Harold Hill is a

suburban A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separa ...

area in the London Borough of Havering, East London. northeast of

Charing Cross Charing Cross ( ) is a junction in Westminster, London, England, where six routes meet. Clockwise from north these are: the east side of Trafalgar Square leading to St Martin's Place and then Charing Cross Road; the Strand leading to the City ...

. It is a district centre in the

London Plan The London Plan is the statutory spatial development strategy for the Greater London area in the United Kingdom that is written by the Mayor of London and published by the Greater London Authority. The regional planning document was first pu ...

. The name refers to King Harold II, who held the

manor of Havering-atte-Bower Havering, also known as Havering-atte-Bower, was a royal manor and ancient liberty whose area now forms part of, and gives its name to, the London Borough of Havering in Greater London. The manor was in the possession of the Crown from the 11th ...

, and who was killed at the

Battle of Hastings The Battle of Hastings nrf, Batâle dé Hastings was fought on 14 October 1066 between the Norman-French army of William, the Duke of Normandy, and an English army under the Anglo-Saxon King Harold Godwinson, beginning the Norman Conque ...

in 1066. The suburb is peripheral to London, forming an eastern edge of the

urban sprawl Urban sprawl (also known as suburban sprawl or urban encroachment) is defined as "the spreading of urban developments (such as houses and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a city." Urban sprawl has been described as the unrestricted growt ...

. The extensive London County Council housing development of Harold Hill was conceived in the

Greater London Plan The Greater London Plan of 1944 was developed by Patrick Abercrombie (1879–1957). The plan was directly related to the County of London Plan written by John Henry Forshaw (1895–1973) and Abercrombie in 1943. Following World War II, London ...

of 1944 in order to alleviate housing shortages in Inner London. Before construction of the estate, which was completed in 1958, it was the location of Dagnam Park house and grounds, and in the

Municipal Borough of Romford Romford was a local government district in southwest Essex from 1851 to 1965.Vision of Britain Romford UD/MB Essex Essex () is a Ceremonial counties of England, county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the Riv ...

, but was transferred to

Greater London Greater may refer to: *Greatness Greatness is a concept of a state of superiority affecting a person or object in a particular place or area. Greatness can also be attributed to individuals who possess a natural ability to be better than al ...

in 1965. The first

Greater London Council The Greater London Council (GLC) was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council (LCC) which had covered a much smaller area. The GLC was dissolved in 198 ...

tenant to buy their council house did so here in 1967. The area is part of a long-term regeneration project led by

Havering London Borough Council Havering London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Havering in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in the United Kingdom capital of London. Havering is divided into 18 wards, each ele ...

History

Local government

The area that became Harold Hill formed part of the Harold Wood and

Noak Hill Noak Hill is a village in outer East London, in the London Borough of Havering. It is located 17.1 miles northeast of Charing Cross. History Noak Hill was a ward in the ancient parish of Hornchurch. By the 16th century, it had come under the con ...

wards of the parish of Hornchurch; the large ancient parish occupied the same area as the royal manor and

liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...

of Havering. The boundary between Harold Wood and Noak Hill was formed by a tributary of the

River Ingrebourne The River Ingrebourne is a tributary of the River Thames 27 miles (43.3 km) in length. It is considered a strategic waterway in London, forming part of the Blue Ribbon Network. It flows through the London Borough of Havering roughly from ...

. In the Harold Hill area the manor was subdivided into Dagnams, Cockerells and Gooshays. The Havering courts and Romford vestry were the principal local government in the area. The Havering liberty was abolished in 1892 and the vestry in 1894. Following the

Local Government Act 1894 The Local Government Act 1894 (56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales outside the County of London. The Act followed the reforms carried out at county level un ...

the area was split between the parishes of Romford Rural (in the west) and Noak Hill (in the east), each with a parish council and within the Romford Rural District. In 1900 the Romford Rural parish was abolished and the area was then split between the

Romford Urban District Romford is a large town in east London and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Havering. It is located northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Historically, Romford ...

