Editing Hornchurch (section)

==History==
===Toponymy===
{| class="wikitable" align="right" style=font-size:85%;margin-left:10px; 
|+'''Hornchurch (parish) population'''
|-
!align="center"| 1881
|align="center"| 2,824 
|-  
!align="center"| 1891
|align="center"| 3,841 
|-  
!align="center"| 1901 
|align="center"| 6,402
|-  
!align="center"| 1911 
|align="center"| 9,461
|- 
!align="center"| 1921 
|align="center"| 10,891
|- 
!align="center"| 1931 
|align="center"| 28,417
|- 
!align="center"| 1941 
|align="center"| war #
|- 
!align="center"| 1951 
|align="center"| 79,908
|- 
|style="font-size:smaller" colspan=2|# no census was held due to war
|- 
|style="font-size:smaller" colspan=2 align=center|source: [[Census#United Kingdom|UK census]]<ref name=vob_pop>{{ cite vob | population=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/data_cube_page.jsp?data_theme=T_POP&data_cube=N_TOT_POP&u_id=10243749&c_id=10001043&add=N | name= Hornchurch | accessdate=6 February 2010}}</ref>
|}
According to Mills, Hornchurch is first recorded in English in 1233 as ''Hornechurch'' and means 'church with horn-like gables'.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mills |first1=Anthony David |title=A Dictionary of London Place-names |date=2010 |publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref> It has been suggested that the Hornchurch Priory is the origin of the Hornchurch placename because the priory used a bulls-head seal on official documents during the 14th century.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Martin |first1=Ged |title=Hornchurch – a unique name, and maybe 1,400 years old |url=https://www.romfordrecorder.co.uk/lifestyle/21507240.heritage-hornchurch---unique-name-maybe-1-400-years-old/ |publisher=Romford Recorder |access-date=23 February 2023 |date=23 May 2019}}</ref> Both the seal and, since {{circa|1600}}, the bull emblem on the wall of the parish church derive from the name rather than provide the origin.<ref name="Havering 1200">{{cite book |last1=McIntosh |first1=Marjorie Keniston |title=Autonomy and Community: The Royal Manor of Havering, 1200-1500 |date=27 June 2002 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-52609-8 |language=en}}</ref>

===Origins===
In the [[Anglian (stage)|Anglian]] Ice Age, 450,000 years ago, the ice sheet reached The Dell, just south of St Andrew's Church, the furthest south any ice sheet reached in Britain. [[Hornchurch Cutting]] is a [[Site of Special Scientific Interest]] just north of St Andrews Park which exhibits the geology.<ref>{{cite web| title=Geology Site Account, Hornchurch Railway Cutting| publisher=The Essex Field Club| url=http://www.essexfieldclub.org.uk/portal/p/Geology+Site+Account/s/Hornchurch+Railway+Cutting+SSSI| access-date=3 June 2012| archive-date=2 April 2015| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402213504/http://www.essexfieldclub.org.uk/portal/p/Geology+Site+Account/s/Hornchurch+Railway+Cutting+SSSI| url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.essexfieldclub.org.uk/portal/p/Geology+Site+Account/s/The+Dell |publisher=The Essex Field Club |title= Geology Site Account, The Dell| access-date=3 June 2012}}</ref> [[Stone Age]] tools, [[Bronze Age]] and [[Iron Age]] artefacts have been discovered in Hornchurch, indicating a lengthy occupation in pre-history. Roman remains, sufficient to indicate a settlement have also been found in South Hornchurch.

