A community group has reissued a booklet first published in 1894 to celebrate the history of what it describes as of one of England’s most celebrated and influential gardens.

Friends of Wanstead Parklands published Wanstead and its Park last week, a reissue of the Edwardian publication by Oliver S Dawson which outlines the story of the old Wanstead estate.

The group says it offers a fascinating introduction the Palladian house and its famous landscaped gardens - one of England’s lost treasures.

Richard Arnopp, book editor and secretary of Friends of Wanstead Parklands, said: “The Wanstead estate, over several centuries, was associated with a remarkable cast of characters, which Dawson vividly described.

“He was also a witness to the public park in its very earliest days, and the photographs which illustrated his 1894 booklet give us a good impression of what it was like when he knew it.”

Illustrated with historical engravings and contemporary photographs, the book describes the individuals who owned the estate and the “extravagance and folly which brought about its destruction”.

The new, extended edition includes a newly-researched account of the author’s life, notes of explanation for readers without prior knowledge of the estate and interpretations of archaic vocabulary.

“Dawson was a man who started out as an apprentice fitter on the railway, but ended up as a pioneer of colour photography,” Mr Arnopp said.

The 51-year-old civil servant of Halstead Road in Snaresbrook, who has taken a career break to carry out historical research and writing, added: “The core of the book, about half of the text, is Oliver Dawson’s, the other half is new, and includes information which you won’t see collected in one place anywhere else.”

Wanstead Park, the surviving portion of the garden, is Grade II* listed.

The book can be bought from www.wansteadpark.org.uk/wanstead-and-its-park.