Hainault is a place of some antiquity on the London/Essex border, most of which is currently in the
London Borough of RedbridgeThe London Borough of Redbridge is a London borough in north east London, England and forms part of Outer London. Its administrative headquarters is at Redbridge Town Hall in Ilford.-Etymology:...
. It is now a suburban development located north east of
Charing CrossCharing Cross denotes the junction of the Strand, Whitehall and Cockspur Street, just south of Trafalgar Square in Westminster within Central London, England. It is named after the site of a long demolished Eleanor cross located at the former hamlet of Charing, at this point...
. The area is split between the Chigwell and Ilford
post townA post town is a required part of all postal addresses in the United Kingdom, and a basic unit of the postal delivery system. Including the correct post town in the address increases the chances of a letter or parcel being delivered on time.-Organisation:...
s in the IG postcode area.
The area is part of the
green beltIn United Kingdom town planning, the green belt is a policy for controlling urban growth. The idea is for a ring of countryside where urbanisation will be resisted for the foreseeable future, maintaining an area where agriculture, forestry and outdoor leisure can be expected to prevail...
and the suburb of Hainault is bordered on the east by
Hainault Forest Country ParkHainault Forest Country Park is one of the remaining sections of the former Forest of Essex in England. Epping Forest and Hatfield Forest are other examples. It is located in Hainault in the London Borough of Redbridge and its area is 136 hectares ....
, by open land to the north and the boundary with the
Epping ForestEpping Forest is a local government district of the county of Essex, England. It is named for Epping Forest, of which the district contains a large part...
district of Essex.
Origins
The name Hainault was recorded as 'Hyneholt' in 1239, and means 'monastic woodland'. There is no connection with King
Edward IIIEdward III was one of the most successful English monarchs of the Middle Ages. Restoring royal authority after the disastrous reign of his father, Edward II, Edward III went on to transform the Kingdom of England into the most efficient military power in Europe...
's wife,
Philippa of HainaultPhilippa of Hainault was the Queen consort of Edward III of England.-Life:Philippa was born in Valenciennes and was the daughter of William I, Count of Hainaut and Jeanne of Valois, the granddaughter of Philip III of France.She married Edward at York Minster, on 24 January 1328, eleven months...
.
Hainault formed part of the
Chigwell Urban DistrictChigwell was a local government district in south west Essex, England. It contained the settlements of Chigwell, Loughton and Buckhurst Hill; and formed part of the Metropolitan Police District.-Formation:...
of
EssexEssex is a county in the East of England region of the United Kingdom. The county town of Essex is Chelmsford.-History:In pre-Roman Britain the territories of Suffolk and Essex were home to the Trinovantes tribe, which had grown wealthy through intensive trade with the Roman Empire, contemporary...
from 1933. In 1965 an area of around Hainault was transferred from the urban district to form part of the
London Borough of RedbridgeThe London Borough of Redbridge is a London borough in north east London, England and forms part of Outer London. Its administrative headquarters is at Redbridge Town Hall in Ilford.-Etymology:...
in
Greater LondonGreater London is the top-level administrative subdivision covering London, England. The administrative area was officially created in 1965 and covers the City of London, including Middle Temple and Inner Temple, and thirty two London boroughs...
. The population of this area in 1961 was 7,071.
Development
Urban development commenced after 22 August 1856, when the
Great Eastern RailwayThe Great Eastern Railway was a pre-grouping British railway company, whose main line linked London Liverpool Street to Norwich and which had other lines through East Anglia...
built a line between
StratfordStratford station is a railway station in Stratford, Newham, East London on National Rail, London Underground, London Overground and Docklands Light Railway lines. It is served by the Underground Central and Jubilee lines, and by London Overground, National Express East Anglia and c2c. It is in...
and
LoughtonLoughton is a London Underground station, some two miles north of the Greater London boundary, in the Epping Forest district of Essex.It is served by the Central Line and lies between Buckhurst Hill and Debden...
. From this line at
WoodfordWoodford is a suburban district in the London Borough of Redbridge, north-east London, England, on the boundary with the London Borough of Waltham Forest....
Junction, they opened in 1903 a loop line to
IlfordIlford railway station is a suburban National Rail station located in Ilford in the London Borough of Redbridge. Passenger services are operated by National Express East Anglia and most trains run between Shenfield and Liverpool Street...
.
HainaultHainault is a station on the Central Line in Hainault in the London Borough of Redbridge. Since 2 January 2007 the station is in Travelcard Zone 4.-History:...
was one of the stations on that line.
Although it had been hoped that housing development would ensue from the building of the railway, it was a long time in coming. For some while Hainault station was in fact closed; development began in the late 1920s, and the station was subsequently reopened on 3 March 1931. As a result of the
London Passenger Transport BoardThe London Passenger Transport Board was the organisation responsible for public transport in London, UK, and its environs from 1933 to 1948. In common with all London transport authorities from 1933 to 2000, the public name and operational brand of the organisation was London Transport.It was...
New Works ProgrammeThe "New Works Programme, 1935 - 1940" was the major investment programme delivered by the London Passenger Transport Board , commonly known as London Transport, which had been created in 1933 to coordinate underground train, tram, trolleybus and bus services in the capital and the surrounding areas...
1935–40 (not completed until 1948 because of
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
) the line was taken over from the
LNERThe London and North Eastern Railway was the second-largest of the "Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain...
and converted for use by
London UndergroundThe London Underground, Underground or Tube is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and neighbouring areas of Essex, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire in the UK. The first section opened in 1863, and was the first underground railway system in the world, and, starting in...
trains. By this time the suburb of Hainault was completed.
Nearest places
- Chigwell
Chigwell is a civil parish and town in the Epping Forest district of Essex. It is located 11.6 miles north east of Charing Cross. It is served by two London Underground stations and has a London area code.-Etymology:According to P. H...
- Collier Row
Collier Row is a place to the north and east of London , in the London Borough of Havering. It is a suburban development north of Romford, located north east of Charing Cross....
- Barkingside
Barkingside is a place in the London Borough of Redbridge, East London. It is a suburban development.Barkingside was historically part of Essex until 1965, when the Greater London boroughs were created. It is home to schools including Ilford County High School and King Solomon High School...
- Chadwell Heath
Chadwell Heath is a place in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham and the London Borough of Redbridge in Greater London. It is north-east of Charing Cross. The public house the 'Eva Hart' is named after a resident of Chadwell Heath who survived the Titanic disaster.-Toponomy:The name...
The nearest
London Underground stations are
HainaultHainault is a station on the Central Line in Hainault in the London Borough of Redbridge. Since 2 January 2007 the station is in Travelcard Zone 4.-History:...
and
Grange HillGrange Hill station is a London Underground station on the Central Line which lies on the boundary between the London Borough of Redbridge and the Epping Forest district of Essex. The station is between Hainault tube station and Chigwell tube station...
on the
Central LineThe Central line is a London Underground line, coloured red on the tube map. It is a deep-level "tube" line, running east-west across London, and has the greatest total length of track of any line on the Underground. Out of the 49 stations served, 20 are below ground...
.