Wanstead Park
Encyclopedia
Wanstead Park is the name of a grade II listed municipal park covering an area of about 140 acres (57 hectares), located in Wanstead
, in the London Borough of Redbridge
, historically within the county of Essex. It is bordered to the north by the A12 road, to the east by the River Roding
and A406 North Circular Road, to the south by the Aldersbrook
Estate and the City of London Cemetery and Crematorium
and to the west by Wanstead Golf Course. It is administered as part of Epping Forest
by the City of London Corporation, having been purchased by the Corporation in 1880. Today's park once formed part of the deer park of the former manor house of ancient Wanstead Manor
, which included much of the urbanised area now known as Wanstead. In order to understand the history of today's municipal park of Wanstead, the history of the ancient manor of Wanstead needs to be examined. For this purpose the modern green spaces of the Park, golf course and Wanstead Flats should be considered as one entity.
granted the manor of Wanstead to the monks of Westminster Abbey
yet this cannot be substantiated from any documentary evidence. However, the location was clearly a prized site on the east side of London.
states that Wanstead Manor was held from the Bishop of London by one Ralph son of Brian. Wanstead was then densely wooded, being situated within the Forest of Essex. It was part of the forest bailiwick
of Becontree
during the Middle Ages and later of the Leyton
"Walk".
The manor house, known as Wanstead Hall, was probably quite a small building until the 14th century, but by 1499 it was large enough to serve as a royal hunting-lodge, when it was acquired by King Henry VII
, one of whose favourite resorts it was to become. Henry had developed a taste for privacy towards the end of his reign, and acquired Wanstead as a maison de retraite in the vicinity of Greenwich Palace
, laying out considerable sums on it. It was valued by him especially for its park, bringing the King much needed seclusion. It is also interesting to note that Henry VII used Wanstead as a location for receiving payments from what the Tudor historian David Starkey calls his “slush fund” of extra-parliamentary taxation and fines, away from the eyes of the magnates in the formal royal palaces. The young future Henry VIII
lived for a while at Wanstead and at the other maison de retraite of Hanworth
in enforced proximity to his father Henry VII during the last years of his reign. Both kings hunted within the manor. It was during Henry VIII's reign (1509–1547) that Wanstead Park was inclosed
, shortly before 1512, which probably involved the clearance of some wooded areas. At about this time neighbouring Aldersbrook became a separate manor. Wanstead remained a Royal manor for a number of years, its “keeper” being an office awarded to favoured royal courtiers, one after another. Hugh Denys(d.1511) Groom of the Stool
to Henry VII was its keeper until 1511, being one of the King's key financial officers who often received the “slush fund” monies there on the King's behalf. On Denys's death in 1511 the keepership passed to Charles Brandon
, later Duke of Suffolk. Sir John Heron, another former financial officer within the Privy Chamber
, was keeper of the park until his death in 1521. Heron also held lands in Aldersbrook and it is said that he brought heron
birds to the area, as an amusing mark of his presence. One of the lakes was historically known as "Herony (sic) Lake". (A heronry, i.e. colony of heron birds, is shown on Lincoln Island on an OS map of 1919, unless this is merely a confusion over the nomenclature of the lakes.) Lord Richard Rich
, High Chancellor of England, was keeper of the park in 1543, and in 1549 Edward VI
granted him the lordship of the manor of Wanstead, complete with the park. In 1577 Rich's son Robert sold it to Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester
, who purchased the nearby manor of Stonhall in Ilford
at the same time. Thereafter a succession of owners kept the manor of Wanstead combined with Stonehall.
was in possession, but forfeited the manor to the Crown at the end of the Civil War
, in which he had fought for Parliament. Charles II
granted the estate to his brother, James, Duke of York
, but it was restored in about 1662 to Sir Robert Brooke
, Mildmay's son in law. In 1673-4 the manor was purchased by Josiah Child
(created 1st Baronet Child of Wanstead in 1678)' Governor of the East India Company
. He spent much time and money in developing the estate according to the fashion of the time. When John Evelyn
, the diarist, visited Wanstead in March, 1683 he wrote: "I went to see Sir Josiah Child's prodigious cost in planting walnut
trees about his seate, and making fish ponds many miles in circuit in Epping Forest, in a barren place." The ponds which he mentioned, although somewhat altered, are those in existence at the present day - a chain of ponds descending from the Shoulder of Mutton Pond, through Heronry Pond, Perch Pond, the Dell and into the Ornamental Waters. Child died in 1699, and was succeeded by his son - also Sir Josiah Child - who leased Wanstead and Stonehall to his half-brother, Richard Child
. On Sir Josiah II's death in 1704, Richard Child became 3rd Baronet, having succeeded to his title and estates.
