Chingford
Clockwise from top: Old Church Road in Chingford Mount, Queen Elizabeth's Hunting Lodge, Kings Head Hill and War Memorial, Station Road, and the former Bull & Crown public house
Chingford is located in Greater London
Chingford
Chingford
Location within Greater London
Population70,583 (2021 Census)[1]
OS grid referenceTQ379935
• Charing Cross9.2 mi (14.8 km) SW
London borough
Ceremonial countyGreater London
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townLONDON
Postcode districtE4
Dialling code020
PoliceMetropolitan
FireLondon
AmbulanceLondon
UK Parliament
London Assembly

Chingford is a town in east London, England, within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. The centre of Chingford is 9.2 miles (14.8 km) north-east of Charing Cross, with Waltham Abbey to the north, Woodford Green and Buckhurst Hill to the east, Walthamstow to the south, and Edmonton and Enfield to the west.

The suburb contains the areas of Chingford Green, Chingford Hatch, Chingford Mount, Friday Hill, Hale End, Highams Park, North Chingford and South Chingford. It had a population of 70,583 at the 2021 census.

Historically an ancient parish in the Waltham hundred of Essex, the town expanded significantly from the late 19th century, forming part of the conurbation of London. It was included in the Metropolitan Police District in 1840 and became part of London's postal district upon its inception in 1856, with the NE postcode area replaced with E in 1866. The parish was granted urban district status in 1894, and municipal borough status in 1938. Its administrative headquarters were at Chingford Town Hall until 1965 when Chingford merged with Walthamstow and Leyton to form a new borough, Waltham Forest within Greater London.

Toponymy

The River Ching runs through the area, and the town of Chingford is close to a number of fords of that river. However, old maps and descriptions give a name for the settlement long before the river has a name and it is likely that the name of the river as "Ching" arose long after the settlement was named. The alternative view is that the ford crossed the Lea, and a location near Cook's Ferry has been suggested.[2]

The area of Chingford is referenced in the Domesday book as "Cingefort" from 1066AD.[3] It is thought that, similarly to how Kingston upon Thames appears in Domesday Book of 1086AD as Chingestone and Chingetun(e), with ching being old English for the king, that Chingford could refer to the King's river, and Kings Ford. This idea is compounded by links to royalty using the area for hunting in centuries gone by, with Queen Elizabeth's Hunting Lodge[4] still standing in North Chingford.[5] Furthermore, there is evidence of King Harold Harefoot having lived in Chingford and the environs in the 11th century, a date which ties in with the Old English use of "Ching" for King.

Another suggested explanation by place name genealogists is that the settlement's name has its origin as "Shingly Ford"—that is, a ford over a waterway containing shingles.[6] However, the genealogists' assertion is likely to be incorrect, as the usage of the placename name "Cingefort" in the Doomsday book predates the coining of the word "Shingle." The earliest known usage of the Middle English word shingle is 1200AD and the word was not used to describe loose stones on a waterway until three centuries later in the 1500s.[7]

A further possibility derives from the form Chagingeford recorded in 1204, which may mean the ford of the dwellers by the stumps. The ford over the Lea may have been at Cook's Ferry. The remains of pile dwellings, covering a considerable area, were found near the mouth of the Ching between 1869 and 1901, when the reservoirs were being built.[8]

History

Chingford Station opened in 1873 and brought with it a huge increase in visitors to the area, many of whom used the town as a gateway to Epping Forest.

The forest was given to the people by Queen Victoria in 1878 under the Epping Forest Act, which ensured it was kept free and unenclosed for the public to use.

The Royal Forest Hotel opened in 1880, and its location in Ranger's Road meant it soon became popular among day-trippers visiting Epping Forest.

It is situated next to the historic Queen Elizabeth's Hunting Lodge, which the royal family used while hunting deer in the forest during the 1600s.

At the other end of Station Road, the King's Head Hotel dates back to at least the 1730s and it received a boost in trade as more people visited the area. It is still a popular hotel and has recently been refurbished inside, although the exterior of the building still preserves the character of its early days.

