Ever heard of a gate that wasn’t really a gate? Forest Gate is just that. It’s a district in the London Borough of Newham. It sits seven miles northeast of Charing Cross.
Forest Gate got its name from a gate. This gate wasn’t your typical entrance. It stood across what is now Woodford Road. Its job was to keep cattle from wandering off Wanstead Flats. Wanstead Flats is the southernmost part of Epping Forest. Imagine cows casually strolling onto the Roman road. That’s the road that linked Camulodunum to Londinium. This gate prevented such bovine chaos. The gate was near the Eagle and Child pub. It wasn’t a toll gate. It met its end in 1881. The keeper’s cottage was demolished with it.
Back then, the forest was vast. It stretched from Epping to Romford Road. A woodland called Hamfrith marked its southernmost point. Hamfrith meant woodland belonging to the Ham area. This woodland vanished around 1700.
Now, for a touch of glamour. An Anglo-Saxon jeweled bead was unearthed here. It happened during sewer work in 1875. The bead is crafted from gold, garnet, and blue glass. It dates back to the 6th or 7th century. Experts believe it belonged to a wealthy woman. Perhaps even a princess. Essex at that time was an independent kingdom. It covered Essex, Middlesex, London, and half of Hertfordshire. The bead was likely lost by someone traveling the old Roman road. Sir Arthur Evans gifted it to the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford in 1909.
Forest Gate remained rural until the 19th century. Wealthy city folks built country houses here. Many were Quakers. Names like Gurney, Fry, and Lester were common. As the area grew, new churches popped up. Emmanuel Church arrived in 1852. St Mark’s mission church followed between 1893 and 1898.
A dark chapter exists too. In 1890, a fire at the Forest Gate Industrial School killed 26 boys. They were between 7 and 12 years old. The school housed children from the Whitechapel Union.
Since 1965, Forest Gate has been part of the London Borough of Newham. Before that, it was part of the County Borough of West Ham. The County Borough had been established since 1886.
The Woodgrange Estate is a conservation area worth seeing. It features double-fronted Victorian houses. Developer Thomas Corbett and sons built them between 1887 and 1892. They built over 1,100 houses. These houses capitalized on the new railway links. The Eastern Counties Railway opened a line through Forest Gate in 1840. Corbett bought land associated with Woodgrange Farm for his development.
For leisure, West Ham Park is a great place to visit. Wanstead Flats also borders Forest Gate. It offers football pitches and areas for nature walks.
Music has a rich history in Forest Gate. Jimi Hendrix supposedly wrote “Purple Haze” here. It happened at the Upper Cut Club. De Underground Records was a seminal jungle/drum and bass record shop. It thrived here from 1991 to 1996. Plan B, the musician, grew up in Forest Gate. Depeche Mode even started recording in a local studio. The first Rock Against Racism concert took place at the Princess Alice pub in 1976.
Many notable people have called Forest Gate home. These include Anna Neagle, David Amess and Elizabeth Fry. Each contributed to the area.
Today, Forest Gate continues to evolve. New communities settle here. They enrich the area’s culture and architecture. You’ll find new churches, mosques, temples, and Gurdwaras. Forest Gate is more than just a name. It is a place with a diverse story.