Romford Garden Suburb

Last updated

Romford Garden Suburb
Romford Garden Suburb map.jpeg
Romford Garden Suburb map, 1910
Greater London UK location map 2.svg
Red pog.svg
Romford Garden Suburb
Location within Greater London
London borough
Ceremonial county Greater London
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town LONDON
Postcode district RM2
Dialling code 01708
Police Metropolitan
Fire London
Ambulance London
UK Parliament
London Assembly
List of places
UK
England
London
51°35′24″N00°11′33″E / 51.59000°N 0.19250°E / 51.59000; 0.19250

Romford Garden Suburb (otherwise known as the Gidea Park Exhibition Estate), is a late-Edwardian housing development in Gidea Park, in the London Borough of Havering. The object of the new suburb, which was built on land belonging to Gidea Hall, then occupied by the Liberal politician Herbert Raphael, was, according to his parliamentary colleague John Burns, to "provide families with a well-built, modern home regardless of class or status" and "to bring the towns into the country and the country into the towns".

Contents

The garden suburb was conceived to be an example of early 20th-century domestic architecture and town planning. They were popular in Edwardian England; Hampstead Garden Suburb, established by Henrietta Barnett in 1906, was one example. The garden suburb at Romford comprised 159 fully-furnished houses and cottages each funded by the architects who designed them, in either the Arts and Crafts or Art Nouveau styles. Upon completion an exhibition was organised to showcase the dwellings for prospective buyers and a competition was held to find the best building, with a first prize of £250 and a gold medal being awarded to the winning architect. The best detached houses were awarded Class I status, which would allow the property to be sold for £500, while Class II buildings were marketed for £375. The buildings were judged on their utility and economy of management and maintenance.

One hundred architects and urban planners took part in the Gidea Park development, including William Curtis Green, Philip Tilden, Raymond Unwin, Richard Barry Parker, George Val Myer, Geoffry Lucas and Baillie Scott. The exhibition opened in the spring of 1911 and with it came the establishment of several roads, including Balgores Lane, Squirrels Heath Avenue and Crossways to the south of Hare Street (now Main Road) and Heath Drive, Meadway, Reed Pond Walk, Heaton Grange Road, Risebridge Road and Parkway to the north. In 1934, using land left over from the first competition, a second exhibition was held, this time hosted by Raphael's nephew, Major Ralph Raphael MC. These houses were designed in the English vernacular style, the dominant architectural fashion for low density housing. Six of the 1911 exhibition houses were later designated as Grade II listed buildings by Historic England. The suburb was designated as a conservation area in 1970. The winner of the 1934 competition, 64 Heath Drive, by Francis Skinner, a founding member of Berthold Lubetkin's Tecton Group, was also listed at Grade II in 1997.

History

An engraving of the Gidea Hall estate, by Humphrey Repton, 1797 Gidea Hall, 1797 from an engraving made by Humphrey Repton.jpg
An engraving of the Gidea Hall estate, by Humphrey Repton, 1797

Thomas Cooke, a Yorkshireman who became London Mayor in 1462, was granted a Royal Charter for Havering-atte-Bower. This enabled him to build a country house, which he named "Geddy Hall". The word "geddy" derived from the lake and its livestock; ged, meaning pike, and ea (water). The house remained unfinished for at least a century because of his numerous incarcerations within the Tower of London for High Treason. Upon his death in 1478, the estate was passed down through the Cooke family and eventually to his great-grandson, Anthony Cooke, tutor for Edward VI, [1] in October 1579. [2]

After a brief period abroad, Anthony returned to Havering-atte-Bower and completed the building of Geddy Hall, which became Gidea Hall. [3] In 1657, the hall and its grounds were sold to Richard Emes, a local businessman, for £9,000. Upon the Restoration in 1660, the estate was bought back by the Crown and passed through the ownerships of various nobilities; it was eventually sold through public auction, before the Coronation of Queen Victoria. [4] Gidea Hall sold to the Black family in 1802 under whose ownership it remained until 1883 when it was bought for redevelopment by a company that was associated with Jabez Balfour. The company was unsuccessful in its plans and in 1893, Gidea Hall was again put up for sale. [5]