===Hornchurch Priory and New College===
In 1158/9 [[Henry II of England|Henry II]] gave {{convert|1500|acre|sqkm}} of southern Hornchurch to the hospice of [[Great St Bernard Hospice]] in Savoy as a gift.<ref name="introduction">{{cite web |title=Hornchurch: Introduction |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/essex/vol7/pp25-31 |website=British History Online |access-date=21 August 2023 |date=1978}}</ref> The [[Hornchurch Priory]] was established and in 1163 the St Andrew's Church and adjacent land was given by Henry II to the priory with a house built to the north of the church. The priory lands in total were around {{convert|1900|acre|sqkm}}.<ref name="Havering 1500">{{cite book |last1=McIntosh |first1=Marjorie Keniston |title=A Community Transformed: The Manor and Liberty of Havering, 1500-1620: The Manor and Liberty of Havering-atte-Bower 1500–1620 |date=26 November 2010 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-89328-2 |edition=Revised |language=English}}</ref> The priory claimed exclusive spiritual authority within the ancient parish of Hornchurch which was the same area as the manor of [[Royal Liberty of Havering|Havering]] at this time. The [[Parliament of England]] authorised the king to confiscate the property of alien religious houses that supported the [[Avignon Papacy]] in 1379. The members of the priory left the house in 1385 and the property was seized.<ref name="Revue">{{cite journal |last1=McIntosh |first1=Marjorie |title=Hornchurch Priory |journal=[[Revue Bénédictine]] |date=1985 |volume=95 |pages=111–129 |url=https://www.brepolsonline.net/doi/pdf/10.1484/J.RB.4.01114 |access-date=23 February 2023}}</ref> The lands were purchased in 1391 by [[William of Wykeham]] for the endowment of [[New College, Oxford]].<ref name="Havering 1200"/> The site of the priory became Hornchurch Hall.<ref>{{cite web |title=Hornchurch Hall |url=https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=411381&resourceID=19191 |website=Historic England Research Records |access-date=23 February 2023}}</ref>

===Economic development===
The [[Hornchurch Marsh]] was used for cattle grazing and became popular with butchers, [[inn]] owners and others in the [[City of London]] and by the 19th century it had become famous for the quality of the cattle sent to the [[Smithfield Market|London meat market]].<ref>Mackay, C. (1840). The Thames and Its Tributaries: Or, Rambles Among the Rivers. United Kingdom: R. Bentley.</ref> Havering was a centre of [[Leather production processes|leather production]] from the 13th to 16th centuries.<ref name="Havering 1500"/> The high street was known as [[wikt:Pell|Pell]] Street, reflecting the importance of the leather trade in Hornchurch.<ref name="Havering 1200"/> There was a [[brewery]] in Hornchurch from 1789 to 1929.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Barber |first1=Norman |title=A century of British brewers, 1890 - 1990 |date=1994 |publisher=Brewery History Society |location=New Ash Green |isbn=9781873966044}}</ref> The Speedwell (later renamed Ormonde) cycle factory was located on Hornchurch Road from around 1879 to 1900.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Grant |first1=Andy |title=How bicycles, manufacturing and gas lights created Roneo Corner |url=https://www.romfordrecorder.co.uk/news/21475084.heritage-bicycles-manufacturing-gas-lights-created-roneo-corner/ |access-date=28 December 2023 |work=Romford Recorder |date=17 April 2021 |language=en}}</ref> It employed 100 "men and boys" in 1897.<ref name="Health 1897"/> Stafford Allen and Sons set up a chemical factory in Ardleigh Green, adjacent to the railway tracks, after their first choice of a nearby site in Gidea Park was rejected in 1919. Lacrinoid Products took over the site in 1936 for a plastics factory.<ref name="Stafford">{{cite news |last1=Martin |first1=Ged |title=A forgotten planning decision that shaped Gidea Park |url=https://www.romfordrecorder.co.uk/lifestyle/21518481.heritage-forgotten-planning-decision-shaped-gidea-park/ |access-date=28 December 2023 |work=Romford Recorder |date=5 May 2018 |language=en}}</ref>

