Great Eastern Railway to Shenfield. Harold Wood Station
The Great Eastern Railway Line from Liverpool Street to Shenfield runs north eastwards from Gidea Park Station
Post to the west Gallows Corner
Post to the south not done
Arundel Road
Library. Built 1967 by Essex County Council (or it might be 1959). It is very simple on a triangular site, with a shady forecourt.
Athelstan Road
British Legion Hall. This was originally the Harold Wood (United) Methodist church which in 1908 took over an undenominational mission hall which had been registered in 1889. In 1929 they moved to a new site. This is now the local British Legion headquarters. They have a small war memorial in the front garden
Athelstan Hall. This has been a meeting place for The Brethren since 1952.
Gubbins Lane
An old lane overtaken by suburban sprawl. It runs between the main A12, Colchester Road and Squirrels Heath Road. Gubbins Farm was roughly the area on which Harold Wood was built having been bought by a group of developers in the 1860s.
Harold Wood Station. Built in 1868 it lies between Main Line destinations and Gidea Park Station on Great Eastern Railway. It is in grey brick. The station was built with the sponsorship of the Harold Wood Estate Company. The origins platforms were staggered but this changed in 1934 when the lines were widened and four platforms installed. This was s that through fast trains could pass but not stop here.
Signal box. This went out of use in the 1930s when the role was taken over by Gidea Park and Brentwood boxes,
Goods yard. Was closed in 1965. A siding ran behind the signal box to serve a brickworks.
Provender mill. In 1895 James and George H. Matthews Ltd., had a shop supplying animal food to dairy farmers. In 1905 they built a mill beside the station and the firm expanded opening other branches and selling fertilisers, seeds, and coal. It was bought by Unilever in 1965 and demolished in 1970. There are now flats n the site which was south of the railway and west of the road.
Oakdene. Housing on the site of a children’s home which was previously an Essex County Council Boys’ Remand Home.
War Memorial Hall. There is a commemorative plaque to the dead of the Great War on the wall. The hall was built by Edward Bryant who lived in Harold Wood Hall. He built what was called an “Entertainment Hall” “to combat the dullness of village life.” Bryant’s was the Bryan half of Bryant and May match manufactures of Bow. After the War, Bryant gave the hall to the village so that it could become the War Memorial Hall.
The Grange. The manor house of Gubbins was demolished in the 18th and replaced by a farm. The Grange was built on the site in 1883 standing in 30 acres of grounds, which included a formal garden and an ornamental lake. It became the offices of Compton, who owned the Gubbins estate. They were millers and seedsmen with businesses across Essex and Suffolk. In 1909 it became a children’s home for West Ham Borough, and then formed the nucleus of the hospital, which was run by West Ham initially as The Grange convalescent home
Harold Wood Hospital. In 1909 West Ham County Borough acquired The Grange as a children's convalescent home for patients from the Plaistow Fever Hospital. In 1911 a new block was built. Named after Dr John Biernacki the Home's first Medical Superintendent and the Physician-Superintendent of the Plaistow Fever Hospital. In 1930 more blocks were added and the home took chronic adult cases, to relieve the Public Assistance Home at Leyton on a temporary basis. In the Second World War it took military wounded and civilian air-raid casualties in prefabricated huts built in the grounds. It was known as Harold Wood Hospital and remained as such after the war. It joined the NHS in 1948 and was expanded in the 1960s to become a District General Hospital. The Hospital closed in 2006. The site was sold to developer to Countryside Properties for housing development called Kings Park. The original house, The Grange, remains
Disablement Services Centre.
The Harold Wood Polyclinic. A GP walk-in health centre in a building, once the McKesson Computer Centre, was opened in 2010.
28-30 Oasis House. An adult mental health clinic run by the Upminster Community Mental Health Team
24 Harold Wood Community Health Clinic
St. Peter’s Church. Built by J.J. Crowe in 1938-9 as a successor to an iron church in Church Road. The foundation stone was laid by the Matthews brothers, the local millers – and is a memorial to Frederick Lawson Matthews, who was killed in 1916.
Methodist church. There were Methodists in Harold Wood from 1889. In 1929 a church and school were built in Gubbins Lane, with the aid of funds from William Mallinson. A new church was built in 1962, and the 1929 building to the rear became a hall.
Harold Wood Neighbourhood Centre. This is in an old school building which was originally a National school opened with the help of John Compton, the main landowner in 1886. In it 1933 was reorganized for juniors and infants and was still in use in 1975
Harold Wood Park.
Harold Wood was a small hamlet on the edge of the Royal hunting park. Housing development began with the opening of a half here by the Great Eastern Railway. Land was given to Hornchurch Urban District Council in 1934 for use by Harold Wood Cricket Club in an area to the east of this square. Harold Wood Park has since had a range of recreational facilities and recently a refurbishment of the tennis courts.
Station road
King Harold Hotel. Built in 1868 as part of the station development
St Clements Avenue
London South Bank University campus. This is a nursing study centre with 700 Nursing students. There are three nursing skills laboratories set up to replicate hospital wards
Sources
Brennand. Ilford to Shenfield.
British History online. Hornchurch.
Clunn. Face of London
Essex Journal
Field. London Place Names
Hornchurch During the Great War. Web site
London Borough of Havering. Web site.