The English landscape designer Humphry Repton designed a small hamlet in Gidea Park and lived there in the early 1800s [6] in a small cottage, out of which he worked, [7] adjacent to Balgores Lane at the junction of, what was then, Hare Street. [6] The cottage survived until the 1960s when it was demolished to make way for a bank.[ citation needed ]

Planning

Sir Herbert Raphael, vice-president of the Romford Garden Suburb House and Cottage Exhibition Committee, and upon whose land the garden suburb was built 1906 Herbert Raphael.jpg
Sir Herbert Raphael, vice-president of the Romford Garden Suburb House and Cottage Exhibition Committee, and upon whose land the garden suburb was built

The Liberal Member of parliament, Herbert Raphael, purchased Gidea Hall, Romford, in 1897. [8] It came set within 150 acres (610,000 m2) and Raphael purchased a further 480 acres (1,900,000 m2), which he divided up, giving 20 acres (81,000 m2), which included a lake, for use as a public park; Raphael lent his name to it in 1904. [9] He formed the idea for a garden suburb after the construction of Hampstead Garden Suburb, which was established by Henrietta Barnett in 1906 on land purchased from Eton College. [10] Barnett had set up the Hampstead Garden Suburb Trust Ltd and appointed Barry Parker and Raymond Unwin as its chief architects. Raphael decided to capitalise on the success seen at Hampstead [8] and other garden suburbs, such as at Ealing, Tottenham and Tooting, and set about organising an his own exhibition at Gidea Park. [11]

Raphael enlisted the help of John Tudor Walters, an architect and surveyor, and Charles McCurdy, who had been a director for the Hampstead Garden Suburb Trust, to set up the Gidea Hall Development Company, [8] [n 1] the head office for which was based at 33 Henrietta Street, in Covent Garden, London. [13] Raphael designated 450 acres (1,800,000 m2) to the building of the garden suburb, on the west side of the Gidea Hall estate; to the east, 90 acres (360,000 m2) was used to establish a golf course. [14] Each acre within the suburb area was to contain no more than six dwellings. [15]

House and Cottage Exhibition Committee

John Burns, president of the House and Cottage Exhibition Committee John Burns.jpg
John Burns, president of the House and Cottage Exhibition Committee

For the suburb layout, the judges handled 323 plans from architects all over the country who wished to take part. First prize and £100 was awarded to W. Garnett Gibson and Reginald Dann. [16] For the dwellings, they received 2000 applications from interested architects, with 100 [17] being selected by the judges, Guy Dawber, H. V. Lanchester, and Mervyn Macartney. [15] The object of the new suburb, according to the Liberal Member of parliament John Burns, who was then the president of the Local Government Board, [18] was "to provide families with a well-built, modern home, regardless of class or status", and "to bring the towns into the country, and the country into the towns". [19] Raphael's plan was to give the working classes a chance to enjoy a new home on land that had previously been occupied and enjoyed only by the "few in splendid isolation". [19]

President

Honorary secretary

Vice-presidents

Note: For a complete list, see the source for the House and Cottage Exhibition Committee The Book of the Exhibition of Houses and Cottages, Romford Garden Suburb, Gidea Park, pp. 8–9.

Design and construction

The finishing touches being made to 36 and 38, Reed Pond Walk. The houses were designed by the Arts and Crafts architect, Baillie Scott. 36 and 38, Reed Pond Walk, Gidea Park, Romford.jpeg
The finishing touches being made to 36 and 38, Reed Pond Walk. The houses were designed by the Arts and Crafts architect, Baillie Scott.
43 Heath Drive, designed by William Curtis Green (to the right of the picture), nearing completion 43, Heath Drive, Gidea Park, Romford.jpeg
43 Heath Drive, designed by William Curtis Green (to the right of the picture), nearing completion

