Toponymy According to Mills, Hornchurch is first recorded in English in 1233 as
Hornechurch and means 'church with horn-like gables'. It has been suggested that the Hornchurch Priory is the origin of the Hornchurch placename because the priory used a bulls-head seal on official documents during the 14th century. Both the seal and, since , the bull emblem on the wall of the parish church derive from the name rather than provide the origin.
Origins In the
Anglian Ice Age, 450,000 years ago, the ice sheet reached The Dell, just south of St Andrew's Church, the furthest south any ice sheet reached in Britain.
Hornchurch Cutting is a
Site of Special Scientific Interest just north of St Andrew’s Park, which exhibits the geology.
Stone Age tools and
Bronze Age and
Iron Age artefacts have been discovered in Hornchurch, indicating a lengthy occupation in pre-history. Roman remains, sufficient to indicate a settlement, have also been found in South Hornchurch.
Hornchurch Priory and New College In 1158/9
Henry II gave of southern Hornchurch to the hospice of
Great St Bernard Hospice in Savoy.
Hornchurch Priory was established and in 1163 St Andrew's Church and adjacent land were given by Henry II to the priory, with a house built to the north of the church. The priory lands in total were around . The priory claimed exclusive spiritual authority within the ancient parish of Hornchurch, which was the same area as the manor of
Havering at that time. The
Parliament of England authorised the king to confiscate the property of alien religious houses that supported the
Avignon Papacy in 1379. The members of the priory left the house in 1385 and the property was seized. The lands were purchased in 1391 by
William of Wykeham for the endowment of
New College, Oxford.
Economic development The
Hornchurch Marsh was used for cattle grazing and became popular with butchers,
inn owners and others in the
City of London and by the 19th century it had become famous for the quality of the cattle sent to the
London meat market. Havering was a centre of
leather production from the 13th to 16th centuries. The Speedwell (later renamed Ormonde) cycle factory was located on Hornchurch Road from around 1879 to 1900. It employed 100 "men and boys" in 1897.
Local government Hornchurch was a large
ancient parish in the
Becontree hundred of Essex; it was divided into the three chapelries of
Havering-atte-Bower, Hornchurch and
Romford. The Hornchurch chapelry stretched from the
River Thames in the south to Harold Wood in the north and was located between the
River Ingrebourne in the east and the
River Beam in the west. It was also known as 'Hornchurch side' and consisted of the North End, South End and Town wards. Town ward was absorbed into North End and South End around 1722. Hornchurch chapelry occupied of the ancient parish. Following the
Poor Law Amendment Act 1834, Hornchurch and Romford became separate civil parishes in 1836 and were grouped into the Romford Poor Law Union. The area of the union, excluding the town of Romford, became a
rural sanitary district in 1875. The special status of the Liberty of Havering was abolished in 1892 and the area was reincorporated into Essex. In 1894 the Hornchurch vestry was replaced by Hornchurch Parish Council. The rural sanitary district became
Romford Rural District and the local authority became Romford Rural District Council. The
Hornchurch Ratepayers' Association was formed in 1900 and stood candidates in local elections. As the population of Hornchurch was rising, the parish council was abolished in 1926 and the parish was removed from the rural district. On 1 April 1926 the parish of Hornchurch became
Hornchurch Urban District and the local authority became Hornchurch Urban District Council, with the
first election having taken place on 27 March 1926. The council met at
Langtons House from 1929. The urban district was significantly expanded in 1934 when the parishes of
Cranham,
Rainham,
Upminster,
Wennington and part of
Great Warley were added. In 1936 part of
North Ockendon was added to the district. The area formed part of the
London Traffic Area from 1924 and the
London Passenger Transport Area from 1933. The whole area was included in the
London Borough of Havering in 1965 and it was transferred from Essex to Greater London. For elections to the Greater London Council, Hornchurch was part of the
Havering electoral division until 1973 and then the
Hornchurch electoral division until 1986.
Suburban expansion Railway stations opened in the parish of Hornchurch at
Harold Wood in 1868 and
Hornchurch in 1885. The homes had a population of 306 in 1896. In 1897 Hornchurch had a population of 4,200. It was a large village with scattered groups of houses throughout the rest of the parish and in the northwest the built-up area of Romford extended into it. The growth of Hornchurch from rural village to suburban town began with the sale of the southern of Nelmes manor for the
Emerson Park housing estate of 200 homes in 1895. In 1901 the northern portion of Nelmes was sold for the Great Nelmes housing estate. Uphavering Terrace, the first 18
council houses in Hornchurch, were constructed on Abbs Cross Lane in 1914 by Romford Rural District Council at the request of Hornchurch Parish Council. 50 houses at Princes Park and 48 at Priors Park were constructed in the early 1920s by the Romford Rural District Council following the
Housing, Town Planning, &c. Act 1919 as "housing of the working classes". In total, 186 houses were built by 1922. 60 further houses were built by Hornchurch Urban District Council on Suttons Avenue and Park Lane from 1928. The construction of the
dual carriageways of the
Southend Arterial Road between 1925 and 1940 cut off the Harold Wood part of the parish from the rest. Hornchurch was quickly built upon as part of the
interwar private housing boom that saw workers migrate from the inner districts of London. This was encouraged by the introduction of the electric
District Railway service from 1932 and the availability of cheap agricultural land for development. The population of Hornchurch grew by 335% from 1921 to 1938 as new homes were occupied. 50 acres of Haynes Park Farm was sold in 1925 for development as the Haynes Park building estate. The New College lands were sold for development between 1927 and 1931.
Grey Towers mansion was demolished in 1931 and the grounds used for the Grey Towers housing estate and the
Towers Cinema. In 1932 the
Hardley Green, Harold Wood Hall, Lee Gardens and Redden Court estates were being built. In 1933 an extension to the Hardley Green estate was under construction and work on the Maylands, Dorset House and Hornford estates was underway. Wyebridge, Elm and Uphavering farms were purchased in 1933 by Richard Costain and Sons for the
Elm Park Garden City development. 7,000 houses were planned with the official opening of the estate in 1935. This coincided with the opening of
Elm Park tube station and
Harrow Lodge Park. Elm Park had a higher density of development than previous schemes and had its own town centre. 2,600 houses were built by 1939 with further development halted by the Second World War. After the war, the estate was completed with over 1,000 council houses. Nelmes manor house and immediate grounds survived until 1967 when the house was demolished by the owner to avoid a preservation order by the Greater London Council. The land was used for The Witherings neo-Georgian style housing development.
Hornchurch Airfield and the military During both the
First World War and
Second World War nearby
Hornchurch Airfield was an important
RAF station; it was known as RFC Suttons Farm during the Great War, with its HQ as far away as Upminster Hall. During the Second World War, the airfield was known as RAF Hornchurch, and was home mostly to a number of
Spitfire squadrons, with an advanced sub-station at Rayleigh. The land has since been reused for a large housing development and
Hornchurch Country Park. During the First World War a large vacant country estate called
Grey Towers on Hornchurch Road was commandeered by the Army Council as a military depot. In January 1916 it became the first Command Depot for the New Zealand Contingent in Britain but was found to be more suitable as a Convalescent Hospital Camp for servicemen from the
New Zealand Expeditionary Force, and was run as such until June 1919. ==Governance==