Landmarks

Queen Elizabeth's Hunting Lodge

One notable local landmark is Queen Elizabeth's Hunting Lodge.[4] Originally called the Great Standing, it was built for King Henry VIII in 1543, and was used as a grandstand to watch the hunting of deer, although it has been heavily altered over time. The building is located on Chingford Plain within Epping Forest and is open to the public. The lodge is preserved under the Epping Forest Preservation Act.[9]

Originally a barn built in the mid-19th century, Butler's Retreat, a Grade II listed building, is one of the few remaining Victorian retreats within the forest. The building is adjacent to the Queen Elizabeth's Hunting Lodge and takes its name from the 1891 occupier John Butler. Retreats originally served non-alcoholic refreshments as part of the Temperance movement. After closing in 2009 the building was refurbished by the City of London Corporation and re-opened as a cafe in 2012.[10]

Friday Hill House

Friday Hill House, Simmons Lane, off Friday Hill, dating from 1839, was a manor house built and owned by Robert Boothby Heathcote, who was both the lord of the manor and rector of the local church. It was he who paid for the building of the church of St Peter and St Paul in Chingford. He is buried in the Boothby family vault in All Saints' Churchyard (Chingford Old Church), Old Church Road. The vault was purchased by Robert Boothby (died 1733), who lived in the previous manor house. The present building has been used as a further education centre but was put up for sale in 2012.[11][12]

Pimp Hall Dovecote is situated in a green area at the bottom of Friday Hill and can be viewed by entering the Pimp Hall Nature Reserve. The dovecote, which had nesting space for 250 birds, belonged to Pimp Hall (originally Pympe's Hall), one of three manor houses around Chingford. In 1838 the estate was taken over and became part of the Chingford Earls estate. The farmhouse associated with it survived until just before World War II. This dovecote is depicted in the Millennium Heritage Mosaic on the front of Chingford Assembly Hall. It is the fourth item down on the left-hand side of the mosaic, also see the Key. There is a local legend telling how on one occasion Charles II was out hunting in Epping Forest and was caught in a snowstorm. He took shelter in Pimp Hall and was so delighted with the food offered him that he jocularly drew his sword and knighted the joint of beef declaring that it was now Sir Loin. Either this story caused the nearby pub on Friday Hill to be called "The Sirloin" or vice versa.

Pole Hill Obelisk

A granite obelisk at Pole Hill was erected in 1824 under the direction of the Astronomer Royal, the Rev. John Pond M.A., to mark true north for the telescopes of the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, south of the Thames. It was placed on high ground along the line of the Greenwich Meridian, but when this was recalibrated later in the 19th century, the obelisk was deemed to have been erected 19 feet (5.8 m) west of the revised meridian line. Today, an adjoining triangulation pillar marks the modern line.

Chingford Old Town Hall building, The Ridgeway
Chingford Town Hall, The Ridgeway

Chingford Town Hall, dating from 1929, is on The Ridgeway in Chingford. It has more recently been known as the Chingford Municipal Offices. The site was sold to property developers who built blocks of flats on the land and the town hall building was subsequently converted to apartments.[13][14]

Churches

All Saints, Chingford, viewed from the south.

All Saints' Church in Chingford Mount (known locally as the Old Church) is a Grade II* listed Church of England church at Old Church Road.[15] Parts of the church date back to the 12th and 13th centuries, but it now forms part of the parish of St Peter and St Paul, Chingford, which took over its role as the parish church in 1844. The church stands on the summit of Chingford Mount and has views westwards towards the reservoirs of the Lea Valley.[16] Directly opposite the church is Chingford Mount Cemetery.

The Roman Catholic church of Our Lady of Grace & Saint Teresa of Avila is on the corner of Kings Road and Station Road, next to St Mary's Catholic Primary School. The current half-timbered building dates from 1931, on the site of an earlier 1919 church.[17]

Governance

Parliament

Chingford is within the Chingford and Woodford Green UK Parliament constituency, which consists of the six Chingford wards in the Borough of Waltham Forest and two wards in the Borough of Redbridge. Iain Duncan Smith has been the sitting MP since 1992.[18]

Former MPs include Norman Tebbit, Leah Manning, Stan Newens, and Winston Churchill (when Chingford was in the Epping constituency).

London

Chingford is part of the London Borough of Waltham Forest, which also includes Walthamstow, Leyton, and Leytonstone. Chingford consists of six council wards, namely:

Each ward is represented by three councillors, except Endlebury and Highams Park & Hale End South, which each have two. Currently all of the councillors represent the Conservative Party except for one Labour councillor in Valley and two in Hale End and Highams Park South. The London Borough of Waltham Forest is presently controlled by the Labour party.

Chingford and Waltham Forest fall within the North East constituency of the London Assembly,[19] represented since 2004 by Jennette Arnold of the Labour party.[20]

Until 1965, the town formed the core of the Municipal Borough of Chingford. Historically a rural parish, it gained urban district status in 1894, and between 1938 and 1965 held municipal borough status.[21][22]

When Chingford was a municipal borough, before 1965, its politics were dominated by the Chingford Ratepayers' Association, which was nominally independent, but against whom the Conservative Party did not field candidates.