Building for the new suburb started in 1909 when Raphael commissioned the construction of a new railway station which he intended to assist with accessibility for prospective buyers at the Exhibition. The station was to be served by the Great Eastern Main Line. [20] The foundation stone was laid on the first dwelling on 28 July 1910. [21] by Burns, [11] The stone, part of the front elevation of 16 Heath Drive, is now only visible from inside the garage at the address. [22]

By the late spring of 1911 the project was complete, and featured 140, fully furnished houses and small cottages, in the Arts and Crafts style. [23] The entire development cost £60,000 [n 2] with a further £20,000 [n 3] being put aside for the building of roads, pavements and street furniture. [25] The landscaping was carried out by William Barron & Son, Ltd. [26]

To visualise what each house would look like, Raphael took inspiration from Henrik Ibsen's The Master Builder , which used the motto "Houses for people to live in" [27] and from Francis Bacon's The Essayes Or Covnsels, Civill and Morall, of Francis Lo. Vervlam, Viscovnt St. Alban, which carried the phrase "A house is to live in, not to look at". [27] [28] Bacon's link to Gidea Park - his grandfather, Sir Anthony Cooke, occupied Gidea Hall in the 16th century - was used to advertise the new suburb. [27] The Book of the Exhibition of Houses and Cottages: Romford Garden Suburb, Gidea Park was written to accompany the Exhibition and to detail each building for the benefit of prospective buyers. A number of important people were asked for their opinion on what made the perfect house and how modern day living could be improved, including Thomas Hardy, [27] Sir Edward Poynter, [29] Millicent Fawcett [30] and Arnold Bennett. [29]

The interiors were designed to make domestic living as economic as possible. There was much tiling throughout, especially in the kitchen and scullery, where surfaces could be cleaned easily. Some of the dwellings were furnished by the architect, and others by leading companies of the day, including Heal & Son who were based in Tottenham Court Road. [31] The construction of each house was either funded solely by the architect or in partnership with the builder. [32]

Competition

Upon completion, a competition was held in the summer of 1911 to find the best building, an event that was witnessed by Raphael, Walters, McCurdy, and Sir Frederick Treves, among others. [23] A first prize of £250 and a gold medal was awarded to the winning architect and builder. [33] The judges, Guy Dawber, Henry Vaughan Lanchester and Mervyn Macartney, gave the best detached houses a Class I status, which would allow the property to be sold for £500. The best detached cottages were given a Class II status which allowed them to be marketed for £375. [17] Smaller prizes were given for best internal decoration, best town plan, best garden design, drawings, and excellence in craftsmanship and construction. [23] Admission to the public, and prospective buyers, was free. [34] A sales office was opened at 75 Main Road, opposite Balgores Lane, in 1913 to cope with purchase enquiries and viewings. The building was thought by Nikolaus Pevsner to have been originally built for the Japan–British Exhibition in White City, but was relocated to its current site. [35] [n 4] Balgores House, which was built in the 1850s, since renamed to Gidea Park College, served as the exhibitions refreshments room. [37]