In 1715 Sir Richard Child
commissioned the Scottish architect Colen Campbell
to design a grand mansion in the then emerging Palladian
style, to replace the former house, and to rival contemporary mansions such as Blenheim Palace
. When completed it covered an area of 260 ft (79.2 m). by 70 ft (21.3 m), the facade having a portico
with six Corinthian
columns, the earliest in England. The grounds were landscaped and planted with formal avenues of trees by George London
, one of the leading garden designers of his day. Child was created 1st Viscount Castlemaine 3 years later in 1718, the house being completed in 1722. Child had married in 1703 Dorothy Glynne, whose mother was of the Tylney family of Tylney Hall in Rotherwick, Hampshire. On the death of Ann Tylney, her cousin, in 1730, Dorothy and her husband Viscount Castlemain inherited the Tylney estates. Castlemain was created 1st Earl Tylney the following year (1731) and in 1734 obtained an Act of Parliament to change the name of his family, including his heirs, from the patronymic to Tylney, probably to meet a condition of his wife's inheritance. On the death of the Earl in 1750 he was succeeded by his 38 year old son John Tylney, 2nd Earl Tylney
, who continued the plantings, but in the then fashionable natural and non-formal style. The 2nd. Earl had no male issue and his estates passed on his death in 1784 to his elder sister Emma's son Sir James Long, 7th Baronet
, who being then in possession of the vast estates of the Longs, the Childs and the Tylneys, assumed the surname Tylney-Long for himself and his descendants, again probably in accordance with a requirement of the inheritance. On the death of the 7th Baronet in 1794 the combined estate passed to his one year old infant son Sir James Tylney-Long, 8th Baronet, who died in 1805 aged just 11. The estate then passed to his young sister, eldest of three, Catherine Tylney-Long, who thereby became the richest heiress in England.
In 1812 Catherine took the disastrous step of accepting the marriage proposal from the later-to-be notorious rake, William Wellesley-Pole
, nephew of two famous uncles, Richard Wellesley, 2nd Earl of Mornington, eldest brother of his father William, and Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington from 1813, his father's younger brother. It is likely the influence of the Wellesleys played a part in securing the marriage into their family of this great heiress. Shortly before the wedding Catherine's husband had changed his family surname to Pole-Tylney-Long-Wellesley, probably as required by the marriage settlement trust, in which he was given a life interest. In 1814 Wellesley started his career of burdening the marriage settlement trust with debt by inviting the landscaper Humphrey Repton to improve the park, some of whose informal planting remains today.
. In 1880 the Earl sold 184 acre (0.74462224 km²) of Wanstead Park to the Corporation of London for preservation as a part of Epping Forest, and the resultant new municipal park of Wanstead was officially opened by the City of London Corporation in 1882. The Earl's family sold further land to Wanstead Sports Grounds Ltd. in 1920
, printed in Environs of London. Rocque had been commissioned in 1735 by 1st Earl Tylney to effect still further garden features aimed at turning Wanstead into a mini Versailles
. The Palladian Mansion stood about 275 yards to the east of the large octagonal ornamental lake called the "Basin", due south of what is now the golf course club-house, built of brick and weather-boarded timber, a remnant of the 18th century stable-court. The present cricket ground would therefore effectively have been part of the front lawn to the west of the house. The approach was from the entrance gates 1/3 mile due west, the piers of which still survive standing either side of Overton Drive at its junction with Blake Hall Road. Carriages would have proceeded easterly along Overton Drive, thus skirting the north side of the Basin, then following the contour of the lake southwards to arrive at the western front of the house. The extensive fruit and vegetable gardens originally situated to the south-east of the Great House have all gone, these now forming the links of the Golf Course. Two Walnut trees which died in the 1980s, the largest 40 feet (12.2 m) high and 7 in 6 in (2.29 m) in girth, probably themselves planted by Sir Josiah Child, stood to the east of the Shoulder of Mutton pond. Thickets of Rhododendron recall the time when part of the Park was laid out as a shrubbery, traversed by the winding paths shown in Rocque's map. Remains of an impressive avenue of sweet-chestnuts, called Evelyn's Avenue, can still be traced in a south westerly direction from the basin, crossing Wanstead Flats and Bush Wood.
The western boundary of the present municipal park, named Wanstead Park, therefore lies some 330 yards east of the site of the mansion house. The park still retains some of its layout as the former grounds of Wanstead House. In 1992 a Management Plan was initiated to try to re-establish something of the formality of the grounds of a "Great House". Apart from the lake system, the most evident survivals are the buildings known as the Temple and the Grotto
, both built in about 1760, (now listed buildings) and some “mounts” or artificial mounds. Less obvious, perhaps, is a group of islands known as the Fortifications, an amphitheatre
, an ornamental canal and remains of some avenues of trees.
