Forest Gate
This article needs additional citations for verification. (December 2017) |
Forest Gate | |
---|---|
Woodgrange Road, Forest Gate | |
Location within Greater London | |
Population | 33,619 (2011 Census. Forest Gate North and South Wards)[1] |
OS grid reference | TQ405855 |
London borough | |
Ceremonial county | Greater London |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | LONDON |
Postcode district | E7 |
Dialling code | 020 |
Police | Metropolitan |
Fire | London |
Ambulance | London |
UK Parliament | |
London Assembly | |
Forest Gate is a district in the London Borough of Newham, East London, England. It is located 7 miles (11 km) northeast of Charing Cross.
The area's name relates to its position adjacent to Wanstead Flats, the southernmost part of Epping Forest. The town was historically part of the parish (and later borough) of West Ham in the hundred of Becontree in Essex. Since 1965, Forest Gate has been part of the London Borough of Newham, a local government district of Greater London. The town forms the majority of the London E7 postcode district.
Neighbouring areas include Leytonstone to the north, East Ham to the east, Plaistow to the south and Stratford to the west.
History
The first known record of the name 'Forest Gate' comes from the West Ham parish registers of the late 17th century[2] and describes a gate placed across the modern Woodford Road to prevent cattle straying from the open Wanstead Flats area of Epping Forest onto the main Roman road (Romford road) linking Camulodunum to Londinium. The gate was located close to the former Eagle & Child public house. It never was a toll gate and was demolished along with the keepers' cottage in 1881.
At the time of the gate's construction, the Forest and its mosaic of habitats (coppice woodland, common grazing and wood pasture) extended from Epping to the Romford Road where a coppice woodland called 'Hamfrith' (meaning the woodland belonging to the Ham area) Wood, which existed until around 1700,[2] formed the southernmost point.
An
The area remained rural until the 19th century. From the 18th century a number of wealthy city dwellers had large country houses in the area and many of them were Quakers; the best known of these were the families of Gurney, Fry and Lester. As the population expanded, new churches were built in the area, such as Emmanuel (1852) and its mission church St Mark's (1893-1898).
In 1890 a fire at the Forest Gate Industrial School in Forest Lane, occupied by children belonging to the Whitechapel Union, killed 26 boys between the ages of 7 and 12 years old.
Forest Gate formed part of the County Borough of West Ham since its creation (initially as a municipal borough) in 1886. The county borough was abolished to form part of the present-day London Borough of Newham in 1965.
Local history blog E7 Now and Then details other Forest Gate history.
Newham has the second highest percentage of
Residential areas
The Woodgrange Estate
Leisure
Forest Gate also houses West Ham Park, providing a place for sports to be played and to the north Forest Gate borders Wanstead Flats, which has numerous football pitches and areas set aside for bio-diversity and walking.
Among the many teams playing on the flats is Sunday League football team Senrab F.C. Based in Forest Gate, Senrab operates fifteen teams for age groups ranging from 5 to 17 years old and has produced several players who have gone on to successful professional careers, including: John Terry (who gave an undisclosed sum to keep the club running in April 2011), Sol Campbell, Jermain Defoe, Ledley King, Bobby Zamora and Paul Konchesky. Several professional coaches also started out at Senrab, most notably Dario Gradi, Ray Wilkins and Alan Curbishley.
Pubs include the Spotted Dog at 212 Upton Lane.
Transport
Forest Gate railway station is in Travelcard Zone 3 on the Great Eastern Main Line and was first opened in 1840, a year after the line was built, but closed in 1843, before re-opening after pressure from local residents on 31 May 1846. The station is now on the Elizabeth Line, with services westbound to Paddington and eastbound to Shenfield. Other stations in the area include Wanstead Park railway station, which is on the Gospel Oak to Barking line in Zone 3.
