Description
Woodford Bridge Green is a large triangular village green surrounded by houses on sloping open land with a large pond, and at its west end abuts St Paul's Church. Another smaller area of green is situated at some distance to the west. Woodford Bridge near Claybury Hill was one of four hamlets that made up Old Woodford, along with Woodford Row now Woodford Green, Woodford Wells and Church End now South Woodford, separated by fields and meadows. It was so-called for its position near an important crossing point over the Roding River, the road was an ancient route from Essex to Suffolk and Norfolk.
Practical Information
| Site location | Manor Road/Cross Road, Woodford Green |
|---|---|
| Postcode | IG8 8BT |
| What3Words | ///runner.recall.crazy |
| Type of Site | Public Open Land |
| Borough | Redbridge |
| Open to Public | Yes |
| Opening Times | unrestricted |
| Public Transport | Tube: Woodford , Fairlop (Central) then bus. Bus: 275, W14 |
| Research Updated | 1 April 2002 |
| Last Updated | 18 October 2026 |
Full description
Woodford Bridge Green is a large triangular village green surrounded by houses on sloping open land with a large pond, and at its west end abuts St Paul's Church Woodford Bridge (q.v.). Another smaller area of green is situated at some distance to the west. Woodford Bridge near Claybury Hill was one of four hamlets which made up Old Woodford, along with Woodford Row now Woodford Green, Woodford Wells and Church End now South Woodford, separated by fields and meadows. It was so-called for its position near an important crossing point over the Roding River and the road was an ancient route from Essex to Suffolk and Norfolk, which may have been the route that monks travelled with the body of King Edward the Martyr in 1013 to Bury St Edmunds where he was buried.
The hamlet gradually changed to village then suburb after the railway arrived in the 1850s and the area became developed. The Green is described by Edward Walford writing in 1883: 'planted with tall elms, stands on the rising ground by the roadside, near Claybury Hill . . . It is sad to record the fact that the beauty of this spot has been sadly spoilt by speculative builders, who have contrived to disfigure the green with most hideous and abnormal structures'. (Village London). Walford also quotes a notice published in 1793 describing the village's 'very picturesque appearance' and going on to say that 'near the bridge is a neat pump of excellent water, brought hither in 1776 at a great expense by the proprietor of the estate for the accommodation of the poor inhabitants.'
The hamlet gradually changed to village then suburb after the railway arrived in the 1850s and the area became developed. The Green is described by Edward Walford writing in 1883: 'planted with tall elms, stands on the rising ground by the roadside, near Claybury Hill . . . It is sad to record the fact that the beauty of this spot has been sadly spoilt by speculative builders, who have contrived to disfigure the green with most hideous and abnormal structures'. (Village London). Walford also quotes a notice published in 1793 describing the village's 'very picturesque appearance' and going on to say that 'near the bridge is a neat pump of excellent water, brought hither in 1776 at a great expense by the proprietor of the estate for the accommodation of the poor inhabitants.'
Further Information
| Grid Reference | TQ426918 |
|---|---|
| Size in hectares | 2.15 |
| Site Ownership | LB Redbridge |
| Site Management | Vision Redbridge Culture and Leisure Ltd |
| Listed Structures | locally listed building on east of green |
| On National Heritage List for England (NHLE), Parks & Gardens | No |
| Registered common or village green on Commons Registration Act 1965 | Yes: Green (TVG36) |
| Protected under London Squares Preservation Act 1931 | No |
| Local Authority | Redbridge |
| In Conservation Area | Yes |
| Conservation Area Name | Woodford Bridge |
| Tree Preservation Order | No |
| Nature Conservation Area | Yes - Borough Importance II (pond) |
| Green Belt | No |
| Metropolitan Open Land | No |
| Special Policy Area | Yes - Archaeology Priority Area |
| Other LA Designation | Local Open Space |
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
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.
Claybury Park was once part of the Claybury estate, held by Barking Abbey from the C12th; it contains Claybury and Hospital Hill Woods, remnants of ancient woodland of Hainault Forest. Claybury was developed into a fine gentleman's estate from 1786 by James Hatch, who built a new mansion, expanded the estate and commissioned Humphry Repton to advise on landscaping the parkland. By 1847 the estate was c.440 acres and included Claybury Woods as well as a number of properties. In 1887 it was sold and Claybury Asylum was built by 1893, the first mental hospital built by the new LCC. In 1997 the Health Authority sold the Hospital estate for an exclusive private housing development, renamed Repton Park, but 18 hectares of ancient woodland and 38 hectares of parkland became part of a new public park, Claybury Park. This also incorporated Redbridge Open Space to the south, itself part of the Claybury estate until the 1880s.
This is a fragment of a large C16th estate that is now divided by the M11 to form two distinctive parks, Ray Park to the west and Ashton Playing Fields to the east. The estate was purchased in 1770 by Sir James Wright, one-time British Resident in Venice, who commissioned a new mansion, Ray Hall, from Robert Adam, together with a number of outbuildings, including the octangular walled garden that still exists in the public park, now being restored as a community garden. Wright set up a an artificial slate factory in the grounds, employing techniques he had seen in Italy to manufacture clay-based products. The public park dates from the mid C20th and has notable cedar, sycamore, horse chestnut, lime and oak, with a number of rose beds in the area of the house. The James Leal Centre, built on the site of the C19th house and stable block, opened in December 2009.
