Editing Gidea Park (section)

===Early history===
[[Thomas Cooke (mayor)|Thomas Cooke]], a Suffolk man who became London Mayor in 1462, was granted a [[Royal Charter]] for [[Royal Liberty of Havering|Royal Liberty of Havering-atte-Bower]], which enabled him to build a country house, which he named "Geddy Hall". The word "geddy" was so named after the lake and its livestock; ''ged'' (meaning [[Northern pike|pike]]) and ''ea'' (water). The house remained unfinished for at least a century, because of his numerous incarcerations in the [[Tower of London]] for [[High treason in the United Kingdom|high treason]]. Upon his death in 1478, the estate was passed down through the Cooke family and eventually to his great-grandson, [[Anthony Cooke]], who was a tutor for [[Edward VI]].<ref>[https://archive.org/details/bookofexhibition00romf/page/42 ''The Book of the Exhibition of Houses and Cottages: Romford Garden Suburb, Gidea Park'', p. 42.]</ref> After a brief period abroad, Anthony returned to [[Havering-atte-Bower]] and completed the building of Geddy Hall, which later became [[Gidea Hall]].<ref>[https://archive.org/details/bookofexhibition00romf/page/43 ''The Book of the Exhibition of Houses and Cottages: Romford Garden Suburb, Gidea Park'', p. 43.]</ref>
[[File:Gidea Park Preparatory School.jpg|thumb|right|The former Balgores House, dating from the 1850s, is today a preparatory school]]

In 1657, the hall and its grounds were sold to Richard Emes, a local businessman, for £9,000. Upon [[Stuart Restoration|the Restoration]], the estate was bought back by the Crown and passed through the ownerships of various nobilities, before eventually being sold through public auction, shortly before the [[Coronation of Queen Victoria]].<ref>[https://archive.org/details/bookofexhibition00romf/page/35 ''The Book of the Exhibition of Houses and Cottages: Romford Garden Suburb, Gidea Park'', p. 35.]</ref>