Harold Park, Havering
The north-eastern part of Harold Wood, occupying an isthmus of land between the A12 and the Ingrebourne River
Ingreway, part of the Sunnytown bungalow estate
In 1868 a wealthy Brentwood solicitor built himself a mansion to the south of the river and railway line, named Harold Court. After the owner’s bankruptcy the house served as a children’s home, then a lunatic asylum and then a sanatorium. In 1959 it became a teacher training college and has now been converted into private flats.
Horse Block Farm lay to the north-east of Harold Court Road. After the First World War the Essex builders Iles and Company laid out a bungalow estate here that it called Sunnytown. The company also created Sunnymede at Billericay.
When Harold Court primary school opened in 1929 the area still retained a rural character, but this was slowly eroded as further development plugged the gaps, including some industry beside the Ingrebourne River.