, here called the Ornamental Waters, of the broad grassy ride cut through the woodland, known as the Glade, in a direct easterly line from Wanstead House. It therefore would have created a magnificent vista from the house, stretching 2/3. of a mile to the east. It was noted by Eric S. Wood F.S.A. (Collins Field Guide to Archaeology, Third Edition 1972) as being a "magnificent canal". (photo)
One third of a mile due west of the site of Wanstead House stand two impressive stone piers
, remnants of the gateway that formed the formal entrance to Wanstead House. They are embellished with the monogram of their builder, Sir Richard Child
. The piers stand either side of Overton Drive at its junction with Blake Hall Road. The view of the house published in 1771 in Spencer's work would have been drawn from this gate.
, the broad grassy ride noted above, which extends due easterly five hundred yards down to the Ornamental Pond. The other main entrance for pedestrians is at the NE corner of the park from Wanstead Park Road south of Redbridge tube station
, the footpath crossing the busy A406 North Circular Road
.
For events at The Temple and Epping Forest
Category:Parks and open spaces in Redbridge
Category:Former buildings and structures of Redbridge
Category:Royal residences in London
pt:Wanstead House
Wanstead
Wanstead is a suburban area in the London Borough of Redbridge, North-East London. The main road going through Wanstead is the A12. The name is from the Anglo-Saxon words wænn and stede, meaning "settlement on a small hill"....
, in the London Borough of Redbridge
London Borough of Redbridge
The London Borough of Redbridge is a London borough in outer north-east London. Its administrative headquarters is at Redbridge Town Hall in Ilford. The local authority is Redbridge London Borough Council.-Etymology:...
, historically within the county of Essex. It is bordered to the north by the A12 road, to the east by the River Roding
River Roding
The River Roding is a river in England that rises near Dunmow, flows through Essex and forms Barking Creek as it reaches the River Thames in London....
and A406 North Circular Road, to the south by the Aldersbrook
Aldersbrook
Aldersbrook is the name given to an Edwardian housing estate in North-East London. It is named after the , a small tributary of the River Roding. It is bound by Aldersbrook Road to the south, Bush Wood to the west, Wanstead Park to the north, and the City of London Cemetery and Crematorium to the...
Estate and the City of London Cemetery and Crematorium
City of London Cemetery and Crematorium
The City of London Cemetery and Crematorium is a cemetery and crematorium in the north east of London. It is the largest such municipal facility in the UK and probably in Europe . It is owned and operated by the City of London Corporation.-Location:...
and to the west by Wanstead Golf Course. It is administered as part of Epping Forest
Epping Forest
Epping Forest is an area of ancient woodland in south-east England, straddling the border between north-east Greater London and Essex. It is a former royal forest, and is managed by the City of London Corporation....
by the City of London Corporation, having been purchased by the Corporation in 1880. Today's park once formed part of the deer park of the former manor house of ancient Wanstead Manor
Manorialism
Manorialism, an essential element of feudal society, was the organizing principle of rural economy that originated in the villa system of the Late Roman Empire, was widely practiced in medieval western and parts of central Europe, and was slowly replaced by the advent of a money-based market...
, which included much of the urbanised area now known as Wanstead. In order to understand the history of today's municipal park of Wanstead, the history of the ancient manor of Wanstead needs to be examined. For this purpose the modern green spaces of the Park, golf course and Wanstead Flats should be considered as one entity.
Roman Wanstead
Ordnance Survey maps mark the site of a Roman Villa in present day Wanstead Park. Archaeological excavations carried out in 1985 indicated a Roman presence here from the 1st to the 5th century AD, but did not locate any specific site of a Roman villa.Saxon Wanstead
The name Wanstead is probably of Saxon origin - indicating a possible continuity of settlement here since Roman times - and is accepted by the English Place-Names Society as derived from Wen, signifying a hill or mound, and Stead, a place. It is said that in Saxon times Abbot AelfricÆlfric of Eynsham
Ælfric of Eynsham was an English abbot, as well as a consummate, prolific writer in Old English of hagiography, homilies, biblical commentaries, and other genres. He is also known variously as Ælfric the Grammarian , Ælfric of Cerne, and Ælfric the Homilist...
granted the manor of Wanstead to the monks of Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
yet this cannot be substantiated from any documentary evidence. However, the location was clearly a prized site on the east side of London.
