Hainault (, ) is a large suburban area of

East London East London is the part of London, England, east of the ancient City of London and north of the River Thames as it begins to widen. East London developed as London Docklands, London's docklands and the primary industrial centre. The expansion of ...

, England, in the

London Borough of Redbridge The London Borough of Redbridge is a London boroughs, 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 t ...

, northeast of

Charing Cross Charing Cross ( ) is a junction in Westminster, London, England, where six routes meet. Since the early 19th century, Charing Cross has been the notional "centre of London" and became the point from which distances from London are measured. ...

. Most of the housing in Hainault was built by the

London County Council The London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today ...

between 1947 and 1953. Originally spanning the parishes of

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 Londo ...

Dagenham Dagenham () is a town in East London, England, within the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. Dagenham is centred east of Charing Cross. It was historically a rural parish in the Becontree Hundred of Essex, stretching from Hainault Fo ...

, and

Ilford Ilford is a large List of areas of London, town in East London, England, northeast of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Redbridge, Ilford is within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London. It had a po ...

, in 1965 the estate was combined in a single London borough and became part of

Greater London Greater London is an administrative area in England, coterminous with the London region, containing most of the continuous urban area of London. It contains 33 local government districts: the 32 London boroughs, which form a Ceremonial count ...

. It is adjacent to the

Metropolitan Green Belt The Metropolitan Green Belt is a statutory green belt around London, England. It comprises parts of Greater London, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent and Surrey, parts of two of the three districts of Bedfordshire and a s ...

, bordered on the east by Hainault Forest Country Park and to the north by open land and the boundary with the

Epping Forest District Epping Forest District is a local government district in Essex, England. It is named after the ancient woodland of Epping Forest, a large part of which lies within the district. The district covers northeastern parts of the urban area of London ...

of Essex. The area is served by

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

's Central Line.

History

Toponymy

The name Hainault was recorded as 'Henehout' in 1221 and 'Hyneholt' in 1239. It is

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

and means 'wood belonging to a religious community', referring to the ownership of Hainault Forest by

Barking Abbey The Abbey of St Mary and St Ethelburga, founded in the 7th-century and commonly known as Barking Abbey, is a former Roman Catholic, royal monastery located in Barking, in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. It has been described as havi ...

. The spelling was altered from the 17th century to its modern form owing to an imagined but false connection to

Philippa of Hainault Philippa of Hainault (sometimes spelled Hainaut; Middle French: ''Philippe de Hainaut''; 24 June 1310 (or 1315) – 15 August 1369) was List of English consorts, Queen of England as the wife and political adviser of King Edward III. She acted a ...

, the wife and queen of

Edward III Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring royal authority after t ...

Development

The area was mainly forested. It was owned by the nuns of

and formed part of the Forest of Essex. The area's

timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...

was predominantly used for building

ships A ship is a large vessel that travels the world's oceans and other navigable waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research and fishing. Ships are generally distinguished from boats, ...

and houses. A decline in demand for timber, and a greater demand for food, led in 1851 to an Act of Parliament authorising the deforestation of much of Hainault Forest. Within six weeks 3,000 acres of woodland was cleared. Urban development began after August 1856, when 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 ...

built a line between Stratford and

Loughton Loughton () is a suburban town and civil parish in the Epping Forest District of Essex. The town borders Waltham Abbey, Theydon Bois, Chigwell, Chingford, and Buckhurst Hill, and lies north-east of Charing Cross. For statistical purposes ...

. In 1903, from the line at Woodford Junction, a loop line to

was opened. Hainault was one of the stations on that line. Although it had been hoped that housing development would follow from the building of the railway, it took several decades. Hainault station was closed from 1908, five years after opening; development began in the late 1920s, and the station was reopened in 1930. As a result of the

London Passenger Transport Board The London Passenger Transport Board was the organisation responsible for local public transport in London and its environs from 1933 to 1948. In common with all London transport authorities from 1933 to 2000, the public name and brand was Londo ...

New Works Programme The New Works Programme of 1935–1940 was the major investment programme delivered by the London Passenger Transport Board (LPTB), commonly known as London Transport, which had been created in 1933 to coordinate underground train, tram, trolle ...

1935–40 (not completed until 1948) the line was taken over from the LNER and converted for use by

trains. Because of the lack of available land in the County of London, the

(LCC) was permitted to build housing and act as landlord outside of its territory. It purchased land in Chigwell, Dagenham, and Ilford in 1943. Building of the Hainault Estate commenced after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

from 1947 to 1953. The development of 2,779 houses was in the style known as a 'cottage estate' with the names of the roads relating to the history of Hainault Forest.

