Ilford

Ilford is a large suburban town in East London, England and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Redbridge. It is located 9.1 mi northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. It forms a significant commercial and retail centre surrounded by extensive residential development. Ilford was historically a small rural settlement in the county of Essex and its strategic position on the River Roding and the London to Colchester road caused it to develop as a coaching town. The arrival of the railway in 1839 eventually accelerated that growth and as part of the suburban growth of London in the 20th century, Ilford significantly expanded and increased in population, becoming a municipal borough in 1926 and has formed part of Greater London since 1965.

Toponomy
Ilford was historically known as Great Ilford to differentiate it from nearby Little Ilford, in the London Borough of Newham. Ilford belongs to the East London sub-region. The name is first recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Ilefort and means ford over the Hyle; an old name for the River Roding that means "trickling stream". Little Ilford shares the origin.

Origins
The only complete skull of a mammoth discovered in the United Kingdom was unearthed in 1860 at the site where Boots the Chemist now stands in the High Road. The skull can now be seen in the Natural History Museum. Redevelopment has destroyed much of the evidence for early Ilford, but the oldest evidence for human occupation is the 1st and 2nd century BC Iron Age earthwork known as Uphall Camp. This was situated between the Roding and Ilford Lane and is recorded in 18th century plans. Roman finds have also been made in the vicinity. A nearby mound called Lavender Mount existed into the 1960s, when it was removed during building work at Howards chemical works. Excavation has shown that the latter may have been a 16th century 'beacon-mound'.

Economic development
Ilford straddled the important road from London to Colchester. The Middlesex and Essex Turnpike Trust controlled and maintained the road from 1721. The River Roding was made navigable for barges as far as Ilford Bridge from 1737. Ilford remained largely rural until its expansion in the 19th century. This brought about brickworks, cement works and coal yards to service the new buildings, largely centred on the River Roding. In 1839, a railway station was opened on the line from Romford to Mile End. The early businesses gave way to new industries, such as paper making and services such as steam laundries and collar making, to provide for the new commuting class created by the railway. A number of major businesses have been founded in the town, including the eponymous photographic film and chemicals manufacturer Ilford Photo. This was founded in 1879 by Alfred H. Harman, a photographer from Peckham, who established the business in a house in Cranbook Road making gelatino-bromide 'dry' plates. The business soon outgrew these premises, and its headquarters moved to a site at Roden Street. The radio, electronics and telecommunications company Plessey, founded in 1917 in Marylebone, moved to Cottenham Road in Ilford early in 1919 and then to Vicarage Lane where became one of the largest manufacturers in its field. During World War II, the factory was heavily damaged by bombing and the company carried out much of its manufacture, with 2,000 workers servicing a production line, located in the underground railway tunnel between Wanstead and Gants Hill. In 1955, the company employed 15,000 workers, in sites throughout Ilford and neighbouring areas, with an extensive research department. BAL-AMi Jukeboxes were manufactured at 290-296 High Road, Ilford, during the 1950s, which also served as the headquarters of the Balfour (Marine) Engineering company.

Local government
Ilford formed a ward in the large ancient parish of Barking, in the Becontree hundred of Essex. The parish authorities gradually lost responsibility for a variety of functions during the 19th century; from 1836, for the administration of poor relief, Ilford came within the Romford Poor Law Union and in 1840 the Metropolitan Police District was extended to cover the area. In 1875 the Romford rural sanitary district was created, covering a wide area including Ilford. In 1888 Ilford and the neighbouring ward of Chadwell to east were split from Barking and together formed a separate Ilford civil parish. In 1890 a local board of health was set up for the parish, replacing the rural sanitary authority, and in 1894 a reform of local government reconstituted it as an urban district. It formed part of the London Traffic Area from 1924 and the London Passenger Transport Area from 1933. It was incorporated as the Municipal Borough of Ilford in 1926. The suburban expansion of London caused a significant increase in population and the borough became one of the largest in England not to gain county borough status. In 1965 the municipal borough was abolished and its former area was combined with that of Wanstead and Woodford, the northern extremity of Dagenham and a small part Chigwell Urban District around Hainault; it was removed from Essex and since then has formed the greater part of the London Borough of Redbridge in Greater London.

Suburban expansion
By 1653, Ilford was a compact village of 50 houses, mostly sited north and south of the current Broadway and the area was distinctly rural. In 1801 the population of Ilford was 1,724 and by 1841 it had grown to 3,742. It had a population of 41,244 in 1901 and occupied an area of 8496 acre. 2,500 houses of the vast Becontree Estate, built by the London County Council from 1921, were within the boundaries of Ilford; the addition caused a rise in population of 11,600 by 1926. The Central Line service of the London Underground to new and former main-line stations in the area began in 1947 and the population peaked in 1951 at 184,706. In 1961 the population was 178,024.

Notable events
Kensington Gardens was the location of the 1922 murder of Percy Thompson by Edith Thompson and Frederick Bywaters.

John Logie Baird, who invented the television, moved to Ilford in the mid/late 1920s to work on his new invention. He worked in a workshop on the roof of the Plessey premises in Ley Street which has long been demolished to make way for new housing.

Governance
Ilford is divided between the UK Parliament constituencies of Ilford North and Ilford South. Ilford North consists of the Redbridge wards of Aldborough, Barkingside, Redbridge, Clayhall, Fairlop, Fullwell, Hainault and Roding. The MP is Lee Scott of the Conservative Party. Ilford South corresponds to the Redbridge wards of Chadwell, Clementswood, Cranbrook, Goodmayes, Loxford, Mayfield, Newbury, Seven Kings, and Valentines. The MP is Mike Gapes of the Labour Party. Ilford forms part of the Havering and Redbridge London Assembly constituency and the London European Parliament constituency.

Geography
Ilford is bounded in the west by the North Circular Road and the River Roding and is contiguous with Barking to the south, Gants Hill to the north and Seven Kings to the east. Climate data for Ilford is taken from the nearest weather station at Greenwich, around 6 mi south south west of the railway station:

Demography
Ilford has a very large ethnic-minority population, with Ilford North having the 4th highest Jewish proportion of residents in the 2001 census. The Hindu, Muslim and Sikh population number some 30,000. The South Asian community in Ilford speak a variety of languages, including Tamil, Gujarati, Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu.

There is a sizable Irish and Polish community in and around Seven Kings / Goodmayes.

According to the 2001 census, Ilford North and Ilford South consisted of the following demographs:

Transport


The town is served by Ilford railway station on the Great Eastern Main Line in Travelcard Zone 4. Trains calling at the station are of the high-frequency Liverpool Street-Shenfield service operated by National Express East Anglia. Ilford is a hub of the London Buses network with services to central London and various suburbs. Bus route 25 to central London operates 24 hours and there are other night bus services to a variety of destinations. Gants Hill tube station is located in the north of Ilford and is served by the Central line of the London Underground. It is planned that the Liverpool Street-Shenfield service will become part of Crossrail. The first stage of the East London Transit begins at Ilford.

Culture
Ilford was the location of the JKB Designs Art Gallery at 193-207 High Road for 18 months: three times longer than originally planned for this location; and the Kenneth More Theatre. The local newspaper, covering the town and the borough, is the Ilford Recorder. The local football club is Ilford F.C., which plays at Cricklefield Stadium. Ilford Cricket Club plays home games at Valentines Park.