Norman Wanstead
In 1086 the Domesday BookDomesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
states that Wanstead Manor was held from the Bishop of London by one Ralph son of Brian. Wanstead was then densely wooded, being situated within the Forest of Essex. It was part of the forest bailiwick
Bailiwick
A bailiwick is usually the area of jurisdiction of a bailiff, and may also apply to a territory in which the sheriff's functions were exercised by a privately appointed bailiff under a royal or imperial writ. The word is now more generally used in a metaphorical sense, to indicate a sphere of...
of Becontree
Becontree
Becontree is a place in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, east north-east of Charing Cross.-Becontree estate:The area was developed between 1921 and 1932 by the London County Council as a large council estate of 27,000 homes, intended as "homes for heroes" after World War I. With a...
during the Middle Ages and later of the Leyton
Leyton
Leyton is an area of north-east London and part of the London Borough of Waltham Forest, located north east of Charing Cross. It borders Walthamstow and Leytonstone; Stratford in Newham; and Homerton and Lower Clapton in the London Borough of Hackney....
"Walk".
Tudor Wanstead
Henry VII of England
Henry VII was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizing the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death on 21 April 1509, as the first monarch of the House of Tudor....
, one of whose favourite resorts it was to become. Henry had developed a taste for privacy towards the end of his reign, and acquired Wanstead as a maison de retraite in the vicinity of Greenwich Palace
Palace of Placentia
The Palace of Placentia was an English Royal Palace built by Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester in 1447, in Greenwich, on the banks of the River Thames, downstream from London...
, laying out considerable sums on it. It was valued by him especially for its park, bringing the King much needed seclusion. It is also interesting to note that Henry VII used Wanstead as a location for receiving payments from what the Tudor historian David Starkey calls his “slush fund” of extra-parliamentary taxation and fines, away from the eyes of the magnates in the formal royal palaces. The young future Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
lived for a while at Wanstead and at the other maison de retraite of Hanworth
Hanworth
Hanworth lies to the south east of Feltham in the London Borough of Hounslow. The name is thought to come from the Anglo Saxon words “haen” and “worth”, meaning “small homestead”....
in enforced proximity to his father Henry VII during the last years of his reign. Both kings hunted within the manor. It was during Henry VIII's reign (1509–1547) that Wanstead Park was inclosed
Enclosure
Enclosure or inclosure is the process which ends traditional rights such as mowing meadows for hay, or grazing livestock on common land. Once enclosed, these uses of the land become restricted to the owner, and it ceases to be common land. In England and Wales the term is also used for the...
, shortly before 1512, which probably involved the clearance of some wooded areas. At about this time neighbouring Aldersbrook became a separate manor. Wanstead remained a Royal manor for a number of years, its “keeper” being an office awarded to favoured royal courtiers, one after another. Hugh Denys(d.1511) Groom of the Stool
Groom of the Stool
The Groom of the Stool was the most intimate of a monarch's courtiers, whose physical intimacy naturally led to him becoming a man in whom much confidence was placed by his royal master, and with whom many royal secrets were shared as a matter of course...
to Henry VII was its keeper until 1511, being one of the King's key financial officers who often received the “slush fund” monies there on the King's behalf. On Denys's death in 1511 the keepership passed to Charles Brandon
Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk
Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk, 1st Viscount Lisle, KG was the son of Sir William Brandon and Elizabeth Bruyn. Through his third wife Mary Tudor he was brother-in-law to Henry VIII. His father was the standard-bearer of Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond and was slain by Richard III in person at...
, later Duke of Suffolk. Sir John Heron, another former financial officer within the Privy Chamber
Privy chamber
A Privy chamber was the private apartment of a royal residence in England. The gentlemen of the Privy chamber were servants to the Crown who would wait and attend on the King and Queen at court during their various activities, functions and entertainments....
, was keeper of the park until his death in 1521. Heron also held lands in Aldersbrook and it is said that he brought heron
Heron
The herons are long-legged freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae. There are 64 recognised species in this family. Some are called "egrets" or "bitterns" instead of "heron"....
birds to the area, as an amusing mark of his presence. One of the lakes was historically known as "Herony (sic) Lake". (A heronry, i.e. colony of heron birds, is shown on Lincoln Island on an OS map of 1919, unless this is merely a confusion over the nomenclature of the lakes.) Lord Richard Rich
Richard Rich, 1st Baron Rich
Sir Richard Rich, 1st Baron Rich , was Lord Chancellor during the reign of King Edward VI of England. He was the founder of Felsted School with its associated alms houses in Essex in 1564....
, High Chancellor of England, was keeper of the park in 1543, and in 1549 Edward VI
Edward VI of England
Edward VI was the King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death. He was crowned on 20 February at the age of nine. The son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, Edward was the third monarch of the Tudor dynasty and England's first monarch who was raised as a Protestant...
granted him the lordship of the manor of Wanstead, complete with the park. In 1577 Rich's son Robert sold it to Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester
Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester
Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, KG was an English nobleman and the favourite and close friend of Elizabeth I from her first year on the throne until his death...
