Harold Wood's oldest surviving building was demolished in 1954, the same year
in which the first national society for the preservation of our vernacular
heritage was established. Six years later, the veneration farmhouse of
Goodshayes at the centre of Harold Hill was pulled down, together with its
magnificent thatched and timbered barn. Such wanton destruction was not confined
to the 20th century, for vandals of a much earlier age had entirely dismantled
the old, abandoned palace at Havering-atte-Bower, plundering it for stone for
their homes. Much has disappeared which would have restored, had it survived to
the present, more enlightened time.Fortunately, photographers made a vivid
visual record of the area from the mid 19th century onwards, many of them
producting commercial picture postcards. Their images have survives, enabling
the authors to compile this brilliant and evocative pictorial study.
Their starting point is Havering-atte-Bower, which still retains its rural
character by virtue of the Green Belt legislation which halted the relentless
advance of housing estates. Descending through the ancient manorial lands of
Bedfords, and skirting Romford, the old capital of the Liberty of Havering, the
'tour' crosses the vast council estate of Harold Hill, an alien townscape of
brick and concrete superimposed after the Second World War upon historic
Harold's Wood, part of the Forest of Essex. At the southern edge of the estate
the old Roman road from London to Colchester crosses into present day Harold
Wood, a community which developed on the fringe of the royal Saxon' forest on
manorial lands, whose lord's duty included the supply of fresh reeds to carpet
the King's chamber at his palace of Havering.
Photographs document every step in Harold Wood's expansion, from faltering
beginnings around the railway station in a remote corner of Hornchurch, to its
accelerating growth after the First World War. This well-researched and
well-written excursion in words and pictures will surprise and enthrall everyone
with an interest in this area, not least because until now so little has been
written about it and so few photographs have been available.
Contents:
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgements
Havering-atte-Bower and the Royal Connection
The Liberty of Havering: Its Growth and Decline
Resurgence: The Development of Harold Wood and Harold Hill
The Anglican Mission Churched of Harold Wood and Harold Hill
Houses into Hospitals
Upminster Common
Edward Luther and the Battle of Upminster Common
Photographs
- Havering-atte-Bower
- Harold Hill
- Harold Wood
- Harold Park and Sunnytown
- Upminster Common