===Local government===
{{maplink|raw={{Wikipedia:Map data/Hornchurch (parish)}}|frame=yes|text=Hornchurch civil parish boundaries before the expansion of [[Hornchurch Urban District]] in 1934}}
Hornchurch was a large [[ancient parish]] in the [[Becontree (hundred)|Becontree]] hundred of Essex; it was divided into the three chapelries of [[Havering-atte-Bower]], Hornchurch and [[Romford]]. The Hornchurch chapelry stretched from the [[River Thames]] in the south to Harold Wood in the north and was located between the [[River Ingrebourne]] in the east and the [[River Rom|River Beam]] in the west. It was also known as 'Hornchurch side' and consisted of the North End, South End and Town wards. Town ward was absorbed into North End and South End around 1722. Hornchurch chapelry occupied {{convert|6,783|acre}} of the {{convert|16,100|acre|ha|adj=on}} ancient parish.<ref name="introduction"/> The local authority was the Hornchurch vestry. The royal manor of [[Royal Liberty of Havering|Havering]], which was conterminous with the ancient parish of Hornchurch, enjoyed special status and a charter in 1465 removed it from the Becontree hundred and the county of Essex to instead form an independent [[liberty (division)|liberty]]. By the 16th century 'Romford side', comprising the five northern wards of Romford Town, Harold Wood, Collier Row, Noak Hill and Havering, had grown larger than Hornchurch and had achieved some degree of independence from the Hornchurch vestry. Havering ward grew independent in its own right and became a separate parish in the late 18th century.<ref name="economic">{{cite web |title=Hornchurch: Economic history and local government |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/essex/vol7/pp39-45 |website=British History Online |access-date=24 December 2023}}</ref>

Following the [[Poor Law Amendment Act 1834]], Hornchurch and Romford became separate civil parishes in 1836 and were grouped into the Romford Poor Law Union. The area of the union, excluding the town of Romford, became a [[rural sanitary district]] in 1875. The special status of the Liberty of Havering was abolished in 1892 and the area was reincorporated into Essex. In 1894 the Hornchurch vestry was replaced by Hornchurch Parish Council. The rural sanitary district became [[Romford Rural District]] and the local authority became Romford Rural District Council. As the population of Hornchurch was rising, the parish council was abolished in 1926 and the parish was removed from the rural district. On 1 April 1926 the parish of Hornchurch became [[Hornchurch Urban District]] and the local authority became Hornchurch Urban District Council, with the [[1926 Hornchurch Urban District Council election|first election]] having taken place on 27 March 1926.<ref>{{cite news |title=Urban Elections |work=Essex Chronicle |date=2 April 1926}}</ref> The council met at [[Langtons|Langtons House]] from 1929. The urban district was significantly expanded in 1934 when the parishes of [[Cranham]], [[Rainham, London|Rainham]], [[Upminster]], [[Wennington, London|Wennington]] and part of [[Great Warley]] were added. In 1936 part of [[North Ockendon]] was added to the district.<ref>{{cite web |title=Annual Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Hornchurch: 1936 | website=Wellcome Collection | url=https://wellcomecollection.org/works/e6jq6rwc |access-date=2 January 2024 |date=1937 | last=Ball | first=Alfred}}</ref> The area formed part of the [[London Traffic Area]] from 1924 and the [[London Passenger Transport Area]] from 1933.<ref name=robson>{{cite book |title=The Government and Mis-government of London |last=Robson |first=William |year=1939 |publisher=Allen & Unwin |location=London }}</ref>  The whole area was included in the [[London Borough of Havering]] in 1965 and it was transferred from Essex to Greater London.<ref name=metro>{{cite book |author1=Young, K.  |author2=Garside, P. | title=Metropolitan London: Politics and Urban Change 1837–1981 |url=https://archive.org/details/metropolitanlond0000youn  |url-access=registration  | year=1982 |publisher=Edward Arnold |isbn=9780713163315 }}</ref> For elections to the Greater London Council, Hornchurch was part of the [[Havering (electoral division)|Havering]] electoral division until 1973 and then the [[Hornchurch (electoral division)|Hornchurch]] electoral division until 1986.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Boothroyd |first1=David |title=Greater London Council Election results: Havering |url=http://www.election.demon.co.uk/glc/glchv.html |website=United Kingdom Election Results |access-date=29 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160324195108/http://www.election.demon.co.uk/glc/glchv.html |archive-date=24 March 2016}}</ref>