, who purchased the nearby manor of Stonhall in Ilford
Ilford
Ilford is a large cosmopolitan town in East London, England and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Redbridge. It is located northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. It forms a significant commercial and retail...
at the same time. Thereafter a succession of owners kept the manor of Wanstead combined with Stonehall.
Jacobean Wanstead
In 1619 Sir Henry MildmayHenry Mildmay
Sir Henry Mildmay was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1621 and 1659. He supported the Parliamentarian cause in the English Civil War and was one of the Regicides of Charles I of England....
was in possession, but forfeited the manor to the Crown at the end of the Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
, in which he had fought for Parliament. Charles II
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
granted the estate to his brother, James, Duke of York
James II of England
James II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...
, but it was restored in about 1662 to Sir Robert Brooke
Robert Brooke (died 1669)
Sir Robert Brooke was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1660 to 1669.Brooke was the second surviving son of Sir Robert Brooke of Cockfield Hall and his wife Elizabeth Colepeper, daughter of Thomas Colepeper of Wigsale, Sussex. He was educated privately under Daniel...
, Mildmay's son in law. In 1673-4 the manor was purchased by Josiah Child
Josiah Child
Sir Josiah Child of Wanstead, 1st Baronet , English merchant, economist proponent of mercantilism and governor of the East India Company, was born in London, the second son of Richard Child, a London merchant of old family.-Family:...
(created 1st Baronet Child of Wanstead in 1678)' Governor of the East India Company
East India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
. He spent much time and money in developing the estate according to the fashion of the time. When John Evelyn
John Evelyn
John Evelyn was an English writer, gardener and diarist.Evelyn's diaries or Memoirs are largely contemporaneous with those of the other noted diarist of the time, Samuel Pepys, and cast considerable light on the art, culture and politics of the time John Evelyn (31 October 1620 – 27 February...
, the diarist, visited Wanstead in March, 1683 he wrote: "I went to see Sir Josiah Child's prodigious cost in planting walnut
Walnut
Juglans is a plant genus of the family Juglandaceae, the seeds of which are known as walnuts. They are deciduous trees, 10–40 meters tall , with pinnate leaves 200–900 millimetres long , with 5–25 leaflets; the shoots have chambered pith, a character shared with the wingnuts , but not the hickories...
trees about his seate, and making fish ponds many miles in circuit in Epping Forest, in a barren place." The ponds which he mentioned, although somewhat altered, are those in existence at the present day - a chain of ponds descending from the Shoulder of Mutton Pond, through Heronry Pond, Perch Pond, the Dell and into the Ornamental Waters. Child died in 1699, and was succeeded by his son - also Sir Josiah Child - who leased Wanstead and Stonehall to his half-brother, Richard Child
Richard Child, 1st Earl Tylney
Richard Child, 1st Earl Tylney , was an English Member of Parliament. He held no Office of State, nor any commercial directorship of significance, but is remembered chiefly as the builder of the now long-demolished Palladian "princely mansion" Wanstead House, one of the first in the style...
. On Sir Josiah II's death in 1704, Richard Child became 3rd Baronet, having succeeded to his title and estates.
Construction of the Palladian Mansion
In 1715 Sir Richard Child
Richard Child, 1st Earl Tylney
Richard Child, 1st Earl Tylney , was an English Member of Parliament. He held no Office of State, nor any commercial directorship of significance, but is remembered chiefly as the builder of the now long-demolished Palladian "princely mansion" Wanstead House, one of the first in the style...
commissioned the Scottish architect Colen Campbell
Colen Campbell
Colen Campbell was a pioneering Scottish architect who spent most of his career in England, and is credited as a founder of the Georgian style...
to design a grand mansion in the then emerging Palladian
Palladian architecture
Palladian architecture is a European style of architecture derived from the designs of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio . The term "Palladian" normally refers to buildings in a style inspired by Palladio's own work; that which is recognised as Palladian architecture today is an evolution of...
style, to replace the former house, and to rival contemporary mansions such as Blenheim Palace
Blenheim Palace
Blenheim Palace is a monumental country house situated in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England, residence of the dukes of Marlborough. It is the only non-royal non-episcopal country house in England to hold the title of palace. The palace, one of England's largest houses, was built between...
. When completed it covered an area of 260 ft (79.2 m). by 70 ft (21.3 m), the facade having a portico
Portico
A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls...
with six Corinthian
Corinthian order
The Corinthian order is one of the three principal classical orders of ancient Greek and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric and Ionic. When classical architecture was revived during the Renaissance, two more orders were added to the canon, the Tuscan order and the Composite order...
columns, the earliest in England. The grounds were landscaped and planted with formal avenues of trees by George London
George London (landscape architect)
George London was an English nurseryman and garden designer. He aspired to the baroque style and worked on the gardens at Hampton Court, Melbourne Hall and Wimpole Hall....