Demography

As of the 2021 census, the population of Chingford was 70,583, an increase from 66,211 in 2011. The ethnic and cultural diversity of the town significantly increased in the decade between the two censuses, with less than half the town's population (49.1%) now identifying as White British, a fall from 62.7% in 2011, and 80.5% in 2001.

Population figures for Chingford are based on the six wards that comprise the town (Chingford Green, Endlebury, Hale End, Hatch Lane, Larkswood and Valley) combined.

Ethnic Group 1991 2001 2011 2021
Number % Number % Number % Number %
White: Total 55,746 92.9% 52,801 86.8% 48,155 72.7% 44,583 63.2%
White: English/Welsh/Scottish/Northern Irish/British – – 49,017 80.5% 41,511 62.7% 34,650 49.1%
White: Irish – – 1,165 1.9% 1,111 1.7% 1,178 1.7%
White: Gypsy or Irish Traveller – – – – 69 0.1% 24 0%
White: Romani – – – – – – 120 0.2%
White: Other – – 2,619 4.3% 5,464 8.3% 8,611 12.2%
Asian: Total 1,777 3% 2,724 4.5% 5,956 9% 8,622 12.2%
Asian or Asian British: Indian 685 1.1% 844 1.4% 1,184 1.8% 1,671 2.4%
Asian or Asian British: Pakistani 595 1% 989 1.6% 2,370 3.6% 3,607 5.1%
Asian or Asian British: Bangladeshi 113 0.2% 189 0.3% 522 0.8% 906 1.3%
Asian or Asian British: Chinese 134 0.2% 206 0.3% 328 0.5% 502 0.7%
Asian or Asian British: Other Asian 250 0.4% 496 0.8% 1,552 2.3% 1,936 2.7%
Black: Total 2,063 3.4% 3,722 6.1% 7,166 10.8% 8,721 12.4%
Black or Black British: African 571 1% 1,421 2.3% 2,724 4.1% 3,721 5.3%
Black or Black British: Caribbean 1,139 1.9% 1,916 3.1% 3,281 5% 3,838 5.4%
Black or Black British: Other Black 353 0.6% 385 0.6% 1,161 1.8% 1,162 1.6%
Mixed: Total – – 1,359 2.2% 3,238 4.9% 4,641 6.6%
Mixed: White and Black Caribbean – – 530 0.9% 1,291 1.9% 1,577 2.2%
Mixed: White and Black African – – 155 0.3% 390 0.6% 606 0.9%
Mixed: White and Asian – – 306 0.5% 634 1% 990 1.4%
Mixed: Other Mixed – – 368 0.6% 923 1.4% 1,468 2.1%
Other: Total 402 0.7% 253 0.4% 1,696 2.6% 4,016 5.7%
Other: Arab – – – – 381 0.6% 382 0.5%
Other: Any other ethnic group 402 0.7% 253 0.4% 1,315 2% 3,634 5.1%
Total 59,988 100.0% 60,859 100.0% 66,211 100.0% 70,583 100.0%

Housing

Chingford was the location of one of the interwar London County Council cottage estates.

LCC Cottage estates 1918–1939
Estate name Area No of dwellings Population 1938 Population density
Pre-1914
Norbury1121886719.8 per acre (49/ha)
Old Oak32736351923 per acre (57/ha)
Totterdown Fields391262—32.4 per acre (80/ha)
Tower Gardens
White Hart Lane		9878359368 per acre (20/ha)
1919–1923
Becontree277025769[lower-alpha 1]1156529.3 per acre (23/ha)
Bellingham25226731200410.6 per acre (26/ha)
Castelnau51644285112.6 per acre (31/ha)
Dover House Estate
Roehampton Estate		147121253838.2 per acre (20/ha)
1924–1933
Downham60070963003211.8 per acre (29/ha)
Mottingham2022337900911.6 per acre (29/ha)
St Helier82590683987711 per acre (27/ha)
Watling38640341911010.5 per acre (26/ha)
Wormholt68783407811.5 per acre (28/ha)
1934–1939
Chingford[lower-alpha 2]2171540—7.1 per acre (18/ha)
Hanwell (Ealing)1401587673211.3 per acre (28/ha)
Headstone Lane142n.a5000
Kenmore Park58654207811.3 per acre (28/ha)
Thornhill
(Royal Borough of Greenwich)		21380159818.1 per acre (45/ha)
Whitefoot Lane (Downham)49n.an.a.
  1. ↑ Source says 2589 – transcription error
  2. ↑ Part of a larger PRC estate around Huntsman Road

Source:

  • Yelling, J. A. (1995). "Banishing London's slums: The interwar cottage estates" (PDF). Transactions. London and Middlesex Archeological Society. 46: 167–173. Retrieved 19 December 2016. Quotes: Rubinstein, 1991, Just like the country.

