The A104 is an A road which runs from

Islington Green Islington Green is a small triangle of open land at the convergence of Upper Street and Essex Road (once called Lower Street) in the London Borough of Islington. It roughly marks the northern boundary between the modern district of Angel and Isl ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Epping Epping may refer to: Places Australia * Epping, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney ** Epping railway station, Sydney * Electoral district of Epping, the corresponding seat in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly * Epping Forest, Kearns, a he ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

, England. At its southern end, the A104 meets the A1 near

Angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles inclu ...

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The ...

station in Islington. The route passes through

Canonbury Canonbury is a residential area of Islington in the London Borough of Islington, North London. It is roughly in the area between Essex Road, Upper Street and Cross Street and either side of St Paul's Road. In 1253 land in the area was granted to ...

Dalston Dalston () is an area of East London, in the London Borough of Hackney. It is northeast of Charing Cross. Dalston began as a hamlet on either side of Dalston Lane, and as the area urbanised the term also came to apply to surrounding areas includ ...

, Hackney, Clapton,

Leyton Leyton () is a town in east London, England, within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It borders Walthamstow to the north, Leytonstone to the east, and Stratford to the south, with Clapton, Hackney Wick and Homerton, across the River L ...

Woodford Woodford may refer to: Places Australia *Woodford, New South Wales *Woodford, Queensland, a town in the Moreton Bay Region *Woodford, Victoria Canada * Woodford, Ontario England *Woodford, Cornwall * Woodford, Gloucestershire *Woodford, Greate ...

and

Buckhurst Hill Buckhurst Hill is an affluent suburban town in the Epping Forest district of Essex, England. It is part of the Greater London Urban Area and adjacent to the northern boundary of the London Borough of Redbridge. The area developed following the o ...

before meeting the A121 at the Wake Arms roundabout. The northern terminus of the route is approximately 2.7 miles (4.3km) south of St John's Church in Epping town centre, and approximately 1.3 miles (2.1km) east of the M25 motorway at junction 26.

Route

Hackney, A104 Dalston Lane railway bridge - geograph

The A104 takes in

Essex Road Essex Road is a main road in Islington, London. It is part of the A104 and connects Islington High Street with Balls Pond Road via Essex Road railway station. Location The road is about long. It starts as continuation of Islington Green, whic ...

, Balls Pond Road, Dalston Lane (part of), Pembury Road, Cricketfield Road, Downs Road (part of), Lower Clapton Road (part of) and Lea Bridge Roundabout (both shared with A107), Lea Bridge Road, Whipps Cross Roundabout, Woodford New Road, High Road

Woodford Green Woodford Green is an area of Woodford in north-east London, England, within the London Borough of Redbridge. It adjoins Buckhurst Hill to the north, Woodford Bridge to the east, South Woodford to the south, and Chingford to the west. Epping F ...

, and Epping New Road.

History

The southern section of the A104 follows its original course, as set out in the 1922

Ministry of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government ag ...

''List of Class I and Class II Roads and Numbers''. The route was defined as "London (Essex Road, Balls Pond Road, Lea Bridge Road) - Woodford". The northern section - between Woodford and Wake Arms - was originally part of the A11, which ran continuously between

Aldgate Aldgate () was a gate in the former defensive wall around the City of London. It gives its name to Aldgate High Street, the first stretch of the A11 road, which included the site of the former gate. The area of Aldgate, the most common use of ...

in the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...

and

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

. The A11 through Woodford, Buckhurst Hill and

Epping Forest Epping Forest is a area of ancient woodland, and other established habitats, which straddles the border between Greater London and Essex. The main body of the forest stretches from Epping in the north, to Chingford on the edge of the London ...

became known as the A104 after the M11 motorway opened between Woodford and Bishop's Stortford in 1975. The sections north of Wake Arms were renumbered B1393 (through Epping), A414 (through Harlow) and A1184 (through

Sawbridgeworth Sawbridgeworth is a town and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England, close to the border with Essex. It is east of Hertford and north of Epping. It is the northernmost part of the Greater London Built-up Area. History Prior to the Norman ...

and Bishop's Stortford).

Essex Road

According to the 1985 article "Islington: Communications", the northern portion of

was known as Seveney Street in the 1500s, a title which suggests the road could have

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

origins. Throughout its history Essex Road has also taken the names Lower Street and Lower Road (as opposed to

Upper Street Upper Street is the main street of the Islington district of inner north London, and carries the A1 road. It begins at the junction of the A1 and Liverpool Road, continuing on from Islington High Street which runs from the crossroads at Penton ...

, which remains the name of the A1 route). Its current title appeared in official documents from at least 1863. Islington Local History Education Trust believes Essex Road is so named because it is part of a main route into the county of Essex, although it may take its name from the earldom of Essex. A

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...

bearing the street's name was opened in 1904 - on the Northern City Line between

Finsbury Park Finsbury Park is a public park in the London neighbourhood of Harringay. It is in the area formerly covered by the historic parish of Hornsey, succeeded by the Municipal Borough of Hornsey. It was one of the first of the great London parks ...

and

Moorgate Moorgate was one of the City of London's northern gates in its defensive wall, the last to be built. The gate took its name from the Moorfields, an area of marshy land that lay immediately north of the wall. The gate was demolished in 1762, bu ...