Categories, prizes and winners

Charles Mccurdy MP.jpg
Charles McCurdy (top) and Tudor Walters, co-founders of the Gidea Hall Development Company, and judges in the exhibition
Tudor Walters MP.jpg
ClassOpen to architects [33] First prize [38] Second prize [38]
IA detached house to cost £500. First prize of £250 and a gold medal. Second prize of £100.Plot 208, Parkway; by Geoffrey LucasPlot 240, Parkway; by Reginald T. Longden
IIA detached cottage to cost £375. First prize of £200 and a gold medal. Second prize of £100.Plot 273, Meadway; by C. M. CrickmerPlot 291, Meadway; by Herbert. A Welch
IIIFor the best internally fitted house in Classes I or II. First prize only, of £50.Plot 348, Heaton Grange Road; by Stanley P. SchoolingPlot 282, Meadway; by Ernest Willmott
IVFor the best town plan of Gidea Park. First prize of £100. Second prize of £50.W. Garnett Gibson and Reginald DanGeoffrey Lucas and T. A. Lodge
VA garden design for either a House or Cottage, Class I or Class II. First prize of £25. Second prize of £10.Plot 43, Heath Drive by William Curtis Green Plot 208, Parkway by Geoffrey Lucas
VIA prospective drawing, suitable for reproduction, of a House or Cottage entered for competition in Classes I or II. First prize of £10. Second prize of £5.H. S. EastR. Mauchlen
ClassOpen to buildersFirst prizeSecond prize
VIIFor excellence of workmanship and construction in the erection of a house or cottage in Classes I and II. First prize of £100 and a gold medal. Second prize £50.Plot 43 Heath Drive; Faulkner & SonsPlots 241 & 242, Reed Pond Walk; F. W. Jarvis
VIIIFor wholly or partly furnished houses using furniture that is considered by the judges to be affordable and of suitable quality. A Gold and Silver medal will be awarded as a prize. Heal & Son, Tottenham Court Road, London Waring & Gillow, Oxford Street, London
IXFor improvements in materials used in house building, including tiles, bricks, partition walls, wall and ceiling coverings, etc.Plot 244, Reed Pond Walk; for the use of silver grey bricks, supplied by S. & E. Collier of Reading, Berkshire Plot 256, Meadway; for the use of wood burnt brown bricks, supplied by the Sussex Brick Company of Warnham
XFor improvements in fittings used in house building, including sanitary and domestic fittings, baths, stoves, cooking ranges. For improvements in lighting and heating, window and door dressings, etc.The B. K range, exhibited by the Coalbrookdale Company Ltd. of Berners Street, West End of London The Interoven Stove, exhibited by the Interoven Patent Stove Company of Kingsway, London

Judges

Two interiors that featured in the furnished house VIII class. The bottom picture shows the living room interior, designed by Hindley & Wilkinson, of 201 Parkway, a house in the Class I category Furnished cottage interiors in Romford Garden Suburb.jpeg
Two interiors that featured in the furnished house VIII class. The bottom picture shows the living room interior, designed by Hindley & Wilkinson, of 201 Parkway, a house in the Class I category

Note: For a complete list, see the source for the House and Cottage Exhibition Committee The Book of the Exhibition of Houses and Cottages, Romford Garden Suburb, Gidea Park, pp. 8–9.

Architects and buildings

A request was made by the committee in the building press for architects to take part in the exhibition which would give them the chance to showcase their talents. [39] The response was good with 100 architects signing up, with some completing several houses on the development. Of the notable architects, William Curtis Green, who had established his office just ten years previously, designed two properties, as did Baillie Scott, who was long established. Others included Robert van 't Hoff, Philip Tilden, Norman Jewson, and Raymond Unwin and Richard Barry Parker, [40] who were both instrumental in the design of the garden suburb at Hampstead. [41]

Meadway pictured in August 2020 Gidea Park - Meadway street scene.jpg
Meadway pictured in August 2020

Of the 159 dwellings that were built, six were designated as Grade II listed buildings by Historic England. On 14 September 1979, 16 [42] and 27 [43] Meadway; 36 and 38, Reed Pond Walk; [44] and 43, Heath Drive, [45] were added to the national register of protected buildings. 41 Heath Drive was added on 30 June 2000. [46]

Purchasing

The first plot sold in July 1910, soon after the exhibition opened; on another plot, the first house was being built, at a cost of £850. [n 5] By the following year, 153 plots had been sold and £63,000 had already been invested in house building. [47] Interested buyers were offered a special deal on the plots in the summer of 1911 by the Gidea Hall Development Company. The deal would include complete funding of the plot and dwelling in exchange for a £5 upfront payment followed by monthly or quarterly payments over a 7-year period. The purchaser could either choose the plot to invest in, or live in the house themselves. Each plot was sold for £100 [n 6] with the promise of the land being worth a lot more by the time the instalment term had expired. [47]

