoskins, JP, Mayor of Redbridge on 21 May 1997, sponsored by Weston Homes plc. Within the garden is Snaresbrook War Memorial and planting consists of trees, shrubs and a number of circular flower beds, gravel paths and a birdbath on fluted column, with iron railings and gate to Snaresbrook Road.
Snaresbrook Crown Court is the former Infant Orphan Asylum built by Sir Gilbert Scott, set in an informal landscape garden on the south side of Eagle Pond, Epping Forest. The foundation stone was laid by Prince Albert in 1841 and it was opened on 5 June 1843 by Queen Victoria's uncle, Leopold King of the Belgians. By 1880 3,000 orphans had been 'boarded, clothed, nursed and educated' by the charity. A design of 1841 shows landscaping before the buildings were erected, including island bed and paths. The orphanage was renamed Royal Wanstead School in 1938 and eventually closed in 1971. The grounds have fine cedar, oak, horse chestnut, ash, Scots pine, holly, yew and rhododendron, with sloping lawns to Eagle Pond.