===Suburban expansion===
Railway stations opened in the parish of Hornchurch at [[Harold Wood railway station|Harold Wood]] in 1868 and [[Hornchurch tube station|Hornchurch]] in 1885.<ref name="introduction"/> Both stations were some distance from the village and did not initially encourage large scale housebuilding.<ref name="introduction"/>

In 1886 the parish authorities of [[St Leondard Shoreditch]] purchased 80 acres of Harrow Lodge Farm for the construction of the Hornchurch [[cottage homes]] that opened in 1889.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cherry |first1=Bridget |last2=O'Brien |first2=Charles |last3=Pevsner |first3=Nikolaus |title=London. 5: East / by Bridget Cherry, Charles O'Brien and Nikolaus Pevsner; with contributions from Elizabeth Williamson, Malcolm Tucker and Pamela Greenwood |date=2007 |publisher=Yale Univ. Press |location=New Haven London |isbn=9780300107012 |edition=Reprinted with corrections}}</ref> The homes had a population of 306 in 1896.<ref>{{cite news |title=Proposed Division of Hornchurch into Wards |work=Essex Chronicle |date=15 May 1896 |quote=A population of 306 [...] at the cottage homes}}</ref> In 1897 Hornchurch had a population of 4,200. It was a large village with scattered groups of houses throughout rest the parish and in the northwest the built up area of Romford extended into it.<ref name="Health 1897">{{cite web |title=Annual report of the Medical Officer of Health: 1897 | website=Wellcome Collection |date=1898 |publisher=Romford Rural District Council. |page=12 |url=https://wellcomecollection.org/works/syump8f2}}</ref> The growth of Hornchurch from rural village to suburban town began with the sale of the southern {{convert|200|acres|sqkm}} of Nelmes manor for the [[Emerson Park]] housing estate of 200 homes in 1895.<ref name="manors">{{cite web |title=Hornchurch: Manors |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/essex/vol7/pp31-39 |website=British History Online |access-date=21 August 2023 |date=1978}}</ref> In 1901 the {{convert|241|acres|sqkm}} northern portion of Nelmes was sold for the Great Nelmes housing estate.<ref name="introduction"/> [[Emerson Park railway station]] was opened in 1909 to serve the new estates.<ref name="Butt">{{cite book |last=Butt |first=R.V.J. |title=The Directory of Railway Stations |year=1995 |publisher=Patrick Stephens Ltd |location=Yeovil |isbn=1-85260-508-1 |id=R508 |page=91 }}</ref>

Uphavering Terrace, the first 18 [[council house]]s in Hornchurch, were constructed on Abbs Cross Lane in 1914 by Romford Rural District Council at the request of Hornchurch Parish Council.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Council Cottages, Abbs Cross Lane, Hornchurch |url=https://www.facebook.com/HavLib/posts/3154668134581215 |website=facebook.com |publisher=Havering Libraries Local Studies |access-date=23 December 2023 |date=20 August 2020}}</ref> 50 houses at Princes Park and 48 at Priors Park were constructed in the early 1920s by the Romford Rural District Council following the [[Housing, Town Planning, &c. Act 1919]] as "housing of the working classes".<ref>{{cite web |title=Abbs Cross Lane, Priors Park, Hornchurch |url=https://www.facebook.com/HavLib/posts/4298529453528405 |website=facebook.com |publisher=Havering Libraries Local Studies |access-date=23 December 2023 |date=29 September 2021 |quote=Priors Park began with 48 houses erected by Romford Rural District Council in the first years of the 1920s, part of their building programme of "houses for the working classes",}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Princes Park, South Hornchurch postcard view c.1925 |url=https://www.facebook.com/HavLib/posts/4051256051589081 |website=facebook.com |publisher=Havering Libraries Local Studies |access-date=23 December 2023 |date=5 July 2021 |quote= On June 8th 1920, at a special meeting of the Romford Rural District Council, "it was agreed that application be made to the Ministry of Health for sanction to borrow £357,477 for 60 years for the erection of houses for the working classes in Dagenham, Hornchurch and Wennington. The Clerk, Mr. T.W.A. Greenhalgh, said the money was required for the following schemes :- Chadwell Heath, 162 houses; Princes Farm, Hornchurch, 50; Rainham, 108; Wennington, 16; Priors Farm, Hornchurch 48; total 384 houses}}</ref> In total, 186 houses were built by 1922.<ref>{{cite web |title=Annual report of the Medical Officer of Health: 1925 | website=Wellcome Collection | last=Ball | first=Alfred | date=1926 |publisher=Romford Rural District Council |page=14 |url=https://wellcomecollection.org/works/ehkzf63w}}</ref> 60 further houses were built by Hornchurch Urban District Council on Suttons Avenue and Park Lane from 1928.<ref>{{cite news |title=Hornchurch |work=Essex Chronicle |date=14 September 1928 |page=5}}</ref>