The directors of the Gidea Hall Development Company agreed to pay the conveyancing costs, including the tax, and a Deed of Conveyance certificate was given to the purchaser on completion. Building on the plots was not a requirement; advice was given that the space could be used for plantation, until such a time when the purchaser wished to build a dwelling. Funding for a house was also offered by the company, in exchange for monthly payments over a 10, 15, or 20-year term. The offer included a 4% discount that would be applied to each purchase and should the purchaser die during the contract, all monies would be paid back to the deceased's estate. [47]

Gidea Park Modern Homes Exhibition

64 Heath Drive, the winning design from Francis Skinner for the Gidea Park Modern Homes Exhibition in 1934 64 Heath Drive 2013 - Berthold Lubetkin.jpg
64 Heath Drive, the winning design from Francis Skinner for the Gidea Park Modern Homes Exhibition in 1934

A second competition, separate from the first, was held in Romford Garden Suburb between 31 July and 20 August 1934 and was called the Gidea Park Modern Homes Exhibition. [48] It was the idea of Raphael's nephew, Major Ralph Raphael MC, [49] who shared his uncle's 1911 vision; to build affordable, economical housing which benefited from the concept of rational design by competing architects. [49] 35 houses were built and each were marketed from between £650 and £1,475. [50]

The exhibition was opened by the Earl of Crawford and was visited by the Prince of Wales. It ran for 18 days [51] but failed to achieve the kind of success that the 1911 exhibition did. [49] The competition was won by Francis Skinner, then aged 26, who had been articled to Berthold Lubetkin two years previously and who was a founding member of Lubetkin's Tecton Group. [52] The dwelling, 64 Heath Drive, was built at a cost of £900 [n 7] and was one of Tecton's first designs. [49]

The suburb was made a conservation area by Havering Council in June 1970. [53] On 24 March 1997, 64 Heath Drive was designated as a Grade II listed building by English Heritage. [54]

Notes and references

Notes

  1. ↑ The Gidea Hall Development Company later became Gidea Park Ltd. [12]
  2. ↑ £60,000 in 1910 equals (£7,736,465 in 2024 adjusted for inflation) [24]
  3. ↑ £20,000 in 1910 equals (£2,578,822 in 2024 adjusted for inflation) [24]
  4. ↑ 75 Main Road survives and is now an accountancy office. [36]
  5. ↑ £850 in 1910 equals (£109,600 in 2024 adjusted for inflation) [24]
  6. ↑ £100 in 1911 equals (£12,863 in 2024 adjusted for inflation) [24]
  7. ↑ £900 in 1934 equals (£80,706 in 2024 adjusted for inflation) [24]

