The name comes from a bridge over the River Roding which was demolished in 1921. The bridge was made of red brick, unlike other bridges in the area made of white stone. The name had first been applied to the Redbridge area and Redbridge tube station was opened in 1947. It was earlier known as Hocklee's Bridge.[2]
Redbridge has more than 35 parks, playgrounds and open spaces. These include Hainault Forest Country Park, with 300 acres of countryside including adventure play areas, cafe and petting zoo; Roding Valley Park, a wildlife sanctuary with a range of flora and fauna and woodland areas; Valentines Park, including Valentines Mansion, ornamental gardens, bowling green and outdoor gym; and Claybury Woods and Park, a conservation area that features an ancient area of oak and hornbeam woodland, meadows and wildlife ponds.[9]
Arts and culture
Valentines Mansion is a Georgian country house and gardens in the grounds of Valentines Park, Ilford.[10]
Kenneth More Theatre in Oakfield Road, Ilford opened in 1975.[11]
Redbridge Museum, which opened in 2000, is situated on the second floor of Redbridge Central Library, Clements Road, Ilford, along with the Redbridge Heritage Centre.[12][13]
Redbridge has 11 libraries across the borough. This includes the Redbridge Central Library, in Clements Road, Ilford, which had a major refurbishment in 2012. The libraries offer a number of services including reading clubs, story time sessions, study areas and learning resources. The libraries in Redbridge are operated by Vision Redbridge Culture & Leisure, a Charitable Trust established by Redbridge Council and now operating independently.[15]
The local authority is Redbridge Council, which meets at Redbridge Town Hall (formerly Ilford Town Hall) and has its main offices at the nearby Lynton House.[16]
In 2011 the population of Redbridge was recorded at 278,970.[17] In common with the other London boroughs this continues a period of growth; between the 1991 and 2001 censuses the increase was 7.5%[18] with a further rise of 15.3% by 2011.[17] Redbridge has the third highest proportion of children and a higher-than-average proportion of older adults while the proportion of working age adults is slightly lower than average.[19] The population density was last recorded at 4,945 residents per km2 (the London regional density is 5,199, far higher than the England and Wales figure of 371).[17]
The healthy life expectancy (HLE) at birth for Redbridge residents stands at 65.5 years for males and 62.4 years for females (the England average HLE is 63.4 for males and 64.1 for females).[20]
Redbridge is one of the most ethnically diverse local authority areas in the UK. 34% of respondents to the 2011 census stated that they were born outside the UK and 65.5% identified as belonging to an ethnic group other than white British.[21] Redbridge's largest ethnic group is White British (34.5%), followed by Indian (16.4%),[21] and Pakistani (Redbridge has the highest proportion of Pakistani residents of any London borough).[21]
In common with many London boroughs, the 2011 census showed notable ethnic and religious population mobility in Redbridge. Ethnic groups whose proportions fell in Redbridge were White British (-23% of the borough's total), Irish (-0.9%), and Caribbean (-0.6%). Ethnic groups whose proportions rose include Pakistani (+4.9%), other Asians (+4.4%), Bangladeshis (+3.9%), and other White (+2.9%). Religious groups whose proportions fell in Redbridge were Christian (-13.9%) and Jews (-2.5%). For Jews this represented a fall of over 50% of their number in some wards. Religious groups whose proportions rose include Muslims (+11.4%) followed by Hindu (+3.6%).[21]
Ethnicity
Ethnic makeup of Redbridge by single year ages in 2021
According to the 2021 Census, the largest religious groupings are Muslims (31.3 per cent), followed by Christians (30.4 per cent), those of no religion (12.6 per cent), Hindus (11.1 per cent) no response (5.7 per cent), Sikhs (5.7 per cent), Jews (2.1 per cent), Buddhists (0.5 per cent) and other religions at (0.7 per cent).
The proportion of Christians residing in Redbridge in 2011 ranked fourth lowest in England and Wales, and 12 per cent below the London average of 48.4%. The number of Muslims in Redbridge has more than doubled since 2001.[30]
Ilford Hainault Street Bus Station, where nine different bus routes terminate.
Numerous London buses run through and within the borough.
Travel to work
In March 2011, the main forms of transport that residents used to travel to work were: driving a car or van, 23.5% all residents aged 16–74; underground, metro, light rail, tram, 18.4%; train, 6.2%; bus, minibus or coach, 4.6%; on foot, 3.7%; work mainly at or from home, 2.6%; passenger in a car or van, 1.5%.[34]
Redbridge Council is the Local Education Authority. The Borough has the accolade of sending more young people to university than any other borough in the country in both 2011 and 2012. GCSE and A Level results are consistently higher than the Country's average. A 2017 report by Trust for London and the New Policy Institute found that Redbridge has the highest proportion of 19 year olds with Level 3 qualifications (equivalent to an A Level) of any London borough.[35]
All schools in the borough take part in the Redbridge Schools Choral Festival, a bi-annual music festival held in the Royal Albert Hall in Knightsbridge.[36]
Sport and leisure facilities
Redbridge has a number of sports and leisure facilities including the road and off-road cycling tracks at Redbridge Cycling Centre.[37]
Valentines Park in Ilford acted as one of Essex County Cricket Club's home grounds in 1923-4 and from 1935 until 2002, when the club stopped playing there due to financial constraints.[39]
Time 107.5 FM was a commercial radio station broadcasting nearby in Romford, to the local area, Time FM closed on 1 August 2025 becoming part of Nation Radio.[40]
The first Hospital Radio service In Redbridge was founded in 1975 as Goodmayes Hospital Radio Association with studios located within the old Goodmayes Hospital building. In 1993, the station expanded it's coverage serving the neighbouring King George Hospital. In 2004 the station changed it's on-air name to The Jumbo Sound, as it began broadcasting online to sever other locations operated by NEFLT NHS Trust. In 2015, while the station celebrated its 40th anniversary, a burst radiator caused a flood in the studio, forcing the station off-air, and volunteers agreed to merge with Bedrock Radio. The merge was completed In April 2016, creating a unified hospital radio service covering North East London.[41]
Today, Bedrock Radio serves the local community by broadcasting online and served local hospitals of Queen's, King George & Goodmayes, Plus units and clinics locally. The station features information about the Hospitals, NHS services, promotes charitable and community organisations and has an extensive local events guide featuring community & non-profit events. Bedrock Radio also provides local news on-air covering East London and South Essex, the station has announced it will launch on a local DAB+ later in 2025.
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