The construction of the [[dual carriageway]]s of the [[Southend Arterial Road]] between 1925 and 1940 cut off the Harold Wood part of the parish from the rest.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Martin |first1=Ged |title=Even the A127 has a history |url=https://www.romfordrecorder.co.uk/lifestyle/21550933.nostalgia-even-a127-history/ |access-date=23 December 2023 |work=Romford Recorder |date=21 February 2013}}</ref>

Hornchurch was quickly built upon as part of the [[interwar period|interwar]] private housing boom that saw workers migrate from the inner districts of London. This was encouraged by the introduction of the electric [[District Railway]] service from 1932 and the availability of cheap agricultural land for development. The population of Hornchurch grew by 335% from 1921 to 1938 as new homes were occupied.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Porter |first1=Roy |title=London: a social history |date=1995 |publisher=Harvard Univ. Pr |location=Cambridge,Mass |isbn=9780674538382 |edition=2. print}}</ref> 50 acres of Haynes Park Farm was sold in 1925 for development as the Haynes Park building estate.<ref>{{cite web |title=Haynes Park Road, Hornchurch c. 1928 |url=https://www.facebook.com/HavLib/posts/3278546408860053 |website=facebook.com |publisher=Havering Libraries Local Studies |access-date=23 December 2023 |date=27 September 2020 |quote=The sale of part of the farm in 1925 for housing was soon followed in 1928 by the neighbouring Slewins Farm. Development at Slewins Farm was not without difficulty.}}</ref> The New College lands were sold for development between 1927 and 1931.<ref name="manors"/> The density of interwar development was much higher than the Emerson Park and Great Nelmes estates. In 1930 the development of the Wych Elm Farm estate caused an arbitration case which only partially upheld the restrictive covenant on the size of houses that could be built.<ref>{{cite news |title=Hornchurch Arbitration Result |work=Essex Chronicle |date=22 August 1930 |page=8}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The Estates Gazette Digest of Land and Property Cases |date=1931 |publisher=Estate Gazette, Limited}}</ref> [[Grey Towers]] mansion was demolished in 1931 and the grounds used for the Grey Towers housing estate and the [[Towers Cinema]].<ref name="introduction"/> Stafford Allen and Sons built houses for factory employees along Stafford Avenue around 1931.<ref name="Stafford"/>