References

  1. ↑ The Book of the Exhibition of Houses and Cottages: Romford Garden Suburb, Gidea Park, p. 42.
  2. ↑ McIntosh, Marjorie K. The Fall of a Tudor Gentle Family: The Cookes of Gidea Hall, Essex, 1579–1629, Huntington Library Quarterly, vol. 41, no. 4, 1978, p. 279. Accessed 1 Feb. 2020.
  3. ↑ The Book of the Exhibition of Houses and Cottages: Romford Garden Suburb, Gidea Park, p. 43.
  4. ↑ The Book of the Exhibition of Houses and Cottages: Romford Garden Suburb, Gidea Park, p. 35.
  5. ↑ "Manors and other estates", British History Online (BHO), accessed 1 February 2020.
  6. 1 2 Cherry, O'Brien, Pevsner, p. 202.
  7. ↑ "The Bicentenary of the Death of Humphry Repton (1752-1818)", Historic England, accessed 3 June 2020.
  8. 1 2 3 Culture and leisure leaflet, London Borough of Havering, accessed 25 September 2019.
  9. ↑ Romford: Manors and other estates, A History of the County of Essex: Volume 7, ed. W R Powell (London, 1978), British History Online, accessed 4 October 2019.
  10. ↑ Gayler, Hih J. (1996). Geographical excursions in London. University Press of America. p. 176. ISBN   0-7618-0328-9 . Retrieved 24 August 2011.
  11. 1 2 "Romford Garden Suburb", The Illustrated London News, 6 August 1910, p. 200.
  12. ↑ Pevsner, p. 205.
  13. ↑ "Housekeeping made easy at Gidea Park", Barking, East Ham & Ilford Advertiser, Upton Park and Dagenham Gazette, 05 August 1911, p. 3.
  14. ↑ The Book of the Exhibition of Houses and Cottages, Romford Garden Suburb, Gidea Park, p. 48.
  15. 1 2 "From private correspondence", The Scotsman, 6 May 1911, p. 9.
  16. ↑ The Book of the Exhibition of Houses and Cottages: Romford Garden Suburb, Gidea Park, pp. 54–55.
  17. 1 2 The Book of the Exhibition of Houses and Cottages: Romford Garden Suburb, Gidea Park, p. 7.
  18. ↑ "Mr John Burns at Romford", Chelmsford Chronicle, 29 July 1910, p. 8.
  19. 1 2 "The Garden Suburb", Leigh Chronicle and Weekly District Advertiser, 5 August 1910, p. 2.
  20. ↑ "House keeping made easy", Tower Hamlets Independent and East End Local Advertiser, 26 August 1911, p. 7.
  21. ↑ The Book of the Exhibition of Houses and Cottages, Romford Garden Suburb, Gidea Park, p. 53.
  22. ↑ "G 1911 Exhibition", Gidea Park and District Civic Society, accessed 1 December 2022.
  23. 1 2 3 "Romford Garden Suburb", Shoreditch Observer, 13 May 1911, p. 8.
  24. 1 2 3 4 5 UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark, Gregory (2017). "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)". MeasuringWorth . Retrieved 7 May 2024.
  25. ↑ The Book of the Exhibition of Houses and Cottages, Romford Garden Suburb, Gidea Park, p. 14.
  26. ↑ "William Barron & Son, landscape gardeners", Leicester Daily Post, 1 February 1911, p. 35.
  27. 1 2 3 4 The Book of the Exhibition of Houses and Cottages: Romford Garden Suburb, Gidea Park, p. 17.
  28. ↑ Bacon, Francis. The Essayes Or Covnsels, Civill and Morall, of Francis Lo. Vervlam, Viscovnt St. Alban p. 11.
  29. 1 2 The Book of the Exhibition of Houses and Cottages: Romford Garden Suburb, Gidea Park, p. 18.
  30. ↑ The Book of the Exhibition of Houses and Cottages: Romford Garden Suburb, Gidea Park, p. 20.
  31. ↑ The Book of the Exhibition of Houses and Cottages: Romford Garden Suburb, Gidea Park, p. 14.
  32. ↑ Cherry, O'Brien, Pevsner, p. 204.
  33. 1 2 The Book of the Exhibition of Houses and Cottages, Romford Garden Suburb, Gidea Park, p. 145.
  34. ↑ "Exhibition Romford", Barking, East Ham & Ilford Advertiser, Upton Park and Dagenham Gazette, 08 July 1911, pp. 3–4.
  35. ↑ Cherry, O'Brien, Pevsner (2005), p. 205.
  36. ↑ "Jarvis & Co., Main Road, Romford", AllInLondon.co.uk, accessed 1 February 2020.
  37. ↑ Cherry, O'Brien, Pevsner, p. 205.
  38. 1 2 Gidea Park: List of awards, The Builder, 17 November 1911, p. 566.
  39. ↑ "Romford Garden Suburb", Westminster Gazette, 25 July 1910, p. 8.
  40. ↑ The Book of the Exhibition of Houses and Cottages, Romford Garden Suburb, Gidea Park, pp. 10.
  41. ↑ "Town planning and holding", Hendon and Finchley Times, 30 October 1914, p. 3.
  42. ↑ Historic England. "16, Meadway (1079904)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  43. ↑ Historic England. "27, Meadway (1300391)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  44. ↑ Historic England. "36 and 38, Reed Pond Walk (1079876)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  45. ↑ Historic England. "43, Heath Drive (1079894)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  46. ↑ Historic England. "41 Heath Drive (1380572)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  47. 1 2 3 The Book of the Exhibition of Houses and Cottages, Romford Garden Suburb, Gidea Park, p. xi.
  48. ↑ "Gidea Park Modern Homes Exhibition Open July 31 to Aug 20 10AM-9PM", Victoria and Albert Museum, retrieved 14 January 2020.
  49. 1 2 3 4 Cherry, O'Brien, Pevsner (2005) p. 207.
  50. ↑ "Exhibitions", The Daily Mirror, 17 August 1934, p. 20.
  51. ↑ "Prince of Wales coming to Romford", Chelmsford Chronicle, 30 November 1934, p. 10.
  52. ↑ Obituary: Francis Skinner, The Independent , 17 January 1998. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  53. ↑ "Gidea Park Conservation Area: Character Appraisal and Management Proposals", London Borough of Havering, p. 8.
  54. ↑ Historic England. "64, Heath Drive (1257402)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 31 January 2020.