, one of the leading garden designers of his day. Child was created 1st Viscount Castlemaine 3 years later in 1718, the house being completed in 1722. Child had married in 1703 Dorothy Glynne, whose mother was of the Tylney family of Tylney Hall in Rotherwick, Hampshire. On the death of Ann Tylney, her cousin, in 1730, Dorothy and her husband Viscount Castlemain inherited the Tylney estates. Castlemain was created 1st Earl Tylney the following year (1731) and in 1734 obtained an Act of Parliament to change the name of his family, including his heirs, from the patronymic to Tylney, probably to meet a condition of his wife's inheritance. On the death of the Earl in 1750 he was succeeded by his 38 year old son John Tylney, 2nd Earl Tylney
Earl Tylney
Earl Tylney, of Castlemaine in the County of Kerry, was a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created on 11 June 1731 for Richard Child, 1st Viscount Castlemaine. The Child family descended from the merchant, economist and colonial administrator Josiah Child, who on 16 July 1678 was created a...
, who continued the plantings, but in the then fashionable natural and non-formal style. The 2nd. Earl had no male issue and his estates passed on his death in 1784 to his elder sister Emma's son Sir James Long, 7th Baronet
Sir James Tylney-Long, 7th Baronet
Sir James Tylney-Long, 7th Baronet was an English politician.The eldest son of Sir Robert Long, 6th Baronet and his wife Emma Child, he succeeded his father as 7th Baronet on 10 February 1767, and inherited the family estates, including the manors of Draycot and Athelhampton.- Career :He was a...
, who being then in possession of the vast estates of the Longs, the Childs and the Tylneys, assumed the surname Tylney-Long for himself and his descendants, again probably in accordance with a requirement of the inheritance. On the death of the 7th Baronet in 1794 the combined estate passed to his one year old infant son Sir James Tylney-Long, 8th Baronet, who died in 1805 aged just 11. The estate then passed to his young sister, eldest of three, Catherine Tylney-Long, who thereby became the richest heiress in England.
Entree of William Pole-Wellesley
William Pole-Tylney-Long-Wellesley, 4th Earl of Mornington
William Pole-Tylney-Long-Wellesley, 4th Earl of Mornington was an Anglo-Irish nobleman notorious for his dissipated lifestyle.-Ancestry:...
, nephew of two famous uncles, Richard Wellesley, 2nd Earl of Mornington, eldest brother of his father William, and Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington from 1813, his father's younger brother. It is likely the influence of the Wellesleys played a part in securing the marriage into their family of this great heiress. Shortly before the wedding Catherine's husband had changed his family surname to Pole-Tylney-Long-Wellesley, probably as required by the marriage settlement trust, in which he was given a life interest. In 1814 Wellesley started his career of burdening the marriage settlement trust with debt by inviting the landscaper Humphrey Repton to improve the park, some of whose informal planting remains today.
Demolition of the Palladian Mansion
Wellesley was an MP initially from 1812-19 but was principally known for his dissipation and extravagance. On his marriage the estate had been conveyed to a trust from which Catherine would receive £4,500 per annum for life, with the rest to the use of Wellesley for his life. The remainder was to go to the sons produced from the marriage. To secure a debt of £250,000, he managed to mortgage this marriage settlement trust, which owned Wanstead House and contents, to his creditors. In 1822, to escape his creditors, he obtained the office of Usher to George IV (himself experienced in profligacy and evading creditors) which rendered him immune to arrest for debt, and later he fled his creditors abroad. In June 1822 the trustees of the settlement, under a power contained within the trust and having obtained the requisite agreement of the couple, auctioned off the house's contents in an auction lasting 32 days, in order to pay off the incumbrances on the settled estate, thereby protecting the son's future inheritance. In 1825, having found no buyers for Wanstead House, the trustees demolished it under the same powers and applied the proceeds from the sale of the resultant building materials in a similar fashion. The sum raised was only £10,000 whilst it had reputedly cost around £360,000 to build. Catherine, having been abandoned for another woman by her husband in 1823, died in 1825 of an intestinal illness, shortly after the demolition, no doubt a broken woman.Transformation into Municipal Park
A life interest in Catherine's remaining lands, to the extent of 1400 acres (5.7 km²), in surrounding Wanstead and the adjoining parishes of Woodford, Leyton, Little Ilford and Barking remained in the hands of her husband up to 1840. Before 1828 Wellesley in a search for money had cut down a great number of trees in the park, destroying many of the avenues, vistas and clumps so carefully planted earlier at such great expense by Sir Josiah Child and the Earls Tylney. He had marked a further 2,000 for felling when his son obtained an injunction in 1828 preventing him from proceeding, since it would damage the value of the land, his future inheritance. Wellesley challenged the injunction but it was confirmed against him in 1834. Wellesley continued his parliamentary career between 1830–32 and inherited his father's title as 4th Earl of Mornington (his father having inherited from his elder brother) in 1845, dying in humble lodgings in 1857. The remnant of the manor of Wanstead was inherited by his son William, who had been protected from his father's designs on his maternal inheritance by the intervention of the Duke of Wellington, and he left it in trust for his father's cousin Henry Wellesley, 1st Earl CowleyHenry Wellesley, 1st Earl Cowley
Henry Richard Charles Wellesley, 1st Earl Cowley KG GCB PC , known as The Lord Cowley between 1847 and 1857, was a British diplomat...
