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Leytonstone
Leytonstone High Road Christmas lights, London, England 03.jpg
Leytonstone High Road
Leytonstone is located in Greater London
Leytonstone
Leytonstone
Population 54,696 (wards, 2011)
OS grid reference TQ3987
London borough
Ceremonial county Greater London
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town LONDON
Postcode district E11
Dialling code 020
Police Metropolitan
Fire London
Ambulance London
EU Parliament London
UK Parliament
  • Leyton and Wanstead
London Assembly
  • North East
List of places
UK
England
London
51°34′08″N 0°00′36″E / 51.569°N 0.010°E / 51.569; 0.010

Leytonstone is an area in east London, England, within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. Situated 7 miles (11 km) north-east of Charing Cross, it adjoins Wanstead to the east, Forest Gate to the south-east, Stratford to the south-west, Leyton to the west, and Walthamstow to the north-west.

Historically, Leytonstone formed part of the ancient parish of Leyton in the Becontree hundred of Essex. The first documented evidence of settlement is from the 14th century, describing a hamlet at ‘Leyton-atte-stone’; a reference to the Roman milestone located within the area, that formed a northerm boundary of the parish. It remained largely rural until 1856, when it became part of the London postal district and a railway station was opened (now on the Central line). By the end of the 19th century, Leytonstone had become a dormitory town within the conurbation of London. When Greater London was created in 1965, Leytonstone became part of the then new London Borough of Waltham Forest.

At the northern end of Leytonstone High Road is The Green Man; a public house and road junction, under which the A12 runs. Leytonstone is noted for being the birthplace of Alfred Hitchcock, with a number of references to the filmmaker around the area, including painted murals, mosaics, a pub and a hotel.

History

The main thoroughfare, High Road Leytonstone, running the length of Leytonstone to Stratford, is an ancient pathway dating to pre-Roman times.

The Leytonstone obelisk
The stone and obelisk

Roman archaeological features have been found in the area. "There was a Roman cemetery south of Blind Lane, and massive foundations of some Roman building, with quantities of Roman brick, were discovered in the grounds of Leyton Grange."

The High Stone at the junction of Hollybush Hill and New Wanstead, near the eastern boundary of the parish at the junction of the roads from Woodford and Woodford Bridge, is a restored 18th-century obelisk set up on an earlier stump which has been traditionally described as a Roman milestone.

Two of the obelisk's inscriptions are still just legible: others are not.

"To Epping XI Miles through Woodford, Loughton"
"To Ongar XV Miles through Woodford Bridge, Chigwell, Abridge"

The earliest known cartographic reference to Leytonstone is dated from 1545. Leytonstone was the centre of protests against the construction of the M11 link road, in the early 1990s.

Geography

Transport

Leytonstone tube station is in Travelcard Zones 3 and 4 on the Central line of the London Underground, and serves as the last stop before the line splits into the Fairlop Loop and the branch to Epping (Zone 6). Since 2016, night tube trains run on Friday and Saturdays on the Central line every 10 minutes between White City and Loughton (in Essex) or Hainault via Leytonstone. A series of tiled mosaics commemorating the local film director Alfred Hitchcock line the entrance passages to the station.

Leytonstone Bus Station stands either side of exits for Leytonstone tube station; key routes include the 257 to Stratford, the W15 to Hackney, and the night bus N8 to Tottenham Court Road.

Leytonstone High Road railway station is a London Overground railway station, located in the south of Leytonstone, serving the Gospel Oak to Barking line. In 2018, the line was electrified to allow for longer trains, with an additional capacity; after engineering and supply delays, these were introduced in June 2019.

Close to the southern end of Leytonstone (34 mile or 1.2 kilometres south of the Cann Hall Road boundary) is Maryland railway station in Stratford; which is planned to be part of Crossrail on the Elizabeth Line.

From 25 October 2021, Leytonstone will be in London's Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ); which is to be expanding from central London up to the North Circular and South Circular roads.

