Emerson Park, Havering

A pricey resid­ential district situated north-​​east of Hornchurch

An overgrown cottage in Emerson Park

This attractive house on Wingletye Lane is smaller than many of the residences in Emerson Park

In 1895 William Carter, of Parkstone, Dorset, bought 20 acres of Nelmes Manor and Lee Garden Manor to build ‘country villas for city gentlemen’. Carter put up a wide variety of dwellings, from bungalows to family houses with accom­modation for servants, and named the estate after his eldest son, Emerson. Other developers added their own estates, such as Haynes Park and Great and Little Nelmes, but the original name has come to apply to the whole neigh­bourhood. It is now completely built over, with cul-​​de-​​sacs jutting into what were once the gardens of larger properties.

Over 91 per cent of homes in Emerson Park are owner-​​occupied and a similar proportion of residents are white, although the district also has one of the borough’s larger communities of Indian heritage. At an average 6.2 rooms per household, residents have much more space than most other Londoners and almost half the households have two or more cars. The well-​​regarded Emerson Park school is on the eastern edge of the district, beside the Ingre­bourne River.

Postcode area: Hornchurch, RM11
Population: 11,396
Station: Greater Anglia, on the Romford to Upminster branch line, (Zone 6)
 
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