South Woodford is an area of East London, England, within the London Borough of Redbridge. It adjoins Woodford Green to the north,

Walthamstow Walthamstow ( or ) is a town within the London Borough of Waltham Forest in east London. The town borders Chingford to the north, Snaresbrook and South Woodford to the east, Leyton and Leytonstone to the south, and Tottenham to the west. At ...

to the west,

Snaresbrook Snaresbrook is a district in the London Borough of Redbridge, in East London. It is located east of Charing Cross. The name derives from a corruption of Sayers brook, a tributary of the River Roding that flows through Wanstead to the East. ...

and

Wanstead Wanstead () is an area in East London, England, in the London Borough of Redbridge. It borders South Woodford to the north, Redbridge to the east and Manor Park to the south, with Leytonstone and Walthamstow to the west. It is located 8 m ...

to the south and Redbridge to the east, and is north-east 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. ...

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 Lond ...

runs adjacent to South Woodford in the west of the area.

History

Historically part of the ancient parish of Woodford St Mary, in the

Becontree Becontree ( or Both pronunciations are given as Received Pronunciation in the Longman Pronunciation Dictionary, but the form is prioritised (). The dialectologist Peter Wright wrote in 1981 that is the traditional pronunciation in the cockney ...

hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numerals, Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 (number), 99 and preceding 101 (number), 101. In mathematics 100 is the square of 10 (number), 10 (in scientific notation it is written as 102). The standar ...

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, the area was largely rural before developing rapidly in the 19th century. It became part of the

Metropolitan Police District The Metropolitan Police District (MPD) is the police area which is policed by the Metropolitan Police Service in London. It currently consists of the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London, which excludes the City of ...

in 1840 and has been part of the

London postal district The London postal district is the area in England of to which mail addressed to the London post town is delivered. The General Post Office under the control of the Postmaster General of the United Kingdom, Postmaster General directed Rowland Hil ...

since its inception in 1856, the same year that South Woodford station, now on the Central line of the

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 ...

, opened. South Woodford formed part of

Woodford Urban District Woodford was a local government district in the county of Essex, England from 1873 to 1934, corresponding to the London suburb of Woodford. The parish of Woodford St Mary adopted the Local Government Act 1858 in 1873, setting up a local board of ...

from 1894 to 1934, then part of the Wanstead and Woodford until 1965, when

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 ...

was created. This area was until 2004 home to the student residences of

Queen Mary, University of London Queen Mary University of London (QMUL, or informally QM, and formerly Queen Mary and Westfield College) is a public research university in Mile End, East London, England. It is a member institution of the federal University of London. Today, ...

, but the distinctive tower blocks were demolished in 2007 and replaced with lower-rise privately owned apartments, as well as some council housing, known as Queen Mary's Gate.

Amenities

South Woodford's retail and business area is centred on George Lane, the location of

South Woodford tube station South Woodford is a London Underground station in the suburb of South Woodford in east London. It is on the Central line between Snaresbrook and Woodford stations, and is located in Travelcard Zone 4. History The station opened on 22 August ...

and Woodford Green High Road. There are several leading

chain stores A chain store or retail chain is a retail outlet in which several locations share a brand, central management and standardized business practices. They have come to dominate many retail markets, dining markets, and service categories in many pa ...

, such as

Sainsbury's J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is a British supermarket and the second-largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company was the largest UK r ...

Marks & Spencer Marks and Spencer plc (commonly abbreviated to M&S and colloquially known as Marks & Sparks or simply Marks) is a major British multinational retailer based in London, England, that specialises in selling clothing, beauty products, home produc ...