. In 1880 the Earl sold 184 acre (0.74462224 km²) of Wanstead Park to the Corporation of London for preservation as a part of Epping Forest, and the resultant new municipal park of Wanstead was officially opened by the City of London Corporation in 1882. The Earl's family sold further land to Wanstead Sports Grounds Ltd. in 1920
Site of the former Palladian Mansion
The site can best be studied by reference to a satellite photographic image, combined with the map of Wanstead House and grounds made by the landscaper John RocqueJohn Rocque
John Rocque was a surveyor and cartographer.Rocque was born no later than 1709, since that was the year he moved to England with his parents, who were French Huguenot émigrés...
, printed in Environs of London. Rocque had been commissioned in 1735 by 1st Earl Tylney to effect still further garden features aimed at turning Wanstead into a mini Versailles
Versailles
Versailles , a city renowned for its château, the Palace of Versailles, was the de facto capital of the kingdom of France for over a century, from 1682 to 1789. It is now a wealthy suburb of Paris and remains an important administrative and judicial centre...
. The Palladian Mansion stood about 275 yards to the east of the large octagonal ornamental lake called the "Basin", due south of what is now the golf course club-house, built of brick and weather-boarded timber, a remnant of the 18th century stable-court. The present cricket ground would therefore effectively have been part of the front lawn to the west of the house. The approach was from the entrance gates 1/3 mile due west, the piers of which still survive standing either side of Overton Drive at its junction with Blake Hall Road. Carriages would have proceeded easterly along Overton Drive, thus skirting the north side of the Basin, then following the contour of the lake southwards to arrive at the western front of the house. The extensive fruit and vegetable gardens originally situated to the south-east of the Great House have all gone, these now forming the links of the Golf Course. Two Walnut trees which died in the 1980s, the largest 40 feet (12.2 m) high and 7 in 6 in (2.29 m) in girth, probably themselves planted by Sir Josiah Child, stood to the east of the Shoulder of Mutton pond. Thickets of Rhododendron recall the time when part of the Park was laid out as a shrubbery, traversed by the winding paths shown in Rocque's map. Remains of an impressive avenue of sweet-chestnuts, called Evelyn's Avenue, can still be traced in a south westerly direction from the basin, crossing Wanstead Flats and Bush Wood.
Wanstead Park today
Grotto
A grotto is any type of natural or artificial cave that is associated with modern, historic or prehistoric use by humans. When it is not an artificial garden feature, a grotto is often a small cave near water and often flooded or liable to flood at high tide...
, both built in about 1760, (now listed buildings) and some “mounts” or artificial mounds. Less obvious, perhaps, is a group of islands known as the Fortifications, an amphitheatre
Amphitheatre
An amphitheatre is an open-air venue used for entertainment and performances.There are two similar, but distinct, types of structure for which the word "amphitheatre" is used: Ancient Roman amphitheatres were large central performance spaces surrounded by ascending seating, and were commonly used...
, an ornamental canal and remains of some avenues of trees.
The Fortifications
The Fortifications are situated on the Ornamental Waters about 800 yards east of the site of the mansion, to the south-east of the large Lincoln Island. They consist of eight small islands grouped in a circular pattern around a larger central island on which duck-shooting guns were formerly stored. The bridges by which they were once connected no longer exist. The islands are now somewhat overgrown, providing a sanctuary for water-birds.Ornamental Canal
The wide Ornamental Canal forms a continuation on the eastern far side of the River RodingRiver Roding
The River Roding is a river in England that rises near Dunmow, flows through Essex and forms Barking Creek as it reaches the River Thames in London....
