As Local History Month comes to a close, LARA KEAY looks at how Woodford evolved from a cluster of Saxon settlements to a wealthy hub.

THE ancient parish of Woodford was created on the border of the River Roding, where the Romans cleared the river valley to supply the newly-established city of London with timber and food.

Although the river is not the focal point it used to be, it played a key part in giving the area its name, most likely originating from an early Saxon road crossing the Roding at a ford.

As time went on four separate settlements were established around the river, Church End, now South Woodford, Woodford Row, now Woodford Green, Woodford Wells and Woodford Bridge.

At a time when only the rich could afford to travel by horse and carriage, it was quite a walk from Woodford Bridge in the south west up to Woodford Wells in the north east.

As a result, the communities would usually only meet for worship at the church that was built behind the 13th century manor house, now the site of St Mary’s Church on South Woodford High Road.

Although Woodford was on the old Saxon road connecting London with Essex, in terms of industry it lagged behind other nearby areas due to a lack of transport links.

The River Roding was not tidal by the time it flowed into Woodford, which meant it could not be used for any major transportation.

Local historian and author of Woodford: A Pictorial History Georgina Green said: “Through the 1600 and 1700s local people continued village life just as their fathers and grandfathers had done.

“Sir James Wright’s slate factory was virtually the only example of local industry until the 17th century.

“Most people were farm labourers or worked in the grand houses that’s had been built earlier on.”

As time went on wealthy families who were taken by Woodford’s relatively-close proximity to London started to move in.

Many of them did not actually own the houses they lived in, but after several impressive manor houses were built across the four districts, rich families would stay there while the fathers and husbands tried their luck as bankers in the city.

As the Industrial Revolution beckoned, Woodford was frequented by traders and retired ship merchants who had worked for the East India Dock Company.

Mrs Green, of Henry’s Walk, Hainault,  said: “These were the people who lived the most exciting lives, who risked their lives every time they went out to sea.”

By the late 1800s formal education had arrived with two schools in Woodford Green and Woodford Bridge and The Chigwell and Woodford Bridge Gas Company stepped up industry levels by employing workers from across the four districts.

With a hospital set up in 1899, followed by a post, office, telephone exchange and voluntary fire service, by 1911 there were nearly 19,000 people in Woodford.