Local sport teams

  • Chingford's oldest football club is Egbertian FC,[23] formerly Old Egbertian FC, which was started by former pupils of St Egbert's College, Chingford. The club was formed in 1928 and is affiliated to the Amateur Football Alliance (AFA). The club plays in the Amateur Football Combination.
  • Ridgeway Rovers Youth Football Club is a local club in Chingford East London. Notable former players include David Beckham, Andros Townsend, and Harry Kane.[24]
  • Chingford Rugby Club was also founded in 1928, and its ground is at Waltham Way, Chingford.[25]
  • Chingford Cricket Club is located on Forest Side, but the entrance to the ground is on Kimberley Way. It is believed to have been founded in 1884.[26] The club plays in The Shepherd Neame Essex League[27] and the first team were promoted to the Premier League for the 2013 season.
  • Chingford Town Football Club was re-established in 2018 by local schoolboys and competes with the local non-league teams of Essex.
King George's Reservoir, home to the Sailing Club
  • King George Sailing Club was founded in the 1970s to provide dinghy sailing and windsurfing on the largest and best sailing water in the north and east of London. The club enjoys facilities both on and off the water and has an active membership engaged in racing, learning to sail, casual sailing, and windsurfing. In recognition of its good facilities and encouragement of youth sailing, the Royal Yachting Association has awarded the club Volvo Champion Club status.[28]

Local districts

Nearest places

Transport

Chingford Station

Chingford is served by Chingford railway station - which is in zone 5 - which is the terminus of the London Overground Lea Valley lines from Liverpool Street station in the City of London. Chingford is the only station in Waltham Forest to be within zone 5. There is also a station at Highams Park, in zone 4. Chingford lost its rail link to Stratford with the removal of the 500 m length of track known as the Hall Farm Curve in 1970, and there have been campaigns for its reinstatement.

The following London Buses routes serve Chingford: 97 Chingford Station to Stratford City, 158 Chingford Mount to Stratford, 179 Chingford Station to Ilford, 212 Chingford Station to Walthamstow St James St, 215 Lee Valley Camp Site to Walthamstow Central, 313 Chingford Station to Potters Bar, 357 Chingford Hatch to Whipps Cross, 379 Chingford Station to Yardley Lane Estate, 385 Chingford Station to Crooked Billet Sainsbury's, 397 Crooked Billet Sainsbury's to Debden, 444 Chingford Station to Turnpike Lane, W11 Chingford Hall Estate to Walthamstow Central, W16 Chingford Mount to Leytonstone and night route N26 Victoria to Chingford Station.

Education

Chingford secondary schools include:

Notable people

References

  1. ↑ Chingford is made up of 6 wards in the London Borough of Waltham Forest: Chingford Green, Endlebury, Hale End and Highams Park, Hatch Lane, Larkswood, and Valley.
  2. ↑ The Place Names of Essex, by PH Reaney, English Place-Name Society, Volume 12 p19
  3. ↑ "Chingford Doomsday Book entry". Government National Archives. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
  4. 1 2 "Queen Elizabeth's Hunting Lodge". Cityoflondon.gov.uk. 16 December 2010. Archived from the original on 12 June 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  5. ↑ "cityoflondon.gov.uk". Archived from the original on 12 August 2013. Retrieved 6 August 2013.
  6. ↑ "Chingford's Free Art and History". exploringeastlondon.co.uk. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
  7. ↑ "Etymology of the word Shingle". Etymology Online. Retrieved 7 September 2017.
  8. ↑ The Place Names of Essex, by P.H. Reaney, The English Place name Society, Volume 12, 1935, Reissued 1969
  9. ↑ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Chingford" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 6 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 233.
  10. ↑ City of London- Butler's Retreat Retrieved 25 February 2013
  11. ↑ "Waltham Forest Council, Friday Hill House Disposal". Archived from the original on 5 July 2012. Retrieved 19 November 2016.
  12. ↑ "Waltham Forest Council, Friday Hill House Sale Particulars" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 July 2012. Retrieved 19 November 2016.
  13. ↑ "Waltham Forest Council, Chingford Municipal Offices disposal". Archived from the original on 15 June 2012. Retrieved 19 November 2016.
  14. ↑ "Gilmartin Ley, The Old Town Hall, Chingford, London, E4". Archived from the original on 31 July 2020. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  15. ↑ Historic England, "All Saints, Chingford (1065596)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 6 September 2014
  16. ↑ Pevsner, Nikolaus (1951). The Buildings of England: Essex. Middlesex: Penguin Books Limited. p. 123.
  17. ↑ Powell, W R. "'The parish and borough of Chingford', in A History of the County of Essex: Volume 5". British History Online. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
  18. ↑ "Rt Hon Iain Duncan Smith MP". UK Parliament.
  19. ↑ "Census 2011: London Assembly Constituency Profiles". London Datastore. GLA Intelligence Unit. 2013. p. 47.
  20. ↑ "Assembly Members". Mayor of London and London Assembly. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  21. ↑ "History of Chingford, in Waltham Forest and Essex". University Of Portsmouth and others. 2009. Retrieved 23 June 2012.
  22. ↑ "The parish and borough of Chingford". University of London & History of Parliament Trust. 2012. Retrieved 23 June 2012.
  23. ↑ Egbertian FC Archived 8 February 2011 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 27 February 2013
  24. ↑ "Team London - Ridgeway Rovers Football Club". volunteerteam.london.gov.uk.
  25. ↑ "Home | Chingford Rugby Club". Chingfordrugby.co.uk. 10 December 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  26. ↑ "Chingford Cricket Club : history". www.chingfordcricketclub.co.uk. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
  27. ↑ "The Shepherd Neame Essex League". Essex Cricket.
  28. ↑ King George Sailing Club Retrieved 27 February 2013
  29. ↑ "England Football Online".
  30. ↑ "Blake, Dame Louisa Brandreth Aldrich- (1865–1925), surgeon". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 23 September 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/30367. Retrieved 16 February 2019. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  31. ↑ "BBC Radio 4 - Desert Island Discs, David Beckham". Desert Island Discs. 3 February 2017. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  32. ↑ Culpepper, Chuck (9 July 2007). "Beckham - Working-class boy to Man U". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 9 September 2008.
  33. ↑ "Becks opens up about Chingford on Desert Island Discs". East London and West Essex Guardian Series. 31 January 2017. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  34. ↑ "American Idols". W magazine. 1 August 2007. Archived from the original on 14 February 2009. Retrieved 24 February 2009.
  35. ↑ Beckham at Ridgeway Rovers Retrieved 27 February 2013
  36. ↑ The FA - Becks' Brimsdown boost, article from Friday, 24 September 2004 Archived 11 October 2004 at archive.today, accessed 7 July 2007
  37. ↑ "List of MPs". Archived from the original on 29 November 2017. Retrieved 10 May 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  38. ↑ Pearce, Garth (11 July 2008). "On the move: Alan Davies". The Sunday Times. London. Retrieved 10 May 2009.
  39. ↑ "Metal-archives.com". Metal-archives.com. Archived from the original on 18 August 2010. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  40. ↑ "Iain Duncan Smith, MP for Chingford and Woodford Green". www.iainduncansmith.org.uk. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
  41. ↑ "Gayle signs permanent deal with Stoke City". Newcastle United Football Club. 22 July 2022. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  42. ↑ "Zero to 100 | By Harry Kane". The Players' Tribune. 5 February 2018. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  43. ↑ "Hall of Fame". CHINGFORD FOUNDATION SCHOOL PE Department. 18 February 2015. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  44. ↑ "One day I'll play for England: London schoolboy's dream is about to". Evening Standard. 27 March 2015. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  45. ↑ Molyneaux, Ian (15 November 2020). "The London school where David Beckham and an Eastenders star were pupils". MyLondon. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  46. ↑ "Jony Ive | Biography, Apple, & Facts". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  47. ↑ "Kray funeral date set". BBC News. 3 October 2000. Retrieved 10 May 2009.
  48. ↑ Siôn, Pwyll ap (10 June 2017). The Music of Michael Nyman: Texts, Contexts and Intertexts. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. ISBN 9781859282106 – via Google Books.
  49. ↑ Moyes, Johnathon (27 June 2007). "Ex-pupil Phillips opens old school". Waltham Forest Guardian. Retrieved 10 May 2009.
  50. ↑ http://www.petersceats.net. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  51. ↑ "John Sitton". IMDb. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
  52. ↑ "Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji | British composer". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
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