Local government

After the development of the Hainault Estate, the area was within three local government districts. Most of Hainault was split between the Chigwell Urban District and the

Municipal Borough of Ilford Ilford was a civil parish and local government district in south west Essex, England from 1888 to 1965, covering the town Ilford. The district saw a considerable rise in population throughout its life, caused by the expansion of the built-up are ...

, with a small part to the east within the

Municipal Borough of Dagenham Dagenham was a local government district in south west Essex, England from 1926 to 1965 covering the parish of Dagenham. Initially created as an urban district, it was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1938. It was established to deal with t ...

. The population of the Chigwell part of the estate was 7,071 in 1961.Vision of Britain
Chigwell UD
The whole area formed part of the review area of the

Royal Commission on Local Government in Greater London The Royal Commission on Local Government in Greater London, also known as the Herbert Commission, was established in 1957 and published its report in 1960. The report made recommendations for the overhaul of the administration of the capital. They ...

. It was recommended by the commission that the three districts should become part of

. During the passage of the

London Government Act 1963 The London Government Act 1963 (c. 33) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which created Greater London and a new local government structure within it. The Act significantly reduced the number of local government districts in the ...

, Chigwell became excluded from the new administrative area, which would have led to the estate being split by a county boundary. Instead, the opportunity was taken to unite the estate in a single

, by combining the of the estate in Chigwell with the northern section of Dagenham and the whole of the boroughs of Ilford and Wanstead and Woodford.

Government

Three councillors are elected to represent the Hainault ward on Redbridge London Borough Council.

Geography

For postal addresses, it is split between the Chigwell and Ilford

post town A post town is a required part of all postal addresses in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, Ireland, and a basic unit of the postal delivery system.Royal Mail, ''Address Management Guide'', (2004) Including the correct post town in t ...

s in the

IG postcode area The IG postcode area, also known as the Ilford postcode area, is a group of eleven postcode districts in England, within six post towns. These cover parts of eastern Greater London and south-west Essex. Postal administration Inward mail for t ...

.Royal Mail, ''Address Management Guide'', (2004) It is within the London 020 telephone area code, with the Hainault telephone exchange located just outside the Greater London boundary in Grange Hill. Nearest places are Goodmayes,

, Collier Row,

Barkingside 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 Ch ...

and

Chadwell Heath Chadwell Heath is an area in East London, England. It is split between the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham and the London Borough of Redbridge, around west of Romford and east of Ilford, and north-east of Charing Cross. History Topon ...

Demographics

The largest ethnic group in the Hainault ward of Redbridge in the 2011 census was

White British White British is an ethnicity classification used for the White population identifying as English, Scottish, Welsh, Cornish, Northern Irish, or British in the United Kingdom Census. In the 2011 census, the White British population was 49 ...

, at 60.7% of the population. This was followed by

Other White The term Other White, or White Other, is a classification of ethnicity in the United Kingdom, used in documents such as the 2021 United Kingdom Census, to describe people who identify as white persons who are not of the English, Welsh, Scotti ...

at 8.4% of the population and Black African at 5.7%. 55.9% of the population identified as

Christians A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...

, with 8.6% of the population identifying as

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

and 7% not stating a religion.

Transport

The nearest

London Underground stations The London Underground is a rapid transit, metro system in the United Kingdom that serves Greater London and the home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire. Its first section opened in 1863, making it the oldest underground metro ...

are Hainault and

Grange Hill ''Grange Hill'' is a British Children's television series, children's television drama series, originally produced by the BBC and portraying life in a typical Comprehensive school (England and Wales), comprehensive school. The show began its ru ...

on the Central line. The area is directly served by London bus routes 150, 247, 362, 462, and N8.

Sport

Hainault Athletic Football Club were formed in the Summer of 2005, they started playing in the Independent Sunday League where in there first season they won the Independent Sunday League Division 3 title and the Division 3 Cup. The Club then joined the Essex Sunday League Combination where they were Division 2 Runners up. The Club now play in the Essex Sunday Corinthian League. Manford Way FC was formed in 1946 (known during the first year as Chigwell Labour Club). They played on a field opposite Grange Crescent, near Grange Hill Station, now houses; the club currently play in the Essex Olympian League. Manford Way is the main road that runs through the Hainault Estate.

References

External links

Hainault Forest
{{Authority control Areas of London Districts of the London Borough of Redbridge Housing estates in London