Highams Park is a suburban district in the

London Borough of Waltham Forest The London Borough of Waltham Forest () is a London boroughs, London borough in north-east London, England. Its population is estimated to be 276,983 in 2019. It borders five other London boroughs: London Borough of Enfield, Enfield to the nort ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, near Epping Forest and 8.1 miles (13 km) north-east 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 ...

. Traditionally a part of

Walthamstow Walthamstow ( or ) is a large town in east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London and the ancient county of Essex. Situated northeast of Charing Cross, the town borders Chingford to the north, Snaresbrook and Sout ...

parish and municipal borough, it is primarily a residential area, with mainly Victorian and 1930s terraced houses.

Hale End

The whole of the Highams Park area was once known as

Hale End Hale End is a locality in East London in the borough of Waltham Forest, very near Woodford Green, two miles from Tottenham and one mile from Walthamstow. It adjoins Highams Park in the E4 postal district. Much of Highams Park until the late 19t ...

, as evidenced by the name of Hale End Library, and the Halex factory. Although postcode areas are not intended to define districts, it might be said that Hale End approximates to the part of Highams Park which shares the postal district of IG8 with Woodford Green. The rest of Highams Park, which takes the Chingford postal district, E4. The park from which the area is (partially) named is located within the IG8 postcode area.

Education

Schools

Primary schools

*Handsworth Primary School *Selwyn Primary School (Previously Infants and Juniors). *There are also three other primary schools, Ainslie Wood Primary School (South Chingford), Oak Hill Primary School (Hale End) and Thorpe Hall School (Walthamstow) which are close to Highams Park.

Secondary schools

* Highams Park School (formerly known as Sydney Burnell School). The school has pupils aged 11–16, and also has a

sixth form In the education systems of England, Northern Ireland, Wales, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepare for ...

college for pupils aged 16–18. The school holds dual specialist status as a Technology College and a

Sports College Sports Colleges are senior secondary schools which promote sports alongside secondary education. United Kingdom Sports Colleges were introduced in 1997 as part of the Specialist Schools Programme in the United Kingdom. The programme enabled sec ...

Special schools

*Joseph Clark School for partially sighted and blind pupils which is a combined primary and secondary school.

Library

*Hale End

Library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vi ...

is in Highams Park and is positioned on The Avenue and was refurbished between January and July 2007.

Sports and recreation

There are two main sports grounds in Highams Park, Jubilee Sports Ground (formally Truman's Sports Ground) and Rolls Park. Jubilee is positioned off The Avenue, it is now owned by

Waltham Forest Council Waltham Forest London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Waltham Forest in London, England which has existed since the London Government Act 1963 was commenced in 1965, replacing three local authorities: Chingford ...

. It is mainly used for football, with local teams and youth teams training and playing on the field and astro-turf. The ground is not open to the public. Rolls Park is slightly bigger and is open to the public. The field is used mainly for football and cricket. There is also a tennis club and a small gym at the edges of the field. There is also a bar/clubroom owned by West Essex football and cricket clubs. There is another Tennis club (Whitehalls) situated on Larkshall Road. Highams Park Lake is used for

Kayaking Kayaking is the use of a kayak for moving over water. It is distinguished from canoeing by the sitting position of the paddler and the number of blades on the paddle. A kayak is a low-to-the-water, canoe-like boat in which the paddler sits faci ...

by members of

The Scout Association The Scout Association is the largest Scouting organisation in the United Kingdom and is the World Organization of the Scout Movement's recognised member for the United Kingdom. Following the origin of Scouting in 1907, the association was fo ...

. There are initial plans to build a

velodrome A velodrome is an arena for track cycling. Modern velodromes feature steeply banked oval tracks, consisting of two 180-degree circular bends connected by two straights. The straights transition to the circular turn through a moderate easement ...

in the grounds of Highams Park School. This would be used by the school and also local sports teams, it will be many years before any building work is undertaken.

"The Highams Park" and Highams Park Lake

The park is known officially as "The Highams Park" but is often known locally as "Highams Park Field", "The Field", "The Park" or "The lake". Most of the park is on a hill with a gradual rise to the north end. It is frequented by dog walkers, runners and families. The park has a cafe and a playground. Highams Park Lake is to the west of the park, and is owned by the City of London Corporation although the rest of the park is maintained by the London Borough of Waltham Forest. The lake was formed by the landscape gardener

Humphry Repton Humphry Repton (21 April 1752 – 24 March 1818) was the last great English landscape designer of the eighteenth century, often regarded as the successor to Capability Brown; he also sowed the seeds of the more intricate and eclectic styles of ...

who created it by damming the River Ching. The lake, adjoining park and the Manor House (now Woodford County High School) were known as Highams Bensted. The last owner, Sir Thomas Courtenay Warner, built both the Warner Estate in

and the

Highams Estate The Highams Estate is a housing estate in Waltham Forest in East London, near to Hale End and Woodford Green. The area was developed by Thomas Courtenay Warner, within the grounds of the former Highams Manor House in the 1930s. Extent The ...

; the latter bounds the park to the North and East. The lake itself is about 450m long and about 80m wide at the widest point. At the south end of the lake is a boat house built by Kenneth Robert John Ford and owned by Waltham Forest South Scouts. The north end of the lake is much narrower and shallower, and it often dries out into mud in the summer. The River Ching flows past the lake but does not actually flow into it; a small outflow at the south end of the lake flows into the river. There is a small island in the lake which is inhabited by nesting swans. Near the top of the lake are some large rocks thought to have been placed there by Humphry Repton to improve the lake's appearance. A public toilet block used to be situated on the east side of the lake although it was demolished many years ago, and only the foundations remain.