Bus
Forest Gate is on the
Music
Forest Gate has various associations with music and acting: it was for many years the home of the
Sport
Forest Gate is home to
Notable people
Business and politics
- caravan designer and founder of Little Chef
- Sir David Amess – Conservative MP (Basildon 1983 to 1997, Southend West 1997 to 2021)
- Tony Banks, Baron Stratford – Labour MP (Newham North West 1983 to 1997, West Ham 1997 to 2005)
- Dawn Butler – Labour MP (Brent South 2005 to 2010)
- Mark Stephens – lawyer, mediator, broadcaster, writer
Sport
Former managers of
Other sportsmen and women connected with Forest Gate include heavyweight boxing champions
Arts and entertainment
Dame Anna Neagle was born in the area in 1905, and has a road named after her off Dames Road. Other actors born in Forest Gate include David Farrar, Malcolm McFee, Billy Murray, Terrence Hardiman and Chiwetel Ejiofor. Arnold Schwarzenegger was known to have lived in Forest Gate and lifted weights at Wag Bennett's gymnasium in Romford Road before he achieved fame. Other actors associated with the area include The Wire star Idris Elba, and Eastenders' Ricky Norwood.[17]
Jimi Hendrix is reputed to have composed "Purple Haze" in the Upper Cut Club in Woodgrange Road.[18] Musicians from Forest Gate include biographer, composer and pianist Norman Charles Suckling, John Ashton, Kele Le Roc and heavy metal vocalist Sarah Jezebel Deva. Ronnie Lane of the Small Faces was born in Plaistow but spent his childhood and early adulthood in Forest Gate, living at 385 Romford Road.[19] Roy Carter, a rhythm guitarist with 70s hit funk band Heatwave, was raised in Forest Gate.
Many current British hip hop artists are associated with the area including
Artists from Forest Gate include Betsy Schneider, John Bowstead, Walter Westley Russell and Barry Windsor-Smith. Writer Mary Renault was born in the area.
Fashion designer
Other
- Hannah Dadds - the first female train driver on the London Underground
- Christopher Charles Dalliston– Dean of Newcastle
- Vera Day – glamour girl and actress
- Elizabeth Fry – prison reformer, lived at The Cedars on Portway between 1829 and 1844.[21][22]
- John Grahl – economist
- Joseph McCabe – writer and speaker on freethought
- Claude Scudamore Jarvis – British colonial governor
- Edward Whymper – climber, who married at Emmanuel Church in 1906
- Witchcraft Act of 1735
- Shirley Anne Field -Actress
See also
- Forest Gate railway station
- London Borough of Newham
- Stratford
- 2 June 2006 Forest Gate raid
References
- ^ "Newham Ward populations 2011".
{{cite web}}
: Missing or empty|url=
(help) - ^ a b The London Encyclopaedia, 1983, edited by Weinreb and Hibbert
- ^ "E7 Now & Then". E7-nowandthen.org. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
- ^ "Terraformed: Young Black Lives in the Inner City". Repeater Books. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
- ^ "Review – Terraformed: Young Black Lives in the Inner City by Joy White". Retrieved 3 March 2022.
- ^ "Buses from Forest Gate" (PDF). Transport for London. 21 May 2022. Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 May 2022. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
- ^ "London Rock & Pop - Timeline". Archived from the original on 7 May 2006. Retrieved 23 July 2006.
- ^ "Crate Digging: The Influence of De Underground Records | Newham Heritage Month". www.newhamheritagemonth.org. 30 April 2021. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
- ^ "Wag Bennett's Gym". Junior Muscle International. juniormuscle.com. 2003. Archived from the original on 18 April 2007. Retrieved 28 October 2013.
- ^ "The Bridge". E7 Now and Then. 2016.
- ^ Walker, John. "Forest Gate: scene of Rock Against Racism's first gig". Retrieved 15 June 2021.
- ^ "1978, the year rock found the power to unite". The Guardian. 20 April 2008. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
- ^ "The purchase of the Old Spotted Dog Ground". Clapton Community FC. 9 August 2020. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
- ^ "London 2012 Olympics: East side stories of those for whom the Olympics really is home from home". The Telegraph. 20 April 2012. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
- ^ "Mark Hunter MBE". British Rowning 2012. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
- ISBN 0-7509-1417-3.
- IPC Media. 25 May 2011. Retrieved 25 May 2011.
- ^ "Rokpool revisits the legendary Upper Cut Club'". London. Archived from the original on 25 April 2013. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
- ^ Ronnie Lane spent childhood in Forest Gate accessed 07/01/08
- ^ "Economic partnership takes to the catwalk". The Telegraph. 29 June 2006.
- ISBN 0-7509-1417-3.
- ^ "WEST HAM PARK, Newham - 1001685". Historic England. Retrieved 22 March 2018.