Notable people

  • Damon Albarn (born 1968), singer-songwriter born in Fillebrook Road. A blue plaque was erected in 2014 after an impromptu performance of "Park Life" at the Red Lion, Leytonstone High Road.
  • Eric Ashby, Baron Ashby (1904–1992), botanist, was born in Leytonstone.
  • Roger Ashton-Griffiths (born 1957), actor
  • David Bailey (born 1939), CBE, photographer, was born in Leytonstone.
  • Reginald Poynton Baker (1896–1985), movie producer, father of the Conservative MP Peter Baker
  • Ashley Banjo (born 1988), dancer and choreographer, was born in Leytonstone.
  • David Beckham OBE (born 1975), footballer (England), was born in Leytonstone and grew up in Chingford.
  • James Bevan (1858-1938), captain of the Welsh rugby union team in its first international match, died in Leytonstone
  • Reginald Horace Blyth (1898–1964), author and orientalist
  • Alan Booth (1946–1993), travel writer
  • Patrick Brill OBE RA (born 1963) artist, writer and musician; known by the pseudonym Bob and Roberta Smith
  • Edward North Buxton (1840–1924), conservationist and liberal politician
  • Cornelius Cardew (1936–1981), composer
  • Carly Cole (born 1984), model, fitness trainer and wife of footballer Joe Cole
  • Fanny Cradock (1909–1994), TV chef and cookery writer born in Fairlop Road, Leytonstone
  • Curtis Davies (born 1985), footballer
  • Cartrain (born 1991), artist
  • Harris Dickinson (born 1996), actor
  • Frank Dobson (1886–1963), sculptor, lived in Cobden Road as a teenager in 1901
  • John Drinkwater (1882–1937), poet and dramatist, born in Leytonstone in 1882
  • Charles Eade (1903–1964), journalist, born in Leytonstone
  • Eamon Everall (born 1948), artist and educator
  • Ken Farnes (1911–1941), cricketer
  • Henry Charles Fehr (1867–1940), sculptor, lived and worked in Leytonstone in 1886–1891.
  • Joanne Fenn (born 1974), Olympic runner
  • Stuart Freeborn (1914–2013), Star Wars make-up artist who was most famous as the designer of Yoda; born in Grove Green Road, had a Blue Heritage Plaque placed on his former home in December 2015.
  • Graham Gooch (born 1953), OBE, cricketer, former captain of the England cricket team
  • Steve Harris (born 1956), founder and bassist of the band Iron Maiden
  • Sir Alfred Hitchcock (1899–1980), film director born and raised in the area.
  • Tom Hood (1935–1974), humorist and playwright
  • Sydney Horler (1888–1964), novelist
  • Gavin Hoyte (born 1990), footballer
  • Justin Hoyte (born 1984), footballer
  • Derek Jacobi (born 1938) CBE, actor
  • Jammer (born 1982), record producer
  • Colin Kazim-Richards (born 1986), footballer
  • Lucy Kirkwood (born 1983), playwright and screenwriter
  • Don Law (1902–1982), record producer
  • Natasha Little (born 1969), actor
  • Seán Mac Stíofáin (1928–2001), chief-of-staff of the Provisional IRA
  • Morell Mackenzie (1837–1892), research physician
  • Colin Matthews (born 1946), composer
  • Dominic McVey (born 1985), Britain's youngest self-made millionaire
  • Jozef Piłsudski (1867–1935), Polish statesman, stayed with the Wasilewski family while on the run from Russia in the 1900s
  • Jamie Porter (born 1993), cricketer
  • Redzz (born 1987), rapper, actor, songwriter and musician
  • Sir Tony Robinson (born 1946), comedian and broadcaster
  • Jonathan Ross (born 1960), broadcaster and comedian. Went to Davies Lane primary school.
  • Paul Ross (born 1956), broadcaster
  • June Sarpong (born 1977) MBE, television presenter
  • Rita Simons (born 1977), actress, singer and model
  • Talvin Singh (born 1970), composer and musician
  • Adam Smith (born 1991), footballer
  • Harold Spurr (1889–1962), English cricketer
  • Andros Townsend (born 1991), footballer
  • Halszka Wasilewska (1899–1961), soldier, daughter of Leon Wasilewski, spent her infancy here before becoming a decorated major in the Polish Armed Forces
  • Leon Wasilewski (1870–1936), Polish political activist and editor lived in Leytonstone in 1898–1903
  • Douglas Webb (1922–1996), dam buster and photographer
  • Zeki, Pikey

In drama, film and television

  • In The Bed-Sitting Room (1969), Spike Milligan created the (fictional) closest heir to the British throne after the outbreak of nuclear war as "Mrs. Ethel Shroake" of 393A High Street, Leytonstone. She appears in the final scene of the play.
  • Deep End, a 1970 horror film, was partly shot at the old Cathall Road Baths in Leytonstone.
  • Small Potatoes was a 1999 TV sitcom made by Hat Trick Productions for Channel 4, about the young manager of a video shop in Leytonstone.
  • I Proud to Be an Indian was a 2004 Bollywood film, about an Indian family in late 1970s Leytonstone terrorised by skinheads.
  • In EastEnders, Kim Fox is from Leytonstone.

Sports and fitness

Leytonstone Leisure Centre on Cathall Road provides a gym and 25-metre main pool, sports hall, fitness studios, and a children's soft-play area.

Wanstead Flats has 60 football pitches, including eight full size pitches. This facility is overseen by City of London Corporation and amateur football teams play every Sunday. and 5K Parkruns take place in Wanstead Flats every week.

The North Star on Browning Road is home to the North Star Velo cycling club.

Leytonstone was home to the former association football team Leytonstone F.C. before it merged with Redbridge Forest F.C. and then Dagenham & Redbridge football club.

Education

Leytonstone schools include:

  • Buxton School, an all-through school for ages 3–16 and Specialist Science College
  • Connaught School for Girls, a specialist language school
  • Davies Lane Primary School, first opened in 1901 as a board school. In 1948 it became a junior and infants school, merging into a single primary in 2004.
  • George Tomlinson Primary School
  • Gwyn Jones Primary School
  • Leytonstone School, a specialist business and enterprise school
  • Mayville Nursery and Primary School, from 2-10yo
  • Norlington School, a boys' school and mixed sixth form

Images for kids

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Leytonstone para niños

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