| Chigwell | |
|---|---|
 The former Olde King's Head | |
  Chigwell Location withinEssex | |
 Interactive map of Chigwell | |
| Area | 15.68 km2 (6.05 sq mi) |
| Population | 14,599 (Parish, 2021)[1] 12,250 (Built up area, 2021)[2] |
| • Density | 931/km2 (2,410/sq mi) |
| OS grid reference | TQ435935 |
| • London | 12 mi (19 km) SW |
| Civil parish |
|
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | CHIGWELL |
| Postcode district | IG7 |
| Dialling code | 020 |
| Police | Essex |
| Fire | Essex |
| Ambulance | East of England |
| UK Parliament | |
| Website | Chigwell Parish Council |
| 51°37′21″N0°04′20″E / 51.6225°N 0.07227°E /51.6225; 0.07227 | |
Chigwell is a town andcivil parish in theEpping Forest District ofEssex, England. It lies adjacent to the northern boundary ofGreater London. It is on theCentral line of theLondon Underground. At the2021 census the parish had a population of 14,599 and the built up area had a population of 12,250.
The manor of Chigwell was held byEarl Harold underEdward the Confessor. From the 1550s it was the property of theHicks Beach family.[3]
Theparish church of St Mary the Virgin dates back to the 12th century and is a Grade II* listed building.Opposite the church is the Kings Head Hotel, a 17th centurycoaching inn.
According to P. H. Reaney'sPlace-Names of Essex the name means 'Cicca's well', Cicca being anAnglo-Saxon personal name. In medieval sources the name appears with a variety of spellings including "Cinghe uuella"[4] and Chikewelle".[5] Folk etymology has sought to derive the name from a lost "king's well", supposed to have been to the south-east of the parish near the border of what is now the London Borough of Redbridge.[citation needed] There were several medicinal springs in Chigwell Row documented by Miller Christy in his bookHistory of the mineral waters and medicinal springs of the county of Essex, published in 1910. The 18th-century historian Nathaniel Salmon stated that the "-well" element in the name derives from Anglo-Saxonweald (wood).[4]
The land registration map of Redbridge Council shows "Chig Well (site of)" as being located to the rear of the house located at 67 Brocket Way, Chigwell.
Traditionally a rural farming community, but now largely suburban, Chigwell was mentioned in theDomesday Book of 1086. It is referred to byCharles Dickens in his novelBarnaby Rudge: A Tale of the Riots of 'Eighty; the Maypole Inn is based on the King's Head inn, though the name was taken from the Maypole public house in Chigwell Row. It is likely Dickens was aware of both hostelries, since he frequently visited Chigwell, which he described in a letter toJohn Forster as "the greatest place in the world ... Such a delicious old inn opposite the churchyard ... such beautiful forest scenery ... such an out of the way rural place..."[1].
From 1933 to 1958 there was anRAF presence[6] at Roding Valley Meadows (near what is now the David Lloyd Leisure Centre). It served first to providebarrage balloon protection during the Second World War and was involved in the rollout of Britain's coastal nuclear early warning system during theCold War.[citation needed] In 1953 it briefly housed the RAF contingent taking part in the Coronation celebrations. Some of the RAF Chigwell site is now part of theLocal Nature Reserve, Roding Valley Meadows LNR.
The hamlet ofChigwell Row lies towards the east of Chigwell, nearLambourne; this part of the parish is well forested and mostly rural. Grange Hill is the area around the junction of Manor Road and Fencepiece Road/Hainault Road, extending as far as the boundary with Redbridge including the Limes Farm estate. Chigwell has a population of around 17,500 and is generally considered a wealthy area,[7] characterised by large suburban houses, notably in Manor Road, Hainault Road and Chigwell High Road, which featured in the popular English situation comedyBirds of a Feather (although many of the outside locations used in that programme were not in Chigwell).