Sources

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hornchurch</span> Town in Essex, England

Hornchurch is a suburban town in Essex in the London Borough of Havering. It is located 15.2 miles (24.5 km) east-northeast of Charing Cross. It comprises a number of shopping streets and a large residential area. It historically formed a large ancient parish in the county of Essex that became the manor and liberty of Havering. The economic history of Hornchurch is underpinned by a shift away from agriculture to other industries with the growing significance of nearby Romford as a market town and centre of administration. As part of the suburban growth of London in the 20th century, Hornchurch significantly expanded and increased in population, becoming an urban district in 1926 and has formed part of Greater London since 1965. It is the location of Queen's Theatre, Havering Sixth Form College and Havering College of Further and Higher Education.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Romford</span> Town in Greater London, England

Romford is a large town in East London, England, 14 miles (23 km) northeast of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Havering, the town is one of the major metropolitan centres of Greater London identified in the London Plan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">London Borough of Havering</span> London borough in United Kingdom

The London Borough of Havering in East London, England, forms part of Outer London. It has a population of 259,552 inhabitants; the principal town is Romford, while other communities are Hornchurch, Upminster, Collier Row and Rainham. The borough is mainly suburban, with large areas of protected open space. Romford is a major retail and night time entertainment centre, and to the south the borough extends into the London Riverside redevelopment area of the Thames Gateway. The name Havering is a reference to the Royal Liberty of Havering which occupied the area for several centuries. The local authority is Havering London Borough Council. It is the easternmost London borough.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gidea Park</span> Suburb of Havering, east London, England

Gidea Park is a neighbourhood in the east of Romford in the London Borough of Havering, south-east England. Predominantly an affluent and residential area, it was historically located in the county of Essex. It saw significant expansion in the early 20th century, with exhibitions of housing and town planning and the construction of a railway station on the main line out from London Liverpool Street station.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Humphry Repton</span> British landscape designer

Humphry Repton was the last great designer of the classic phase of the English landscape garden, often regarded as the successor to Capability Brown. His style is thought of as the precursor of the more intricate and eclectic styles of the 19th century. His first name is often incorrectly spelt "Humphrey".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samuel Barnett (reformer)</span> English cleric and social reformer

Samuel Augustus Barnett was a Church of England cleric and social reformer who was particularly associated with the establishment of the first university settlement, Toynbee Hall, in east London in 1884. He is often referred to as Canon Barnett, having served as Canon of Westminster Abbey from 1906 until death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Romford (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1885 onwards

Romford is a constituency in Greater London represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2001 by Andrew Rosindell, a Conservative.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas S. Tait</span> Scottish architect (1882–1954)

Thomas Smith Tait was a Scottish modernist architect. He designed a number of buildings around the world in Art Deco and Streamline Moderne styles, notably St. Andrew's House on Calton Hill, Edinburgh, and the pylons for Sydney Harbour Bridge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Free Church, Hampstead Garden Suburb</span> Church in United Kingdom

The Free Church is a building located in Hampstead Garden Suburb, Barnet, London. It was built to a design by Sir Edwin Lutyens starting in 1911, and, like St Jude's Church at the opposite side of Central Square, is a Grade I listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gidea Hall</span> Manor house in Essex, England

Gidea Hall was a manor house in Gidea Park, the historic parish and Royal liberty of Havering-atte-Bower, whose former area today is part of the north-eastern extremity of Greater London.