Waitrose Waitrose Limited, trading as Waitrose & Partners, is a British supermarket chain, founded in 1904 as Waite, Rose & Taylor, later shortened to Waitrose. In 1937, it was acquired by the John Lewis Partnership, the UK's largest employee-owned b ...

and

Boots A boot is a type of footwear. Most boots mainly cover the foot and the ankle, while some also cover some part of the lower calf. Some boots extend up the leg, sometimes as far as the knee or even the hip. Most boots have a heel that is clearl ...

and a number of smaller shops, bars, restaurants and cafes. British bakery

Gails Gail's (styled "GAIL's") is a British bakery and coffee shop chain headquartered in London, England. History The bakery opened its first shop on Hampstead High Street in 2005 and its 100th in East Sheen in 2022. In 2021, all Gail's branches wer ...

recently opened on George Lane. There is a seven screen

Odeon cinema Odeon Cinemas Limited, trading as Odeon (stylised in all caps), is a cinema brand name operating in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Norway and Greece, which along with UCI Cinemas and Nordic Cinema Group is part of the Odeon Cinemas Group subsid ...

, which opened in 1934 as a Majestic and is the only cinema in the area. Next door, The George pub, an 18th-century building on the site of an earlier inn, was originally a stopping point for stagecoaches, with several bars. The George once had a fine dining area on the first floor and then later a pizzeria in the basement, with a large spiral staircase between the floors. Other local amenities include a number of green areas, many of which form part of

. There are numerous churches and chapels representing various

Christian denomination A Christian denomination is a distinct Religion, religious body within Christianity that comprises all Church (congregation), church congregations of the same kind, identifiable by traits such as a name, particular history, organization, leadersh ...

s, several

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

s and a

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

. The Redbridge Drama Centre, situated next to Churchfields Junior School, provides workshops for young children aged 5 and above and adults up until 65, drama education to local schools and culture to the surrounding area. It has an in-house theatre company named Vital Stages. There are shows at least once a week from touring companies. South Woodford lies within the London Borough of Redbridge, covering the wards of Churchfields and South Woodford. Each ward has a team of Neighbourhood Police, each managed by one sergeant.

Transport

Road

South Woodford sits at the junction of the

North Circular Road The North Circular Road (officially the A406 and sometimes known as simply the North Circular) is a ring road around Central London. It runs from Chiswick in the west to North Woolwich in the east via suburban north London, connecting var ...

with the start of the

M11 motorway The M11 is a motorway that runs north from the A406 road, North Circular Road (A406) in South Woodford to the A14 road (Great Britain), A14, northwest of Cambridge, England. Originally proposed as a trunk road as early as 1915, various plans ...

, which begins at Charlie Brown's Roundabout and is accessible from the Waterworks Corner roundabout. Charlie Brown's Roundabout was enlarged in 1972 to accommodate the flyover and sliproads onto the newly constructed motorway. South Woodford also offers easy access to the A1400, which merges into the A12, as well as access to the A12 from the Green Man roundabout and the A104 which is known as Lea Bridge Road and is a major link to areas of

central London Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning the City of London and several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local gove ...

via Hackney.

Train

George Lane itself is split into two by the Central line rail track with the western part of the road containing the majority of shops and businesses. There was originally a

level crossing A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, Trail, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line or the road etc. crossing over or under using an Overpass#Railway, o ...

at this point, but now a flyover (locally referred to as "the Viaduct") carries traffic between the east and west sides of George Lane. The area is served by

in Travelcard Zone 4 on the Central line of the

Bus

South Woodford is served by

London Buses London Buses is the subsidiary of Transport for London (TfL) that manages most bus services in London, England. It was formed following the Greater London Authority Act 1999 that transferred control of London Regional Transport (LRT) bus s ...

routes 20, 123, 179, SL2, W12, W13, W14 and N55.

Education

South Woodford has a good selection of schools including Nightingale Primary, Snaresbrook Primary, Churchfields and Oakdale which are both split into infants and juniors. There is also Snaresbrook Preparatory and Woodbridge Secondary School. Forest School is an independent school, in close proximity to South Woodford, in that the playing fields are arguably in South Woodford.

References

{{Authority control Areas of London Districts of the London Borough of Redbridge District centres of London