There are three tiers of local government covering Chigwell, atparish,district andcounty level: Chigwell Parish Council,Epping Forest District Council, andEssex County Council. The parish council has its offices on Hainault Road.[8]
Chigwell was anancient parish in theOngar hundred of Essex. As well as the village itself, the parish also includedBuckhurst Hill and Chigwell Row.[9] Buckhurst Hill had achapel of ease from 1837 and became a separateecclesiastical parish from 1867, but remained part of thecivil parish of Chigwell until 1894.[10]
When elected parish and district councils were established under theLocal Government Act 1894, it was decided that the more developed Buckhurst Hill west of theRiver Roding and the more rural part of Chigwell parish east of the Roding needed to be administered separately. The old parish was therefore split along the river, with Buckhurst Hill being removed from the parish of Chigwell to become its ownurban district.[11][12] The reduced parish of Chigwell east of the river was given a parish council and included in theEpping Rural District.[9]
In 1933, the parish of Chigwell and the neighbouringBuckhurst Hill Urban District andLoughton Urban District were united into theChigwell Urban District.[13] Chigwell continued to form a civil parish after the 1933 reforms, but as anurban parish it was ineligible to have a parish council; the lowest elected tier of local government between 1933 and 1974 was Chigwell Urban District Council.[14]
WhenGreater London was created in 1965 a small, more densely populated section at the south-eastern end of Chigwell parish was transferred to theLondon Borough of Redbridge; this area is now known as the Manford estate. Despite the transfer to Greater London, it retains Chigwellpostal addresses.
Chigwell Urban District was abolished in 1974 when the area became part of the newEpping Forest District.[15] The area of the former Chigwell Urban District becameunparished as a result of the 1974 reforms. In 1996, three new civil parishes were created covering the area of the pre-1974 Chigwell Urban District: Buckhurst Hill, Chigwell, and Loughton.[16]
Schools in the area include Chigwell Primary Academy, Limes Farm Infants School & Nursery, Limes Farm Junior School,Guru Gobind Singh Khalsa College,West Hatch High School andChigwell School, aprivate school, which was founded from a bequest bySamuel Harsnett,[17] Archbishop of York, in 1629, among whose past pupils areWilliam Penn, who later went on to foundPennsylvania, and actorSir Ian Holm.[7] The diaristJohn Aubrey recorded that it was at Chigwell School that Penn had a mystical vision, which influenced his later conversion toQuakerism.[citation needed] The original 17th-century schoolroom where Penn was taught still stands, and is now the school library.
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Tottenham Hotspur Football Club had its training facilities in the area until May 2012,[7] when it moved to a new facility in Enfield, northeast London.Leyton Orient Football Club also have a training ground in Chigwell, adjacent to Chigwell School's fields.[7]
ADavid Lloyd Leisure Centre, situated off Roding Road by theM11 motorway, contains indoor and outdoor tennis courts, swimming pools and gymnasium. Also in the area are aHolmes Place Health Club,Topgolf playing Centre andChigwell Golf Club. Chigwell Cricket Club is based at the Old Chigwellians Club in Roding Lane. Chigwell also plays host to theOld Loughtonians Hockey Club.
There are two pubs, the King William IV and the Two Brewers.
Ye Olde King's Head, which was operated as a pub until 2011, is said to be the Maypole Inn inDickens'Barnaby Rudge.[7] The building was subsequently sold to local resident Lord Sugar's property company Amsprop which now leases theGrade II* Listed building to the Sheesh Turkish restaurant.
Until their closure in 2002, Chigwell had night clubs, known collectively as theEpping Forest Country Club. There is aLocal Nature Reserve at Roding Valley Meadows off Roding Lane which follows theRiver Roding up toLoughton.
The TV seriesBirds of a Feather was set in Chigwell.[18]
All bus services areTransport for London services, except the 804. Route 150 just penetrates intoChigwell Row. Routes 362 and 462 serve onlyGrange Hill. Route 275 just passes through Tomswood Hill and the westernmost section of Manor Road. Chigwell is served byChigwell station andGrange Hill station (further south bordering Hainault), both on theCentral line of the London Underground. For a more frequent service to London there are also nearbyBuckhurst Hill,Woodford,Loughton andHainault stations as services between Grange Hill and Woodford are limited to three trains per hour in each direction, with an increased service during morning peak hours.
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