Halex and Tesco

The Halex factory was situated on Larkshall Road and was a major local employer from 1897 to 1971. The factory was established by the

British Xylonite Company BX Plastics was a plastics engineering and production company. The company was one of three subsidiaries of the British Xylonite Company established by 1938. BX Plastics made xylonite (also known as celluloid or ivoride) and Lactoid (also known ...

to produce a variety of goods mostly from plastic. The Halex company had a virtual monopoly on manufacturing

table tennis Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...

balls. The factory closed in the early 1970s and has since been knocked down and replaced by new smaller factories and industrial buildings. A blue plaque on Jubilee Avenue marks the spot where the building stood; it reads "Plastics Historical Society. On this site, from 1897–1971, stood the Halex factory of the British Xylonite Company." Some of the land in this area is now owned by supermarket chain

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British Multinational corporation, multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues an ...

, which was initially refused permission to build a store on the site in June 2007 by then Local Government Secretary Ruth Kelly''Government Says No to Highams Park Tesco'' Waltham Forest Guardian ''18th June 2007''
/ref> after a protracted process of planning applications dating back to early 2005."Tesco No Go" ''Waltham Forest Guardian'' 11 February 2005
/ref> The reasons cited for the refusal involved the size of the proposed store and the building not being in keeping with local Victorian and Edwardian buildings. However, in 2009 a revised planning application was passed despite the efforts of some local residents to stop this from happening. A recent campaign seeks to honour the men of Highams Park who worked in the Halex Factory and gave their lives in both world wars. The campaigners also wish to see the return of the local war memorial to its original site.

Railway

Highams Park station is on the

London Overground London Overground (also known simply as the Overground) is a suburban rail network serving London and its environs. Established in 2007 to take over Silverlink Metro routes, (via archive.org). it now serves a large part of Greater London as w ...

Chingford branch which runs from

London Liverpool Street Liverpool Street station, also known as London Liverpool Street, is a central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in the north-eastern corner of the City of London, in the ward of Bishopsgate Without. It is the t ...

to Chingford, The line is one of the Lea Valley lines. The railway line cuts through the area with a

level crossing A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an overpass or tunnel. The term a ...

, close to the station, this being the only place actually in Highams Park where vehicles can cross the track. The level crossing itself, until 2002, was controlled by a signalman who worked in the traditional signal box next to the crossing. However, in 2002, despite local opposition, the gates began to be operated from a central office at Liverpool Street station. The signal box was marked for demolition, but due to the efforts o
"The Highams Park Forum"
(a group of local residents), and local Member of Parliament (and then leader of the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

)

Iain Duncan Smith Sir George Iain Duncan Smith (born George Ian Duncan Smith; 9 April 1954), often referred to by his initials IDS, is a British politician who served as Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition from 2001 to 2003. He was S ...

, the box was saved with the intention of turning it into a museum or a tea room. In 2017 the signal box was reopened as a crêperie calle
LaBoite

Buses

Highams Park is served by London Buses routes 212, 275, W16 and school route 675.

Notable residents

* Fred Pontin, founder of the holiday parks company Pontins, was born in Highams Park in 1906. He lived on Forest Glade and attended Sir George Monoux Grammar School in

. *

Trevor Bailey Trevor Edward Bailey (3 December 1923 – 10 February 2011) was an England Test cricketer, cricket writer and broadcaster. An all-rounder, Bailey was known for his skilful but unspectacular batting. As the BBC reflected in his obituary: "Hi ...

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 ...

and England cricketer. *

Graham Barnfield Graham Barnfield (born 5 November 1969 in Leicester) is a British academic and pundit associated with the hard left Revolutionary Communist Party (1981–1997). In 1993 he began writing on cultural politics in the United States under President ...

, pundit and academic, moved to Highams Park in 2001. * John Berger, socialist artist and writer, lived in Highams Park as a child. *

Blazin' Squad Blazin' Squad were an English hip hop group. The group had seven top ten hits, including "Crossroads", a cover version of the Bone Thugs-n-Harmony original. Jon O'Brien of AllMusic called them the "self-proclaimed pioneers of 'chav' culture ...

(band): Members of the band Blazin' Squad lived in or near Highams Park and studied at Highams Park School. *

Johnny Dankworth Johnny is an English language personal name. It is usually an affectionate diminutive of the masculine given name John, but from the 16th century it has sometimes been a given name in its own right for males and, less commonly, females. Varia ...

, musician and soloist, born in Highams Park in 1927. * Sir George Edwards, aircraft designer and industrialist, born in Hale End Road, Highams Park, on 9 July 1908. * Chris Moncrieff, political journalist. * Tara Moran, actress. *

Teddy Sheringham Edward Paul "Teddy" Sheringham, MBE (born 2 April 1966) is an English football manager and former player. He played as a forward, mostly as a second striker, in a 24-year professional career. Sheringham began his career at Millwall, where ...

, footballer, born on 2 April 1966 in Highams Park. * John Smith, filmmaker, born in Highams Park and attended Selwyn Avenue School and George Monoux School. * John Maxwell Hutchinson, English architect, BBC broadcaster, and

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of t ...

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Chur ...

, former President of the

Royal Institute of British Architects The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three supp ...

Nearby places

* Chingford *

* Woodford Green *

Leytonstone Leytonstone () is an area in east London, England, north-east of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Waltham Forest, a local authority district of Greater London. It adjoins Wanstead to the north-east, Forest Gate to the south-east, ...

References

External links

Images of Highams Park
at the English Heritage Archive {{London Districts Areas of London Districts of the London Borough of Waltham Forest District centres of London