Raymond Charles Erith RA FRIBA was a leading classical architect in England during the period dominated by the modern movement after the Second World War. His work demonstrates his continual interest in expanding the classical tradition to establish a progressive modern architecture, drawing on the past.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Herbert Raphael</span>

Major Sir Herbert Henry Raphael, 1st Baronet was a British barrister and Liberal Party politician.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">E. J. May</span>

Edward John May (1853–1941) was an English architect.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raphael Park</span> Public park in England

Raphael Park is a public park in Gidea Park, Romford, in the London Borough of Havering, United Kingdom. It is one of a series of parks stretching northwards from the railway line between Romford and Gidea Park.

Thomas Geoffry Lucas, generally known as Geoffry Lucas, but often found incorrectly spelt as Geoffrey Lucas, was a 20th-century English architect. He is perhaps best known for his work in connection with the garden city movement, but was also active in other areas, including the design of churches and church fittings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Curtis Green</span> English architect (1875–1960)

William Curtis Green was an English architect, designer and barrister who was based in London for much of his career. His works include the Dorchester Hotel, Wolseley House, New Scotland Yard, and the buildings, including the former Manor House, in Stockgrove Country Park. He was awarded the Royal Gold Medal in 1942. Around 20 of his designs are listed buildings. He is the younger brother of the craftsman and furniture designer Arthur Romney Green.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">T. Lawrence Dale</span> English architect (1884–1959)

Thomas Lawrence Dale, FRIBA, FSA was an English architect. Until the First World War he concentrated on designing houses for private clients. From the 1930s Dale was the Oxford Diocesan Surveyor and was most noted for designing, restoring, and furnishing Church of England parish churches.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Percy Richard Morley Horder</span>

Percy Richard Morley Horder was an English architect who early in his career worked from offices in Stroud and later in London. His early work was in the Arts and Crafts style, but after the First World War his buildings were increasingly in the Neo-Georgian fashion. His work included public houses for the Godsell Brewery and designing new country houses or partially rebuilding existing houses. He also designed country-house gardens and is noted for laying out Highfields Park, Nottingham together with the adjacent Nottingham University Campus. He undertook architectural work in many parts of the British Isles including Ireland. He is probably best remembered for the Trent Building in the University of Nottingham. and for design of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. His work at Upton House, Warwickshire for Viscount Bearsted is notable, but it is his work for Jesse Boot, both the Boots the Chemists stores, but most importantly the Trent Building and the laying out the campuses of the University of Nottingham, which influenced design at other English universities, for which he must take the greatest credit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Michael and All Angels Church, Gidea Park</span> Church in United Kingdom

St Michael and All Angels Church is a Church of England parish church in the Gidea Park area of Romford, east London. The area had become a garden suburb in the 1910s and a church dedicated to St Michael was built there in 1928, as a mission church of the parish church of All Saints Squirrels Heath. Gidea Park was formed as an ecclesiastical district of its own in 1931 and a parish church commissioned from the architects Crowe and Careless. It was completed and consecrated on 21 May 1938, with the ecclesiastical district upgraded to a parish and the mission church building converted into the Bishop Chadwick Hall.

There were over 140 entries in the Romford Garden Suburb exhibition, that took place in 1911 in Gidea Park, Romford, now in the London Borough of Havering. Each house had its own designer, who were either of national or local acclaim, with, on occasion, several dwellings being designed by a single architect. The object of the new suburb, which was built on land belonging to Gidea Hall, then occupied by the Liberal Member of parliament, Herbert Raphael, was, according to his liberal parliamentary colleague John Burns, to "provide families with a well-built, modern home regardless of class or status" and "to bring the towns into the country and the country into the towns".

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.