Ilford

Toponymy Ilford was historically known as Great Ilford to differentiate it from nearby Little Ilford. The name is first recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Ilefort and means "ford over the Hyle". "Hyle" is an old Celtic name for the River Roding that means "trickling stream". Great and Little Ilford share the place name origin, Great and Little Ilford appear to have always been distinct areas separated by the Roding. The place names of Great and Little Ilford both appear to derive from the ford (and river), rather than deriving from the subdivision of a larger Ilford area. Manor of Barking Barking was a huge manor (landholding), first mentioned in a charter in 735 AD. The manor covered the areas now known as Barking, Dagenham and Ilford. The manor was held by the nunnery of Barking Abbey. Ancient Parish of Barking By the late 1100s (the parishes of England were, with a few exceptions, fixed for around 700 years from the late 12th century onwards) the huge manor of Barking was served by two ancient parishes, Barking (including Ilford) and Dagenham. This reversed the usual situation (for smaller, and even quite large manors) where a parish would serve one or more manors. As with other manors, the area held by the declined over time, but the parish boundaries based on its former extent remained constant. The Parish of Barking, in the Becontree hundred of Essex, covered the areas now known as Barking and Ilford. Barking was a large ancient parish of in the Becontree hundred of Essex. It was divided into the wards of Chadwell, Great Ilford, Ripple and Town. Ilford separates from Barking The Barking parish authorities gradually lost responsibility for a variety of functions during the 19th century; from 1836, for the administration of poor relief, Ilford came within the Romford Poor Law Union and in 1840 the Metropolitan Police District was extended to cover the area. In 1875, the Romford rural sanitary district was created, covering a wide area including Ilford. In 1888, Ilford and the neighbouring ward of Chadwell to its east were split from Barking and together formed a separate Ilford civil parish. In 1890, a local board of health was set up for the parish, replacing the rural sanitary authority, and in 1894 a reform of local government reconstituted it as an urban district. It formed part of the London Traffic Area from 1924 and the London Passenger Transport Area from 1933. It was incorporated as the Municipal Borough of Ilford in 1926. The suburban expansion of London caused a significant increase in population and the borough became one of the largest in England not to gain county borough status. London Borough of Redbridge In 1965, the municipal borough was abolished and its former area was combined with that of Wanstead and Woodford, the northern extremity of Dagenham and a small part Chigwell Urban District (around Hainault), to form the new London Borough of Redbridge. Representation Two the UK Parliamentary constituencies are named after Ilford: Ilford North and Ilford South.The Member of Parliament (MP) for Ilford North is Wes Streeting of the Labour Party, who succeeded the previous MP Lee Scott of the Conservative Party in the 2015 general election. The MP for Ilford South from 2024 is Jas Athwal of the Labour Party. Redbridge forms part of the Havering and Redbridge London Assembly constituency. ==History==

Prehistoric natural history The only complete skull of a mammoth discovered in the United Kingdom was unearthed in 1864 close to where Uphall Road is today. The skull can now be seen in the Natural History Museum and a cast of the skull and other prehistoric animal remains can be seen at Redbridge Museum, Central Library, Ilford. Iron Age Redevelopment has destroyed much of the evidence for early Ilford, but the oldest evidence for human occupation is the first- and second-century BC Iron Age earthwork known as Uphall Camp. This was situated between the Roding and Ilford Lane and is recorded in 18th-century plans. Roman finds have also been made in the vicinity. Lavender Mount A nearby mound called Lavender Mount existed into the 1960s, when it was removed during building work at Howards chemical works. Excavation has shown that Lavender Mount may have been a 16th-century 'beacon-mound'. Archaeological discoveries are displayed at Redbridge Museum. Economic development Ilford straddled the important road from London to Colchester. The Middlesex and Essex Turnpike Trust controlled and maintained the road from 1721. The River Roding was made navigable for barges as far as Ilford Bridge from 1737. This was founded in 1879 by Alfred H. Harman, a photographer from Peckham, who established the business in a house in Cranbrook Road making gelatino-bromide 'dry' plates. The Exchange is the main shopping centre. Suburban expansion By 1653, Ilford was a compact village of 50 houses, mostly sited north and south of the current Broadway and the population of the Municipal Borough of Ilford peaked in 1951 at 184,706, declining to 178,024 in 1961 before being absorbed into Redbridge and Greater London in 1965. At the 2001 Census the combined populations of the Ilford North and Ilford South constituencies was 196,414. Notable events John Logie Baird, who invented the television, moved to Ilford in the mid to late 1920s to work on his new invention. He worked in a workshop on the roof of the Plessey premises in Ley Street, which has long since been demolished to make way for new housing. In 1922, Ilford became notorious for being the site of the Thompson-Bywaters case, a cause célèbre in the United Kingdom that later influenced the debate around capital punishment in the UK. Ilford was also the birthplace of the actor Maggie Smith who left for Oxford at the age of four. During World War II an Ilford man lost his life when his Royal Air Force training aircraft crashed in the United States. Local residents living near the site, in the State of Oklahoma, erected a monument in 2000 honouring the lives of all four RAF fliers who perished. The event was attended by the Mayor of Redbridge and his mace-bearer, to much local acclaim. The residents, who include Choctaw Indians and the Choctaw Nation government, continue honouring the lives of all four on each anniversary of the crashes, which took place in February 1943. Olympics Its proximity to the Olympic Park in Stratford meant that in 2011, Ilford was the fastest-growing tourist destination in Europe due to the London 2012 Summer Olympics. ==Economy==