. As of 2022, station is served by Great Northern trains between London Moorgate and

Welwyn Garden City Welwyn Garden City ( ) is a town in Hertfordshire, England, north of London. It was the second garden city in England (founded 1920) and one of the first new towns (designated 1948). It is unique in being both a garden city and a new town and ...

or Stevenage (via Hertford North).

Lea Bridge Road

Lea Bridge Road Lea Bridge Road is a major through route in east London, across the Lea Valley from Clapton to Whipps Cross in Leyton. It forms part of the A104 road. Places served on the road are the Lea Valley Park, Lea Bridge railway station and the B ...

runs between Clapton and

Whipps Cross Whipps Cross is an area of the districts of Leytonstone and Walthamstow in the London Borough of Waltham Forest in London, England. It is most famous for Whipps Cross University Hospital. The area The name Whipps Cross specifically applies to t ...

. Until the mid-18th century, a ferry crossing existed at the River Lea between Clapton and Leyton. Legislation from eighteenth century and histories of Hackney and Leyton refer to the crossing point as "Jeremy's ferry" - a name which was used from at least 1709. The first bridge near Jeremy's ferry was constructed in 1745. The River Lea Bridge and Roads Act 1757 set out that a permanent crossing should be installed at Jeremy's ferry:

An Act for building a Bridge over the River Lea, at or near a Place called Jeremy's Ferry; and for making, repairing and widening Roads from thence into the great Roads at Snaresbrook in the County of Essex, and at Clapton in the County of
Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...
.

A permanent timber bridge was built in 1772, which was replaced with an iron crossing in the early 1820s, followed by a new bridge in the 1890s. Mapping from the 18th century suggests the route north-east out of Leyton, further into the county of Essex, was established through heath and forest in the 1700s, which was "the haunt of

highwaymen A highwayman was a robber who stole from travellers. This type of thief usually travelled and robbed by horse as compared to a footpad who travelled and robbed on foot; mounted highwaymen were widely considered to be socially superior to fo ...

" at the time.

Epping New Road

There is no evidence of Epping New Road (between Woodford and Wake Arms) in John Norden's 1594 "Map of Essex". Historians have identified two main routes between London and Epping in the sixteenth century - the first through

Waltham Abbey Waltham Abbey is a town and civil parish in the Epping Forest District of Essex, within the metropolitan and urban area of London, England, north-east of Charing Cross. It lies on the Greenwich Meridian, between the River Lea in the west and ...

and the second through Stratford,

Chigwell Chigwell is a town and civil parish in the Epping Forest District of Essex, England. It is part of the urban and metropolitan area of London, and is adjacent to the northern boundary of Greater London. It is on the Central line of the Lond ...

and

Abridge Abridge is a village in Essex, England. It is on the River Roding, southwest of the county town of Chelmsford. The village is in the district of Epping Forest and in the parliamentary constituency of Brentwood and Ongar. It is part of the civil ...

. A route between Epping and

Loughton Loughton () is a town and civil parish in the Epping Forest District of Essex. Part of the metropolitan and urban area of London, the town borders Chingford, Waltham Abbey, Theydon Bois, Chigwell and Buckhurst Hill, and is northeast of Chari ...

was established by 1678, but the Epping New Road - bypassing Loughton - was not created until 1834. According to the Buckhurst Hill Residents' Society, the creation of the Epping New Road "encouraged some of the earliest developments" in the town. A study of the Epping and Ongar Highway Trust, which was charged with caring for public highways in the corridor between Woodford and Harlow, suggests that around 25 coaches passed through Epping each day in the 1800s on what appeared to be the main route between London,

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

, Bury St Edmunds and

. The forest either side of Epping New Road is protected according to the

Epping Forest Act 1878 During the middle of the nineteenth century, a number of initiatives were started to protect the rights of the public to use open spaces and for the areas to be conserved for their specific environmental features. Some notable people of the time ...

and is managed by the

Corporation of London The City of London Corporation, officially and legally the Mayor and Commonalty and Citizens of the City of London, is the municipal governing body of the City of London, the historic centre of London and the location of much of the United King ...

(which also governs the

Square Mile The square mile (abbreviated as sq mi and sometimes as mi2)Rowlett, Russ (September 1, 2004) University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Retrieved February 22, 2012. is an imperial and US unit of measure for area. One square mile is an ar ...

in central London). As of 2022, the road is maintained by

Essex County Council Essex County Council is the county council that governs the non-metropolitan county of Essex in England. It has 75 councillors, elected from 70 divisions, and is currently controlled by the Conservative Party. The council meets at County Hall ...

and

Redbridge London Borough Council Redbridge London Borough Council is the local authority for Redbridge in Greater London, England, and one of the capital's 32 borough councils. Redbridge is divided into 21 wards and elects 63 councillors. , Redbridge Council comprises 55 Labou ...

(southernmost portion).

References

Roads in England Transport in Epping Forest District Streets in the London Borough of Hackney Streets in the London Borough of Islington Transport in the London Borough of Redbridge Streets in the London Borough of Waltham Forest {{coord, 51.60113, N, 0.01442, E, type:landmark_region:GB_dim:10000, display=title