, here called the Ornamental Waters, of the broad grassy ride cut through the woodland, known as the Glade, in a direct easterly line from Wanstead House. It therefore would have created a magnificent vista from the house, stretching 2/3. of a mile to the east. It was noted by Eric S. Wood F.S.A. (Collins Field Guide to Archaeology, Third Edition 1972) as being a "magnificent canal". (photo)
Gateposts
ile:WansteadGate.jpg|thumb|200px|One of a pair of surviving piers of the entrance gate to Wanstead House, with monogram of Richard ChildRichard Child, 1st Earl Tylney
Richard Child, 1st Earl Tylney , was an English Member of Parliament. He held no Office of State, nor any commercial directorship of significance, but is remembered chiefly as the builder of the now long-demolished Palladian "princely mansion" Wanstead House, one of the first in the style...
One third of a mile due west of the site of Wanstead House stand two impressive stone piers
Pier (architecture)
In architecture, a pier is an upright support for a superstructure, such as an arch or bridge. Sections of wall between openings function as piers. The simplest cross section of the pier is square, or rectangular, although other shapes are also common, such as the richly articulated piers of Donato...
, remnants of the gateway that formed the formal entrance to Wanstead House. They are embellished with the monogram of their builder, Sir Richard Child
Richard Child, 1st Earl Tylney
Richard Child, 1st Earl Tylney , was an English Member of Parliament. He held no Office of State, nor any commercial directorship of significance, but is remembered chiefly as the builder of the now long-demolished Palladian "princely mansion" Wanstead House, one of the first in the style...
. The piers stand either side of Overton Drive at its junction with Blake Hall Road. The view of the house published in 1771 in Spencer's work would have been drawn from this gate.
Access to the Park
The park is approached from Wanstead in the north via Warren Road. The road at the entrance to the Park is not under the management of the local council, and the un-surfaced section of it, which separates the park from the golf course, ends at a well known landmark by the Heron pond called the "Posts". Along the east side of the unmade road there are several entrances to the park. One leads to the GladeGlade (geography)
A glade or clearing is an open area within a woodland. Glades are often grassy meadows under the canopy of deciduous trees such as red alder or quaking aspen in western North America. They also represent openings in forests where local conditions such as avalanches, poor soils, or fire damage have...
, the broad grassy ride noted above, which extends due easterly five hundred yards down to the Ornamental Pond. The other main entrance for pedestrians is at the NE corner of the park from Wanstead Park Road south of Redbridge tube station
Redbridge tube station
Redbridge tube station is a London Underground station in Redbridge, on the Hainault Loop of the Central line, in Zone 4. It is on the Eastern Avenue....
, the footpath crossing the busy A406 North Circular Road
A406 road
The A406 or the North Circular Road is a road which crosses North London, UK, linking West and East London. It, together with the South Circular Road, forms a ring road through the inner part of Outer London...
.
Activities and events
In late April the Chalet Wood is awash with flowering bluebells. The Temple is open every weekend with displays on the history of Wanstead Park including finds excavated from the 18th century grotto and the 'Lost Roman Villa'. Entrance is free and there is also a shop offering free leaflets on Epping Forest, other guides and booklets, as well as traditional toys and other attractive items. The City of London Corporation runs a programme of events at the Temple and its surrounds, including family craft days, open-air theatre and musical performances. The City of London website provides further details. Another event is Music in Wanstead Park, which is held at the beginning of summer. The event is organised by the Aldersbrook Families Association. Fishing is permitted on the Ornamental Waters and the Perch Pond, but only in season.- Winter hours (October to March): 10.00 - 3.00 pm
- Summer hours (April–September): 12.00 - 5.00 pm
Sources
- Wanstead House and the Parklands - a History, www.wansteadwildlife.org.uk. (June 2010). This article has drawn heavily from this source.
- Cornish, Alan. M.Sc. Wanstead Park - A Chronicle. (Originally published by the Friends of Wanstead Parklands in 1982, updated and republished by Wanstead Parklands Community Project in 2006.)
- Starkey, David. Henry: Virtuous Prince. London, 2008.(Tudor history of Wanstead)
- Ramsey, Winston G. & Fowkes, Reginald L. Epping Forest: Then and Now. Published by Battle of Britain Prints International Ltd., 1986.
External links
City of London website http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/Corporation/LGNL_Services/Environment_and_planning/Parks_and_open_spaces/Epping_Forest/EF_wanstead.htmFor events at The Temple and Epping Forest
- http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/Corporation/LGNL_Services/Environment_and_planning/Parks_and_open_spaces/Epping_Forest/EF_events.htm
- Wren Conservation Group
- Wanstead Parklands Project, a charity promoting the understanding of and concern for the historical and natural heritage of Wanstead Park and its future.
- Follies and Monuments - Wanstead Park
Category:Parks and open spaces in Redbridge
Category:Former buildings and structures of Redbridge
Category:Royal residences in London
pt:Wanstead House