In 2005, Ilford was ranked sixth in the Retail Footprint ranking for Greater London, behind London's West End, Croydon, Kingston upon Thames, Bromley and Brent Cross Shopping Centre. It ranked just above Romford and central London's Kensington. As of 2020, Ilford has of total town centre floorspace, the tenth highest in Greater London and noticeably lower compared to Stratford and Romford. ==Geography==

The town is bounded in the west by the North Circular Road, Manor Park and the River Roding, with Chadwell Heath and Romford to the east and Barking to the South. The Alders Brook is a tributary of the Roding that marks the boundary between Newham and Redbridge. Climate data for Ilford is taken from the nearest weather station at Greenwich, around south south west of the railway station: ==Demography==

Historic population statistics Population The entire town of Ilford is also made up of its neighbourhoods Aldborough Hatch, Barkingside, Clayhall, Cranbrook, Fairlop, Fullwell Cross, Loxford, Gants Hill, Goodmayes, Newbury Park, Redbridge, Hainault, Little Heath and Seven Kings. It approximates to 11 electoral wards, and the total population counted 168,168 people in the 2011 census, compared to 303,858 for the borough of Redbridge as a whole. Ethnicity Ilford has a very large ethnic-minority population, and is one of the most diverse towns in the country. Ilford North had the fourth-highest Jewish proportion of residents in the 2001 census. The Hindu, Muslim and Sikh population number some 30,000. The large South Asian community in Ilford speak a variety of languages, including Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu. According to the 2001 census, the parliamentary constituencies of Ilford North and Ilford South consisted of the following demographs: Housing House prices in Ilford are generally far lower than the average for Greater London. The median house price in 2014 in Ilford's Loxford ward was £193,000, which was the sixth lowest out of the 628 wards of Greater London. In most wards, a majority of houses are owned by the households. The exceptions are in Clementswood, Loxford, and Valentines. The table below shows housing type data for Ilford's wards at the 2011 census (but altered to match new ward boundaries in 2015). Other The male life expectancy was 76.4 years in Loxford, and 84.5 years in Barkingside. The female expectancy was highest in Barkingside, 87.5 years, and lowest in Loxford, 81.7 years. ==Transport==

Rail and tube Ilford station is in London fare zone 4. Ilford railway station is on the Great Eastern Main Line. It is served by Elizabeth line trains which also call at the nearby Seven Kings and Goodmayes stations. The station was the scene of two fatal rail crashes in 1915 and 1944. A traction maintenance depot for electric multiple units is situated in Ilford, which maintains many National Rail and London Overground trains. London Underground's Central line is to the north of Ilford, with Redbridge, Gants Hill, Newbury Park, Barkingside and Fairlop nearby. The stations are on the Hainault loop branch of the Central line, with direct connections to Stratford, the City, the West End and West London. East London Transit route EL1 begins in Ilford; it links up with routes EL2 and EL3 at Barking, with onward connections to Chadwell Heath, Becontree and Dagenham. The A118 runs east-west through Ilford, linking the town with Stratford and the A11 westbound, and Romford eastbound. The A123 runs north-south through the town, with direct connections to Gants Hill and Chigwell northbound, and Barking southbound. The A406 North Circular Road links the town directly with north and west London destinations, such as Wood Green and Brent Cross. It carries traffic northbound to the M11 for Stansted Airport and Cambridge. Southbound, the route runs to Beckton, the Woolwich Ferry, and the A13 for Isle of Dogs, Dagenham and Tilbury. North of Ilford, the A12 links the town directly to the M25, Chelmsford and Ipswich. Southbound traffic runs past Stratford, through the Blackwall Tunnel and onto the A2 for Dartford and destinations in Kent. Cycle There is an intermittent cycle lane between Stratford, Ilford, Romford and Harold Wood along the A118. The lane is part of the former London Cycle Network, as signposted route number 12. At Stratford, Cycle Superhighway 2 begins and runs through Mile End and Whitechapel to the City. The route is mostly segregated from other road traffic. Cycleway 16 passes to the north of Ilford, providing a direct cycle connection between the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park at Stratford and Barkingside. The Roding Valley Way is a shared-use route running alongside the River Roding. It begins in Ilford and runs unbroken to Roding Valley tube station near Buckhurst Hill, Essex. ==Landmarks==

