This volume completes Becontree hundred by providing histories of
East Ham, West Ham, Little Ilford, Leyton, Walthamstow, Wanstead,
and Woodford. The region, rural until the 19th century, is now part
of Greater London. Though mainly residen-tial it includes, at
Silvertown, Canning Town, and Stratford, one of the largest
manufacturing centres in southern England, as well as the Royal
Docks. Until 1965 the region remained outside London for
admin-istrative purposes. This strongly influenced urban
development, especially in East Ham and West Ham, which, as county
boroughs, had sole responsibility for local government services and
planning in a period of remark-able growth. West Ham, in 1898, was
one of the first English towns to come under socialist control.
Throughout the region the expanding population demanded the
pro-vision of many new schools and churches, each of which is
briefly treated in the vol-ume. In dealing with churches an attempt
is made to assess the relative strength of the various
denominations. Urbanization has swept away most of the visible
remains of earlier history. Until the 19th century the region was
fashionable with the gentry, and this is reflected in the size of
some of the older parish churches, notably at Walthamstow and West
Ham. At Little Ilford, by contrast, is one of the smallest churches
in Essex. Wanstead House, the palladian mansion designed by Colen
Campbell, was demolished in 1823, though much of its park has
survived. The northern part of the region, bordering on Epping
Forest, retains some attractive wood-land, especially at
Walthamstow, Wanstead, and Woodford, where several 18th-century
houses also survive. Notable modern build-ings include Wanstead
hospital, built as an orphanage (1861), Sir Joseph Bazalgette's
metropolitan sewage pumping station at Stratford (1868), and the
town halls at East Ham (1903) and Walthamstow (1941). During the
Second World War the south part of the region was heavily bombed,
and since 1945 there has been large-scale redevelopment, especially
at Canning Town, where the sky-line is increasingly dominated by
tower blocks of council flats.
General
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