SPOTLIGHT ON CHINGFORD: Living history in Hunting Lodge (From East London and West Essex Guardian Series)

SPOTLIGHT ON CHINGFORD: Living history in Hunting Lodge

12:49pm Tuesday 9th February 2010 in

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CHINGFORD is steeped in history and perhaps its most famous reminder of the distant past is Queen Elizabeth's Hunting Lodge.

The impressive Tudor building, just a few minutes walk from Chingford Station, in Rangers Road, was in fact built for King Henry VIII as an open-sided grandstand to allow the royals and their guests to watch deer hunting on Chingford Plain.

The galleries were filled in and windows were installed after the reign of Charles I and the lodge had become home to the Underkeeper of Chingford Walk by the 18th century.

Today it attracts visitors as a museum, bringing to life the experience of living in Tudor times.

Chingford Historical Society chairman Betty Brown said the lodge is the most significant historical building in the area.

“It is the most important building in Chingford and it is fantastic it has been preserved like that,” she said. “The museum is lovely and I would recommend it to anyone.

“There are displays showing how people would have lived, what they would have eaten and it is very well done, with lots of information.”

The museum is open From Friday to Sunday 10am to 3pm.

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