18 Walthamstow Extra, April 2011


History of Walthamstow I


turned up again in 1086 in the Domesday Book whereitwas recorded as having 82 inhabitants and was worth 28lb and 2oz of gold. The middle of the Medieval period was


but others say it means the Place by the Manor in the Woods. Regardless of what the name means, it


tureinWalthamstow had yet to make an appearance. Walthamstow Market is the longest


area boomed, as the railways first came in the 1870s, giving people achance to commute to central London easily. It was around this time that the area’s population really started to grow –dou- bling from 11,000 to 22,000 between 1871 and 1881. However,arguably the most iconic fea-


agood time for the area, which came to assimilate nearby villages, including Shern, whose hall, which stood where Shernhall Street now runs, played host to King John in 1213. Life in the village, on the borders of Essex and London, carried along quietly and bucolically until arguably the great- est technological and social upheavals in the history of Britain. The coming of the railways revolu- tionised life in Britain. Beforethey came, much of the country was comparatively isolated, but when they arrived, people wereable to use them to transfer to other areas to get work. Walthamstow was no exception. The


the Lee –which was alot wider than it is now.Insome parts, it is believed that it was as much as amile wide, allowing a Viking Fleet to sail up it in the 900s. In 1075, it was recorded as being called Wilcumestowe –aname that has sparked debate between historians. Some say it means Place of Welcome,


TISnow nearly 1,000 years since Walthamstow was first put down on the historical record. The village was based on the banks of


street market in the world, running through amile of the suburb’sHigh Street. It was first established in 1885 and has since been alynchpin of the area’ssuc- cess, with morethan 500 stalls selling a wide variety of goods from Tuesday to Saturday every week. Therewerepolitical changes in the way,


had led to be considered as, spiritually, part of the East End of London –asta- tus that was made official when it became part of Greater London, as part of the new London Borough of Waltham Forest in 1965. It’snot all about locations and gover- nance, though –the people of Walthamstow have left an indelible mark in British History. Perhaps the most famous is the writer


too. In recognition of the urban growth in what had been avillage, Walthamstow was made an urban district in 1894. The area then got itself aMayor in 1926 when it became amunicipal bor- ough within Essex. However,its increased urbanisation


and designer William Morris, who was borninWalthamstow in 1834, and now his birthplace serves as amuseum in his honour. It’snot just him who was made ‘The Stow’ proud, though. Frederick Bremer developed Britain’s


very first car,the Bremer,inthe 1892, and one of them sits in Walthamstow’s Vestry House museum. Just afew years later,in1909, Alliot


Vernon Roe’sAvro1 aircraft became the first all-British plane to take to the skies, taking offfromWalthamstow Marshes. Roe, who was borninManchester,


to the age of aviation, Walthamstow has always had astory to tell.


later set up the Avro company,which built such planes as the iconic Lancaster bomber. From the reign of William the Conqueror


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