London Gardens Online. Website
Lost Hospitals of London. Web site
Nairn. Modern Buildings
Arundel Road
Library. Built 1967 by Essex County Council (or it might be 1959). It is very simple on a triangular site, with a shady forecourt.
Athelstan Road
British Legion Hall. This was originally the Harold Wood (United) Methodist church which in 1908 took over an undenominational mission hall which had been registered in 1889. In 1929 they moved to a new site. This is now the local British Legion headquarters. They have a small war memorial in the front garden
Athelstan Hall. This has been a meeting place for The Brethren since 1952.
Gubbins Lane
An old lane overtaken by suburban sprawl. It runs between the main A12, Colchester Road and Squirrels Heath Road. Gubbins Farm was roughly the area on which Harold Wood was built having been bought by a group of developers in the 1860s.
Harold Wood Station. Built in 1868 it lies between Main Line destinations and Gidea Park Station on Great Eastern Railway. It is in grey brick. The station was built with the sponsorship of the Harold Wood Estate Company. The origins platforms were staggered but this changed in 1934 when the lines were widened and four platforms installed. This was s that through fast trains could pass but not stop here.
Signal box. This went out of use in the 1930s when the role was taken over by Gidea Park and Brentwood boxes,
Goods yard. Was closed in 1965. A siding ran behind the signal box to serve a brickworks.
Provender mill. In 1895 James and George H. Matthews Ltd., had a shop supplying animal food to dairy farmers. In 1905 they built a mill beside the station and the firm expanded opening other branches and selling fertilisers, seeds, and coal. It was bought by Unilever in 1965 and demolished in 1970. There are now flats n the site which was south of the railway and west of the road.
Oakdene. Housing on the site of a children’s home which was previously an Essex County Council Boys’ Remand Home.
War Memorial Hall. There is a commemorative plaque to the dead of the Great War on the wall. The hall was built by Edward Bryant who lived in Harold Wood Hall. He built what was called an “Entertainment Hall” “to combat the dullness of village life.” Bryant’s was the Bryan half of Bryant and May match manufactures of Bow. After the War, Bryant gave the hall to the village so that it could become the War Memorial Hall.
The Grange. The manor house of Gubbins was demolished in the 18th and replaced by a farm. The Grange was built on the site in 1883 standing in 30 acres of grounds, which included a formal garden and an ornamental lake. It became the offices of Compton, who owned the Gubbins estate. They were millers and seedsmen with businesses across Essex and Suffolk. In 1909 it became a children’s home for West Ham Borough, and then formed the nucleus of the hospital, which was run by West Ham initially as The Grange convalescent home
Harold Wood Hospital. In 1909 West Ham County Borough acquired The Grange as a children's convalescent home for patients from the Plaistow Fever Hospital. In 1911 a new block was built. Named after Dr John Biernacki the Home's first Medical Superintendent and the Physician-Superintendent of the Plaistow Fever Hospital. In 1930 more blocks were added and the home took chronic adult cases, to relieve the Public Assistance Home at Leyton on a temporary basis. In the Second World War it took military wounded and civilian air-raid casualties in prefabricated huts built in the grounds. It was known as Harold Wood Hospital and remained as such after the war. It joined the NHS in 1948 and was expanded in the 1960s to become a District General Hospital. The Hospital closed in 2006. The site was sold to developer to Countryside Properties for housing development called Kings Park. The original house, The Grange, remains
Disablement Services Centre.
The Harold Wood Polyclinic. A GP walk-in health centre in a building, once the McKesson Computer Centre, was opened in 2010.
28-30 Oasis House. An adult mental health clinic run by the Upminster Community Mental Health Team
24 Harold Wood Community Health Clinic
St. Peter’s Church. Built by J.J. Crowe in 1938-9 as a successor to an iron church in Church Road. The foundation stone was laid by the Matthews brothers, the local millers – and is a memorial to Frederick Lawson Matthews, who was killed in 1916.
Methodist church. There were Methodists in Harold Wood from 1889. In 1929 a church and school were built in Gubbins Lane, with the aid of funds from William Mallinson. A new church was built in 1962, and the 1929 building to the rear became a hall.
Harold Wood Neighbourhood Centre. This is in an old school building which was originally a National school opened with the help of John Compton, the main landowner in 1886. In it 1933 was reorganized for juniors and infants and was still in use in 1975
Harold Wood Park.
Harold Wood was a small hamlet on the edge of the Royal hunting park. Housing development began with the opening of a half here by the Great Eastern Railway. Land was given to Hornchurch Urban District Council in 1934 for use by Harold Wood Cricket Club in an area to the east of this square. Harold Wood Park has since had a range of recreational facilities and recently a refurbishment of the tennis courts.
Station road
King Harold Hotel. Built in 1868 as part of the station development
St Clements Avenue
London South Bank University campus. This is a nursing study centre with 700 Nursing students. There are three nursing skills laboratories set up to replicate hospital wards
Sources
Brennand. Ilford to Shenfield.
British History online. Hornchurch.
Clunn. Face of London
Essex Journal
Field. London Place Names
Hornchurch During the Great War. Web site
London Borough of Havering. Web site.
London Gardens Online. Website
Lost Hospitals of London. Web site
Nairn. Modern Buildings
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