is a town in the
London Borough Of Waltham Forest . It is 6.4 miles (10.3 km) north east of
Charing Cross . Walthamstow is bordered by the
River Lea to the west and
Epping Forest to the east. The town is bounded to the north and south by the towns of
Chingford ,
Leyton and
Leytonstone . Leyton High Road, Hoe Street, Chingford Road, and Chingford Mount (passing south-north through Walthamstow and its neighbouring towns) form part of an ancient route from
London to
Waltham Abbey . Waltham Forest is one of the boroughs that will host the London Olympic Games in 2012.
Walthamstow is recorded in the
Domesday Book of
1086 as Wacoumstou or Wilcumestow. Until the
19th Century it was largely rural, with a small village centre (now
Walthamstow Village — ''see below'') and a number of large estates. The main route through the district, was the aforementioned Hoe Street. Additionally, there were various smaller lanes, crossing the borough. The road now known as Forest Road was originally named Clay Street. Further south, the High Street was named Marsh Street, and led from the original settlement out to the
Marshes . Shernhall Street is an ancient route, as is Wood Street, to the east.
With the advent of the
Railway s and the ensuing
Suburbanisation in the late 19th century, Walthamstow experienced a large growth in population. From
1894 Walthamstow was an
Urban District and from
1926 a
Municipal Borough in Essex. In
1965 it was merged with
Chingford and
Leyton municipal boroughs to form the London Borough of Waltham Forest.
One of its most famous residents was the writer, poet, designer and socialist
William Morris , who was born there on
24 March 1834 , and lived there for several years. His former house in Walthamstow is now a museum dedicated to him, while the grounds of the house are now a public park (Lloyd Park on Forest Road).
Local engineer,
Frederick Bremer , built the first
Motor Car in London between
1892 and
1894 . This car is one of the claimants to being the first British built petrol driven car and in 1912 the "Motor" Magazine, after much debate, recognised the Bremer Car as the first British built petrol driven car.
The
LGOC X-type and
B-type were built at Blackhorse Lane from October
1908 onwards. The B-type is considered one of the first mass-production buses. The manufacturing operation later became
AEC , famous as the manufacturer of many of London's buses.
Walthamstow saw lively involvement in the General Strike of 1926, with
Winston Churchill 's coach reportedly being overturned on Walthamstow High Street.
The area has three museums, the
William Morris Gallery , the
Pump House Museum and the
Vestry House Museum . The latter is celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2006.
The ancient part of the town, called
Walthamstow Village , is a designated
Conservation Area . It centres around
St. Mary's Church , which was founded in the
12th Century . Across the road from this is a
15th Century Timber-framed "hall" house which locals have dubbed "The Ancient House". Nearby are
Almshouse s dating from the
16th and
18th Centuries , and Vestry House, which has been used as a
Workhouse and police station, but has been a museum since
1931 .
Walthamstow Marsh was the location of
Alliot Verdon Roe 's later attempts to build and fly his early
Aeroplanes . Despite many failed attempts, Roe continued his experiments and there is now a blue plaque commemorating his first successful flight (in July
1909 ) on one of the railway arches he worked from. The marsh is now a designated
Site Of Special Scientific Interest and is one of the last remaining examples of semi-natural
Wetland in Greater London. Nearby is the Copper Mill. Mills of various types have stood at this location since at least the
14th Century , and the current buildings date from the early 19th century. In the mid-19th century the mill was converted to a water pumping station.
- listed, however, English Heritage has put the cinema on its Buildings At Risk Register, and has described the overall condition of the cinema as poor. As of April 2006, its future remains uncertain.
Walthamstow Stadium dog track was established in
1933 and has been run by the same family ever since. It reportedly has the largest attendance and income from gambling in the UK. It has a distinctive Art Deco facade, of which supporters are in the process of applying for heritage listing, as the statdium faces redevelopment for housing.
Walthamstow's High Street is dominated by the
Street Market , which began in
1885 , and claims to be
Europe 's longest at 1
Km . There is also a
Shopping Mall at nearby Selborne Walk.
The historic central library on High Street is to be modernised and expanded in 2006, and a large plot at the corner of High Street and Hoe Street is set for substantial redevelopment as a retail space. This site originally contained the town's central
Post Office and a shopping arcade, originally built in the
1970s .
Walthamstow Village conservation area is a peaceful and attractive district to the east of what has become the commercial centre of Walthamstow. The area is roughly defined as being south of Church Hill, west of Shernhall Street, north of Grove Road and east of Hoe Street. Orford Road is the main route through the district, though even this is a quiet thoroughfare by the standards of
London . The village has a small selection of specialist shops, gastro
Pub s and restaurants, and house prices tend to be higher in the streets of this neighbourhood. It was voted best urban village in London by 'Time Out' magazine in 2004.
Upper Walthamstow is to the east of
Walthamstow Village . The area's main thoroughfare is Wood Street, which has a good selection of shops and local businesses, and is served by
Railway , with a
Station on the
Liverpool Street to
Chingford line.
Walthamstow has a wide variety of housing stock, but the vast majority of residential property was built in the early 20th century. From Coppermill Lane in the west (next to the
Marshes , to Wood Street in the east, there are scores of
Edwardian and 1920s terraced streets. The area along Markhouse Road and St James Street has many examples of Warner properties. These were developed as affordable housing for the
Working Classes in the early part of the
20th Century . Bombing raids in
World War II and urban redevelopment projects in the 1960s and 1970s have left areas with more modern housing, mostly in the shape of low-rise concrete blocks.
The northern continuation of Markhouse Road is Blackhorse Road, served by both underground and railway stations, which in turn becomes Blackhorse Lane. This is bound on its western side by industrial units and warehouses. The London Borough of Waltham Forest has proposed developing the area around Blackhorse Road station to become a gateway to the town.
Although bounded by the
Marshes to the west and parts of
Epping Forest to the east, there is little open space in the actual town. There were originally 2
Commons in the town, Church Common, adjacent to St. Mary's Church in
Walthamstow Village and Markhouse Common, located off Markhouse Lane (now Markhouse Road) and what is now the eastern end of Queens Road. Both open spaces were sadly lost in the
19th Century , when the land was sold to property developers.
Walthamstow is well-served by and
St James Street ) and the
Gospel Oak To Barking Line with stations at
Queens Road and
Blackhorse Road .
The
Victoria Line also has stations at Walthamstow Central and [Blackhorse Road. This arrived in 1968 and provides fast and efficient links with the
West End and Central
London , neatly supplementing the overground service to
Liverpool Street .
The town is served by a good array of bus routes, with the main services being the 48 to
London Bridge , the 97 to
Chingford and
Leyton and the 69 to
London City Airport . Walthamstow Bus Station is the third busiest in London.
There is currently a refurbishment of
Walthamstow Central Underground And Railway Stations , so that they can be linked to the new adjacent bus station.
- Walthamstow Central station (Victoria Line)
- Blackhorse Road station (Victoria Line)