In 1931 Hornchurch Hall, Priors Farm and Grove Farm were being developed for housing and the Crescent and Ravenscourt estates were being built.<ref>{{cite web |title=Annual report of the Medical Officer of Health: 1931 |url=https://wellcomecollection.org/works/ujrtgzmu | website=Wellcome Collection | last=Ball | first=Alfred | publisher=Hornchurch Urban District Council |access-date=27 December 2023 |page=9 |date=1932}}</ref> In 1932 the [[Hardley Green]], Harold Wood Hall, Lee Gardens and Redden Court estates were being built.<ref>{{cite web |title=Annual report of the Medical Officer of Health: 1932 | website=Wellcome Collection | last=Ball | first=Alfred | url=https://wellcomecollection.org/works/kcgkj9k3 |publisher=Hornchurch Urban District Council |access-date=27 December 2023 |page=7 |date=1933}}</ref> In 1933 an extension to the Hardley Green estate was under construction and work on the Maylands, Dorset House and Hornford estates was underway.<ref>{{cite web |title=Annual report of the Medical Officer of Health: 1933 | website=Wellcome Collection |url=https://wellcomecollection.org/works/kmwtwxgm |publisher=Hornchurch Urban District Council | last=Ball | first=Alfred | access-date=27 December 2023 |page=7 |date=1934}}</ref> Wyebridge, Elm and Uphavering farms were purchased in 1933 by Richard Costain and Sons for the [[Elm Park Garden City]] development. 7,000 houses were planned with the official opening of the estate in 1935. This coincided with the opening of [[Elm Park tube station]] and [[Harrow Lodge Park]]. Elm Park had a higher density of development than previous schemes and had its own town centre.<ref name="Story">{{cite book | last1=Hipperson | first1=Chris | last2=Donoghue | first2=Simon | last3=Brandon | first3=Ingrid | title=The Elm Park Story | year=2009 | publisher= Lavenham Press | location=Suffolk | isbn=9780956327208 }}</ref> 2,600 houses were built by 1939 with further development halted by the Second World War.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Martin |first1=Ged |title=Elm Park - a garden city |url=https://www.romfordrecorder.co.uk/lifestyle/21550447.nostalgia-elm-park---garden-city/ |access-date=23 December 2023 |work=Romford Recorder |date=31 March 2013}}</ref> After the war, the estate was completed with over 1,000 council houses.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Martin |first1=Ged |title=Forgotten local authority was Havering’s parent |url=https://www.romfordrecorder.co.uk/lifestyle/21505980.heritage-forgotten-local-authority-haverings-parent/ |access-date=1 January 2024 |work=Romford Recorder |date=7 July 2019}}</ref>

Nelmes manor house and immediate grounds survived until 1967 when the house was demolished by the owner to avoid a preservation order by the Greater London Council.<ref>{{cite news |title=Owner Destroys Ancient Essex Manor |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=28 August 1967}}</ref> The land was used for The Witherings neo-Georgian style housing development.<ref>{{cite news |title=How Nelmes' glory days ended with wrecking ball |url=https://www.romfordrecorder.co.uk/lifestyle/21522359.nelmes-glory-days-ended-wrecking-ball/ |access-date=21 August 2023 |work=Romford Recorder |date=14 October 2017}}</ref>

===Hornchurch Airfield and the military===
During both the [[World War I|First World War]] and [[World War II|Second World War]] nearby [[Hornchurch Airfield]] was an important [[Royal Air Force|RAF]] station; it was known as RAF Suttons Farm during the Great War, with its HQ as far away as Upminster Hall. During the Second World War, the airfield was known as RAF Hornchurch, and was home mostly to a number of [[Supermarine Spitfire|Spitfire]] squadrons, with an advanced sub-station at Rayleigh. The land has since been reused for a large housing development and [[Hornchurch Country Park]]. During the First World War a large vacant country estate called [[Grey Towers]] on Hornchurch Road was commandeered by the Army Council as a military depot. In January 1916 it became the first Command Depot for the New Zealand Contingent in Britain but was found to be more suitable as a Convalescent Hospital Camp for servicemen from the [[New Zealand Expeditionary Force]], and was run as such until June 1919.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://ezitis.myzen.co.uk/greytowers.html | title=Hornchurch: New Zealand Convalescent Hospital 1916–1919 |website=Lost Hospitals of London | access-date= 11 February 2014}}</ref>