(in the west) and Noak Hill in Romford Rural District (in the east). In 1934 Romford Urban District absorbed Noak Hill, bringing the whole area under the authority of Romford Urban District Council. Romford was incorporated as a

municipal borough Municipal boroughs were a type of local government district which existed in England and Wales between 1835 and 1974, in Northern Ireland from 1840 to 1973 and in the Republic of Ireland from 1840 to 2002. Broadly similar structures existed in S ...

in 1937 governed by Romford Borough Council, which was the local authority during the construction of the estate. The Municipal Borough of Romford was abolished in 1965 and Harold Hill became part of the

London Borough of Havering The London Borough of Havering () in East London, England, forms part of Outer London. It has a population of 259,552 inhabitants; the principal town is Romford, while other communities are Hornchurch, Upminster, Collier Row and Rainham. ...

in Greater London.

Urban development

Harold Hill was a planned community, conceived as part of the

in 1944 as a satellite town on the edge of the built up area.

New towns A planned community, planned city, planned town, or planned settlement is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed on previously undeveloped land. This contrasts with settlements that evolve ...

by contrast were planned to be further away from London and provide more diverse development. Land for the estate, which consisted of the remaining of Dagnams, was purchased in 1947 by the London County Council. The rest of Dagnams had been sold off in 1919, with the land used for the estate consisting of parkland, woodland, and farmland. The area was within the designated Metropolitan Green Belt, but an exception was made for the development because of the exceptional housing need in London following the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. Reflecting the urgency of the problem, housing was initially prefabricated. Construction of 7,631 permanent homes, housing 25,000 people, began in 1948 and was complete by 1958. The development is fairly low density with large sections of parkland retained in the centre and edges of the estate. The estate was constructed primarily in

brick A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...

, with mostly terraces of houses and some flats. Provision was made for community facilities and three shopping areas were planned to break up the size of the development. Some industrial development already existed to the south and adjacent to the A12 road and this was retained.

Governance

Harold Hill is located within the Heaton and Gooshays wards, with Heaton covering the west and Gooshays the east. Each ward elects three councillors to

. All of Harold Hill is within the Hornchurch and Upminster UK Parliament constituency and the Havering and Redbridge London Assembly constituency.

Geography

Harold Hill is situated on the north-eastern edge of London's Urban Sprawl, almost from Charing Cross. The district has clear geographic boundaries formed in the south by the A12 road, in the east by the

M25 motorway The M25 or London Orbital Motorway is a major road encircling most of Greater London. The motorway is one of the most important roads in the UK and one of the busiest. Margaret Thatcher opened the final section in 1986, making the M25 the lon ...

and in the north where the built up area ends at Noak Hill Road. Large sections of parklands and woodlands are in the middle and on the edges of the estate, including

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban park in the United States, with an estimated ...

and Dagnam Park. The land is gently undulating, the most significant feature being a tributary of the

called Carter's Brook and Paine's Brook, which runs north to south through the middle of Harold Hill. To the south is

Gidea Park Gidea Park () is a neighbourhood in the east of Romford in the London Borough of Havering, south-east England. Predominantly affluent and residential, it was historically within the county of Essex and saw significant expansion in the early 20t ...

, to the north is Noak Hill, to the west is

Collier Row Collier Row is an area of Romford in East London, England, within the London Borough of Havering. It is a suburban development north of Romford town centre, around north-east of Charing Cross. The area is based on a large housing estate bui ...

and to the east is Great Warley. Harold Hill is part of the Romford

post town A post town is a required part of all postal addresses in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and a basic unit of the postal delivery system.Royal Mail, ''Address Management Guide'', (2004) Including the correct post town in the address increases ...

in the RM3 postcode district, which also includes Harold Wood and Noak Hill. Climate data for Harold Hill is taken from the nearest weather station at

Greenwich Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...

