Emerson Park is a suburban neighbourhood in 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 include Hornchurch, Upminster, Collier Row and Rainham, Lo ...

, east London. The neighbourhood developed as two large housing estates built on the estate of Nelmes manor in the parish of

Hornchurch Hornchurch is a suburban town in East London in the London Borough of Havering. It is located east-northeast of Charing Cross. It comprises a number of shopping streets and a large residential area. It historically formed a large ancient par ...

. Emerson Park estate to the south started construction in 1895 and Great Nelmes estate to the north was begun in 1901. It is located north of the Romford–Upminster line and a station opened at Emerson Park in 1909. The mansion of Nelmes survived until it was demolished in 1967 to avoid preservation by the Civic Amenities Act and was replaced with a small housing estate called The Witherings. Emerson Park is located northeast of

Charing Cross Charing Cross ( ) is a junction in Westminster, London, England, where six routes meet. Since the early 19th century, Charing Cross has been the notional "centre of London" and became the point from which distances from London are measured. ...

in Central London.

History

Toponymy

Emerson Park is named after Emerson, the eldest son of William Carter of Parkstone, Dorset who bought land in the area for property development in 1895. Prior to suburban housebuilding, it was the manor of Nelmes which was recorded as ''Elmes'' in 1333.

Economic development

The railway came to the parish of

with the

Great Eastern Railway The Great Eastern Railway (GER) was a pre-grouping British railway company, whose main line linked London Liverpool Street to Norwich and which had other lines through East Anglia. The company was grouped into the London and North Eastern R ...

opening a station at Harold Wood in 1868 and the

London, Tilbury and Southend Railway The London, Tilbury and Southend Railway (LT&SR), was a British railway company, whose network connected Fenchurch Street railway station, Fenchurch Street station, in central London, with destinations in east London and Essex, including , , , T ...

at Hornchurch in 1885. Both were some distance from the village of Hornchurch. The London, Tilbury and Southend built a branch line from Upminster to Romford in 1893 which skirted the southern boundary of Nelmes manor. A station, initially called Emerson Park and Great Nelmes Halt, was opened on 1 October 1909. The London, Tilbury and Southend became part of the

Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844 in rail transport, 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had ...

in 1912. In 1899 the Emerson Park Stores opened and the Chequers Inn was rebuilt. The Emerson Park Stores was converted to a club for the Hornchurch Liberal association, with an official opening on 16 June 1910.

Residential estates

In 1894 the Nelmes estate, in the parish of Hornchurch, is listed as comprising two houses, three farms, market gardens and other land, totalling . In 1895 the southern part of Nelmes manor, comprising , was sold by Benjamin H Newman to William Carter. In the next ten years 200 homes of the Emerson Park Estate were constructed by Homesteads Limited. The houses were large,

detached A single-family detached home, also called a single-detached dwelling, single-family residence (SFR) or separate house is a free-standing residential building. It is defined in opposition to a multi-family residential dwelling. Definitions ...

and typically situated on plots of an acre. There was some variety in the houses and the original sales prices ranged from £300 to £1,000. In 1901 the northern portion of Nelmes manor, comprising , was sold for the Great Nelmes Estate. Louis Sinclair, the local MP, was listed as tenant of the mansion. The estates were subject to restrictive covenants which prevented an increased density of housing. In 1930 a development of 76 homes on the Wych Elm Farm was proposed which would have a density of nine semi-detached homes per acre and would be sold at £1,000 per pair. This was opposed by residents of the Emerson Park and Great Nelmes estates. The arbitration of the case resulted in detached properties of six per acre sold at £650 facing the Emerson Park estate to the west and semi-detached properties at the higher density to the east.

Nelmes manor house

Nelmes manor house was built by in 1540 by William Roche, who was Lord Mayor of London. Roche had purchased two manors in

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 include Hornchurch, Upminster, Collier Row and Rainham, Lo ...

that had been held separately, Gobions in Romford and Nelmes in Hornchurch. Nelmes was held by the Roche family and then sold to the politician

Robert Naunton Sir Robert Naunton (1563 – 27 March 1635) was an England, English writer and politician who sat in the House of Commons of England, House of Commons at various times between 1606 and 1626. Family Robert Naunton was the son of Henry Naunton of ...

in the 1620s. The manor was held by the Naunton family and then sold to the postal administrator Thomas Witherings around 1646. The Nelmes mansion and about three acres of grounds, sandwiched between the two housing estates, were sold in 1903 to Alfred Barber. He sold it in 1925 to John H. Platford and it was inherited by Roy Platford in 1966. The house was demolished by Platford in 1967 to avoid a preservation order by the

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 ...

as part of the incoming Civic Amenities Act 1967. The land was used for The Witherings neo-Georgian style housing development. Part of the moat appears to have been retained. Capel Nelmes, a 16th century outbuilding, survived and was

grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

in 1972. The 17th century conduit house which provided water to Nelmes also survives and was grade II listed in 1974.

Governance

Emerson Park is a ward for elections to

Havering London Borough Council Havering London Borough Council, also known as Havering Council, is the local authority for the London Borough of Havering in Greater London, England. It is a London boroughs#London borough councils, London borough council, one of 32 in London. T ...

. The wards were redrawn for the 2022 election and since then two councillors are elected. Emerson Park is part of the Hornchurch and Upminster Parliamentary constituency and the Havering and Redbridge London Assembly constituency.

Geography

Emerson Park is located approximately northeast of

town centre and northeast of

in Central London. It is part of the RM11 postcode district in the Hornchurch

post town A post town is a required part of all postal addresses in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, Ireland, and a basic unit of the postal delivery system.Royal Mail, ''Address Management Guide'', (2004) Including the correct post town in t ...

. The Emerson Park electoral ward revision in 2022 more closely approximates the neighbourhood, by removing land north of the A127 Southend Arterial Road and west of The Ravensbourne.

Transport

Emerson Park railway station is on Romford–Upminster line with a half-hourly

London Overground London Overground (also known simply as the Overground) is a Urban rail in the United Kingdom, suburban rail network serving London and its environs. Established in 2007 to take over Silverlink Metro routes, it now serves a large part of Greate ...

service. The short branch line provides links to for connection to the

Elizabeth line The Elizabeth line is a railway line that runs across Greater London and nearby towns, operating similarly to the Réseau Express Régional, RER in Paris and the S-Bahn systems of German-speaking countries. It runs services on dedicated infras ...

and

Great Eastern Main Line The Great Eastern Main Line (GEML, sometimes referred to as the East Anglia Main Line) is a major railway line on the British railway system which connects Liverpool Street station in central London with destinations in east London and t ...

and to for connection to the

District line The District line is a London Underground line running from in the east and Edgware Road tube station (Circle, District and Hammersmith & City lines), Edgware Road in the west to in west London, where it splits into multiple branches. One br ...

of the London Underground and the

London, Tilbury and Southend line The London, Tilbury and Southend line, also known as Essex Thameside, is a commuter railway line on the Rail transport in Great Britain, British railway system. It connects Fenchurch Street railway station, Fenchurch Street station, in central ...

. Emerson Park is served by

London Buses London Buses is the subsidiary of Transport for London (TfL) that manages most bus services in London, England. It was formed following the Greater London Authority Act 1999 that transferred control of London Regional Transport (LRT) bus s ...

routes 193, 256 and 370.

References

{{LB Havering Areas of London Districts of the London Borough of Havering