Valentines Mansion was built in 1696 and was used as council offices until 1994. It gives its name to Valentines Park, the largest green space in the borough. Pioneer Point consists of two buildings: Pioneer Point North is 105 m tall with 33 floors and Pioneer Point South is 82 m tall with 25 floors. Raphael House is 99m tall and Lynton House is 93m tall; they were completed in 1969. == Religious buildings ==

St Mary's Church is the original parish church, but for much of the 20th century St Clement's Church was the main Anglican church until it was demolished in 1977. St Alban's Church is a redbrick Neo-Gothic building on Albert Road. Ilford Hospital Chapel is the oldest building in Redbridge, dating back to . St Luke's Church is occupied by the Mar Thoma Syrian Church. Another building in Illford is St. Augustine's Catholic Church. There are also a number of Muslim, Hindu and Sikh buildings. ==Education==

Loxford School in Loxford has over 3000 students from 11 to 18, Seven Kings School is half that size. The Palmer Catholic Academy is a Catholic secondary school and Ursuline Academy Ilford is a Catholic school for girls. Cranbrook School was an independent school that closed in 2016. Valentines High School is another seconday school in Ilford closer to Gants Hill Station. Uphall Primary School is in Loxford near the North Circular. ==Culture==

Art, theatre and media The local newspaper, covering the town and the borough, is the Ilford Recorder. The poets Kathleen Raine (1908–2003) and Denise Levertov (1923–1997) were both born and spent their early years in Ilford. Levertov's Russian father, born a Hassidic Jew but converted to Christianity as a student, settled in Ilford as an Anglican minister. There is a tablet memorialising Levertov's father in Ilford's Hospital Chapel. Whilst Levertov wrote lyrically about Ilford, and in particular Valentines Park, in later life, Raine described it as a "suburban Hades". The Kenneth More Theatre was officially opened in January 1975. It places emphasis on serving the local community, and stages a mix of professional and amateur productions. Its programme is varied, and runs throughout the year with productions generally changing on a weekly basis. It is well known within the local area for its annual pantomime, which normally runs from mid-December to mid-January. St. Alban's Singers is a mixed voice choir for men and women based in St. Alban's Church in Albert Road, Ilford. The choir meets to rehearse at the church each Tuesday evening during term-time and aims to give three concerts per year. Space Gallery Ilford opened in 2019. Kathy Kirby was born in Ilford. Dame Maggie Smith Actress was born in Ilford. Louise Lombard Actress lived in Barkingside, Ilford in childhood. Attended St. Augustine's Primary School. Tamzin Outhwaite Actress lived in Redbridge, Ilford in childhood. Attended St. Augustine's Primary School. William Morris 1834-1896. Socialist, Interior Designer, Artist, Poet, Craftsman. Lived at 18 Coventry Road, Ilford briefly in 1848. John Logie Baird 1888-1946. A Scottish inventor who pioneered television technology. Lived at 32 Coventry Road of On the Buses fame lived at 131 Windsor Road, Illford. Sport An unspecified venue in Ilford was used for a cricket match in August 1737 between Essex and London. It is the earliest known organised match definitely played in Essex. Ilford Cricket Club plays home games at Valentines Park. This ground was opened in 1897. It was used regularly by Essex County Cricket Club, but inadequate maintenance meant that the county stopped playing there after 2001. Two Non-League football clubs play at the Cricklefield Stadium, Ilford F.C. of the Essex Senior League and Barkingside F.C. of the Eastern Counties League Division One South. Waltham Forest F.C. (now Walthamstow F.C.) played at the Cricklefield from 2008 to 2013. South Park is one of the largest open spaces in the London Borough of Redbridge and has been awarded Green Flag status. The Redbridge Parks Police patrolled the parks until they were disbanded in 2011. Nigel Benn World Champion Boxer was born in Ilford. == Notable people ==

• Eva Hart (1905-1996), one of the last passengers to remember the sinking of the Titanic ==See also==