The Fairlop Oak The district took its name from a famous old
oak tree, the Fairlop Oak, that stood in
Hainault Forest; most of the forest was destroyed in the mid-nineteenth century. Similarly, the
Romany name for the district Boro-rukenesky gav means 'Great Tree Town'. The first certain known use of the name is recorded in 1738 as
Fair Lop Tree. This disproves the tradition that the name arose after the burial of Daniel Day at Barking Church (Ilford and with it Hainault Forest were part of the
ancient parish of Barking at this time) in 1767. Day is believed to have been buried in a coffin made from a large bough that fell from the tree - so according to the story it was a 'fair lop (cut)' as the tree wasn't harmed. The oak, which stood in an open part of the forest known as Fairlop Plain, is said to have had a trunk sixty-six feet in circumference, from which seventeen branches issued, most of them measuring not less than twelve feet in girth. A legend has it that
Queen Anne (reigned 1702-1714) visited Hainault Forest and was greatly impressed by the oak. One of the songs sung at the fair (which started in 1725) was called "Come, come, my boys", in which one verse states: Closer to home, the sounding board at
St Mary the Virgin, Wanstead, is said to be made from the oak, and some smaller items made from the tree are found in the Redbridge Museum. The oak features on the coats of arms of the
Municipal Borough of Ilford, and its successor the
London Borough of Redbridge.
The Fairlop Fair The fair was started in July 1725, by Daniel Day (1683-1767), an eccentric and philanthropic pump and block maker (marine engineer) from
Wapping. Day had some cottages near Fairlop and collected the rent on the first Friday of July. He wished to make the day a pleasant one for his tenants, friends and employees at Wapping so organised a trip to the Fairlop Oak, where a meal of beans and bacon was served. This may be the origin of the English words
bean-feast and beano. Soon other employers began to take their employees to Fairlop on the same Friday, and the event so grew rapidly in size with entertainments laid on and soon the fair gained a life of its own with very large numbers attending what had become a huge social event. The fair always started on the first Friday of July, but what started as a one day event became a week long festival. By the middle of the eighteenth century, the annual excursion to Fairlop had become one of London's most popular entertainments, with a hundred thousand people being drawn through
Ilford to the fair in the forest. After the destruction of the forest, the fair continued on a smaller scale at
Barkingside, with the last event of any size held in 1900.
Fairlop Frigates Daniel Day would always attend the fair, but became nervous of travelling by road following an accident. To avoid the roads as far as possible he had a boat built - nicknamed the Fairlop Frigate - on which he travelled on the Thames downstream from Wapping, and then up the
River Roding to Ilford. At Ilford the boat would be taken out of the water, wheels attached, and the boat would then be drawn by six horses and follow a marching band to the fair in the forest. The
Fairlop Fair Song is a folk ballad which refers to the presence of the frigates at the fair: A tradition of wheeled Fairlop Frigates would continue long after Day's death, to the last Fairlop Fair in 1900. ==Location==