Fairlop is a district in the north of Ilford, part of the

London Borough of Redbridge The London Borough of Redbridge is a London borough established in 1965. The borough shares boundaries with the Epping Forest District and the ceremonial county of Essex to the north, with the London Borough of Waltham Forest to the west, the ...

east London East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the f ...

. The district consists of fields, forestry and open land providing space for sport/ activity centres (Redbridge Sport Centre), some houses, farmland and watersport/fishing lakes (

Fairlop Waters The London Borough of Redbridge, one of the northern peripheral London boroughs, has within its boundaries parts of two large open spaces: Epping Forest and Wanstead Flats. Apart from many smaller parks, gardens and sports grounds, the following a ...

). It also has a tube station. The western part of the district forms the eastern edge of Barkingside High Street shopping district, and simultaneously borders Claybury Park, which used to be home to

Claybury Hospital Claybury Hospital was a psychiatric hospital in Woodford Bridge, London. It was built to a design by the English architect George Thomas Hine who was a prolific Victorian architect of hospital buildings. It was opened in 1893 making it the Fifth ...

. Its location is west of Barkingside and

Fullwell Cross Barkingside is an area in Ilford, in the London Borough of Redbridge. It includes the major road junction of ''Fullwell Cross'' which also gives its name to the locality near that roundabout. The area is situated 10.6 miles (17km) north east of ...

, north of

Aldborough Hatch Aldborough Hatch is an area in Ilford in east London, England, within the London Borough of Redbridge. It is located east-northeast of Charing Cross. It is a semi-rural locality situated to the east of Barkingside and Newbury Park. Aldboroug ...

, south of Hainault and (distantly) west from

Marks Gate Marks Gate is an area in Little Heath in Ilford at the northern tip of the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham in East London, England. It is located immediately north of Chadwell Heath and to the west of Romford. The name originally referre ...

and

Collier Row Collier Row is an area of Romford in East London, England, within the London Borough of Havering. It is a suburban development north of Romford town centre, around north-east of Charing Cross. The area is based on a large housing estate built d ...

. It is 3 miles from Ilford town centre.

History and origins of the name

The Fairlop Oak

The district took its name from an old oak tree, the Fairlop Oak, that stood in

Hainault Forest Hainault Forest Country Park is a Country Park located in Greater London, with portions in: Hainault in the London Borough of Redbridge; the London Borough of Havering; and in the Lambourne parish of the Epping Forest District in Essex. Geograp ...

when much of the area was covered in trees. The oak is said to have had a trunk sixty-six feet in circumference, from which seventeen branches issued, most of them measuring not less than twelve feet in girth. In the eighteenth century, a pump and block maker from Wapping, Daniel Day, would take his employees on an annual fair in the forest, using the oak as their rendezvous. The fair took place on the first Friday of July. They dined on beans and bacon, and this may be the origin of the English words bean-feast and beano.

The Fairlop Fair

By the middle of the eighteenth century, the annual excursion to Fairlop had become one of London's most popular entertainments, and as many as a hundred thousand people being drawn through Ilford to the fair in the forest. As a result, the area became known as "Fair" (after the fair) followed by "lop" referring to the tree flourishing after part of it was used to make Daniel Day's coffin after he died in 1767. A Society of Archers - The Hainault Foresters - under the patronage of the Earl Tylney of Wanstead House met under the Fairlop Oak. A legend has it that Queen Anne visited Fairlop during the fair. One of the songs sung at the fair was called "Come, come, my boys", in which one verse states: In June 1805, the oak tree caught fire, and by 1820 it was finally blown down. Its site is marked roughly at the boat house by the lake at Fairlop Waters. In nearby

is a pub called the New Fairlop Oak. In 1851, the local people complained so bitterly about the depredations caused by the local deer that the trees which had surrounded the great oak were all felled and the adjoining parts of the forest were converted into farmland. In 1903 a station at Fairlop was opened on a new loop line that formed part of the

Great Eastern Railway The Great Eastern Railway (GER) was a pre-grouping British railway company, whose main line linked London Liverpool Street to Norwich and which had other lines through East Anglia. The company was grouped into the London and North Eastern R ...

. In 1948 the line was taken over by the London Underground as part of the eastward extension of the Central line and the station became Fairlop Underground station.

Demography

According to the 2011 census in Fairlop ward, the population was 65% white (57% British, 7% Other, 1% Irish). 9% is Indian and 6% Other Asian.

Transport

Fairlop station Fairlop is a London Underground station in Fairlop in east London, England, which is on the Central line of the London Underground. It has been in Travelcard Zone 4 since 2 January 2007. It is on the north side of Forest Road, in Fairlop, just ...

was served by the Great Eastern Railway from its opening in 1903 until 1923, by the

London and North Eastern Railway The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) was the second largest (after LMS) of the " Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain. It operated from 1 January 1923 until nationalisation on 1 January 1948. At th ...

from 1923 until 1947 and has been by the London Underground's Central line since 1948. Forest Road, the area's main road, did not have a bus service until route 462 was extended from Hainault to Fairlop in June 2016.

References