Discover 11 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in Chigwell (United Kingdom). Don't miss out on these must-see attractions: Barking Park, Ilford Hospital Chapel, and Redbridge Town Hall. Also, be sure to include St Erkenwald's Church in your itinerary.
Below, you can find the list of the most amazing places you should visit in Chigwell (England).
Table of Contents
Barking Park
Park in Barking, England. Barking Park is a park covering just under 30 hectares to the east of Barking town centre, in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, in east London. It lies north of Longbridge Road, and is near the boundary with Loxford. The park was the first council-controlled park in the Borough, and was established as a classic Victorian park in 1896. It was officially opened on 9 April 1898 by Councillor C. L. Beard JP, Chairman of Barking Town Urban District Council.
The park's most significant feature is a 910-metre (2,990 ft) long boating lake on the north side of the park. Rowing boats were introduced first, and then on 1 April 1953, motor boats and a Mississippi style paddle steamer called Phoenix II made their debut. The paddle steamer continued to operate on the lake until 1967.
Other facilities include tennis and basketball courts, two bowling greens (indoor and outdoor), a children's playground, a waterpark, football pitches and a flower garden. A lido was built in 1931 but this was closed permanently in 1988. The longstanding park cafe was demolished and a roller-skating park built on the site.
The park contains a war memorial, renovated in 2000, for men of the Barking Town Urban District who fell in World War I and World War II. Every year on Remembrance Day (usually the 2nd Sunday in November) a commemorative ceremony is held at the war memorial preceded by music from a local marching band.
In 2006 the council received stage one funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund to develop a proposal for restoration and improvement of the park. Funding of over £3 million was approved, and works were completed between 2010 and 2012, including two lengthy new pathways, a children's play area and splash park.[1]
Ilford Hospital Chapel
Chapel in Ilford, England. The Hospital Chapel of St Mary the Virgin and St Thomas of Canterbury, Ilford, also known as Ilford Hospital Chapel is on Ilford Hill in Ilford. It is an ancient charitable foundation dating from about 1140, and is the oldest building in the London Borough of Redbridge. Since 1954 it has been protected as a Grade II* listed building under UK legislation.[2]
Address: 48 Ilford Hill, Chigwell (Redbridge)
Redbridge Town Hall
City or town hall in Ilford, England. Redbridge Town Hall is a municipal building in High Road, Ilford, London. The town hall, which is the headquarters of Redbridge London Borough Council, is a Grade II listed building.[3]
Address: Clements Rd, IG1 1EA, Chigwell (Redbridge)
St Erkenwald's Church
St Erkenwald's Church is a Church of England parish church on Levett Road, Barking in Essex. It was established as a temporary church in 1934, which was only replaced by a permanent red-brick church twenty years later – the latter was part-funded by money from a War Damage payment for Holy Trinity Church, Canning Town, destroyed in the London Blitz. It is dedicated to Earconwald, one of the founders of Barking Abbey and brother to its first abbess Ethelburga.[4]
Greatfields Park
City park in Barking, England. Greatfields Park, in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, east London, is a public park of just under 6 hectares. It lies just north of the A13 road, and is bounded on other sides by Greatfields Road, Movers Lane, and Perth Road.
It contains tennis courts, playgrounds, flower gardens, and grass areas for football and other games.
The park was officially opened in 1926, but had already existed for five years as the Movers Lane Playing Field.[5]
St Cedd's Church
St Cedd's Church, Barkingside is a Church of England parish church in the Barkingside district of Ilford in the London Borough of Redbridge, dedicated to Cedd, bishop of Essex, in which Ilford historically fell. In 1938 a temporary church was built and a conventional district set up using parts of the parishes of Holy Trinity, Barkingside and Holy Trinity, South Woodford.[6]
Barking Learning Centre
The Barking Learning Centre, in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, is a community-based learning facility. The centre is located in Barking Town Square and hosts a library, a cafe, an art gallery, a sauna and spa, and offers a range of courses and qualifications. The Barking Learning Centre website states that its primary focus:
"is to provide education and training opportunities linked to the public service areas of health, education, social care and administration, to support increased participation to learning locally".
The Barking Learning Centre was officially opened on 10 June 2008 by John Denham, the then Secretary of State for Innovation, University and Skills.[7]
Pioneer Point
Building complex in Ilford, England. Pioneer Point is a pair of tall buildings in the Ilford area of London, United Kingdom. It is owned by Canadian Real Estate investors, RealStar. Pioneer Point North is 105 metres tall with 33 floors and Pioneer Point South is 82 metres tall with 25 floors.
The mixed-use building contains residential units, a public gym, which occupies the second floor, and a restaurant. The buildings feature a lighting installation that displays daily video content with various colors, shapes, speeds, and directions.[8]
Chigwell Hall
Chigwell Hall is a Grade II listed Manor House in Chigwell, Essex. It is situated on Roding Lane within 42 acres of grounds. It was designed by the English architect Richard Norman Shaw - his only house in Essex - for Shaw's client, Alfred Savill, founder of the Savills estate agency, and built in 1876. The building and grounds have been owned by the Metropolitan Police Service since 1967 and is the current site of the force's sports and social club.
Chigwell Hall was built on the grounds, to the south west, of Chigwell Manor, a medieval building in Roding Lane, which had belonged to the Branston family for two generations. In 1881 Savill decided to abandon the older house and moved into Chigwell Hall. It is located on High Road, Chigwell, and is opposite to the Kings Head, a 17th-century public house made famous by Charles Dickens who used it as a basis for The Maypole Inn, for his novel Barnaby Rudge. As well as being the residence of the Metropolitan Police's sports and social club, Chigwell Hall is also used for business functions, wedding ceremonies, and is the venue of a restaurant.
Pevsner describes the hall as "especially good, surprising in its freshness and looking as it might well twenty-five years later".[9]
Seven Kings
Seven Kings is a district of Ilford in London, England, part of the borough of Redbridge. Situated approximately two miles from Ilford town centre, Seven Kings forms part of the Ilford post town. Historically part of Essex, it was part of the Municipal Borough of Ilford until 1965 when it was incorporated into Greater London.[10]
Aldborough Hatch
Aldborough Hatch is an area in Ilford in east London, England, within the London Borough of Redbridge. It is located 11.1 miles east-northeast of Charing Cross. It is a semi-rural locality situated to the east of Barkingside and Newbury Park.
Aldborough is also a ward in the London Borough of Redbridge. The population at the 2011 Census was 14,544.[11]