Transport

The nearest railway station is at Harold Wood, approximately south of the centre of the estate, and is one of the stations on the new Crossrail

Elizabeth Line The Elizabeth line is a high-frequency hybrid urban–suburban rail service in London and its suburbs. It runs services on dedicated infrastructure in central London from the Great Western Main Line west of Paddington to and via Whitechapel ...

. The nearest London Underground station is at Upminster, approximately to the south. Transport for London provides bus routes 174, 256, 294, 496, 497,499 and N86.

Education

;History By the early 1960s, Harold Hill had six secondary schools: * Broxhill Secondary Modern (Mixed), near the corner of Broxhill Road and Noak Hill Road. Amongst its notable former pupils is Dr David Scurry, Dean of Undergraduate Programmes, Oxford Brookes University, 1989–2008. * Harold Hill Grammar School (Mixed), in Appleby Drive * Harrowfield Secondary Modern School (Boys), in Settle Road * Harrowfield Secondary Modern School (Girls), in Settle Road – adjacent, but run separately * Quarles Secondary Modern School (Boys), in Tring Gardens * Quarles Secondary Modern School (Girls), in Tring Gardens – adjacent, but run separately These schools had been built to cope with the post-Second World War "baby-boom", but because of government education policy, Broxhill and Harold Hill Grammar merged to form Bedfords Park Comprehensive. Then because of demographic changes, Quarles Boys' and Girls' Schools later merged with Harrowfield to form the Neave School (later King's Wood). ;Present After further name changes and closures, Harold Hill now has just one secondary school,

Drapers' Academy Drapers' Academy is a secondary school for girls and boys, from years 7 to 13 sixth form with academy status, located in Harold Hill near Romford, Greater London, England. It was the first academy to be established in the London Borough of Haver ...

, on the site of the former Harrowfield/Neave/King's Wood schools. Havering College, a mixed college of further education, is situated on the site of the former Quarles Secondary Modern Schools, in Tring Gardens.

Culture and community

Every year in Harold Hill there is a community festival held in Central Park normally in early July called the Harold Hill Festival.

Ian Dury Ian Robins Dury (12 May 1942 27 March 2000) was a British singer, songwriter and actor who rose to fame during the late 1970s, during the punk and new wave era of rock music. He was the lead singer and lyricist of Ian Dury and the Blockheads ...

referenced Harold Hill in self-penned song, "This Is What We Find": The song set all three of its verses in real places; the others were Turnham Green and Lambeth Walk. In his double CD, ''Retrospective Reasons To be Cheerful'' produced by Repertoire Records, Dury stated that he never wrote another verse as good as Harold Hill's verse. The area has been covered in relation to various murders and attempted murders. Despite its past, Harold Hill is now one of the fastest improving boroughs since the council built the Myplace centre, a new community and performance space, allowing young people a safe location to spend time with their friends. The Prime Minister said that since Draper's Academy opened in Settle Road, it has become one of the fastest improving schools in England helping Harold Hill improve in the future. It has had so much success in the past year that the Queen visited Drapers Academy in October 2012, that being her first visit to Harold Hill. Bedrock is the local hospital radio service available online to the local area and broadcasting a range of health-related information and locally produced entertainment. Radio Harold Hill which started in 2013 is the local community radio station and broadcasts online on their website and on mobile apps.

Sport

The area has its own non league football club, Harold Hill F.C. who currently play in the at the Henderson Sports & social club, Kenilworth Avenue.The County Motor Works Vauxhall Mid-Essex
The County Motor Works Vauxhall Mid-Essex
accessdate: February 22, 2020

Notes

References

External links

indexHarold Hill: A People's HistoryHOME - haroldhillfestivalHarold Hill Festival

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{{LB Havering Areas of London Districts of the London Borough of Havering Planned communities 1958 establishments in England Romford District centres of London