Little Ilford, Newham
A lost village and parish situated on the opposite side of the River Roding (and the North Circular Road) from Ilford itself
Little Ilford Park was formerly the grounds of Little Ilford Manor
Domesday Book identifies this as the original location of Ilford and there was a wooden church here in Saxon times, which was rebuilt in stone in the twelfth century. The brick-built Lethiuellier chapel was added in the 18th century.
Over the years, Little Ilford has been eroded as the City of London cemetery occupied its northern part, East Ham absorbed its parish and Manor Park was the name given to the housing that covered its fields in the 1880s and 90s.
This is now an area with problems of social deprivation. At Little Ilford community school, on Browning Road, more than half the pupils are eligible for free school meals. Opposite the school is the newly reconstructed London Sri Murugan Temple, a major centre of worship for east London’s Hindus.
The ward of Little Ilford is very ethnically mixed, with no single group predominating. The largest minorities are white, Bangladeshi, Indian and black African. A third of residents are Muslims and nearly 30 per cent are under 16.
Jack Cornwell Street commemorates a 16-year-old boy from Alverstone Road who was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for his gallantry at the Battle of Jutland in 1916.
Little Ilford Park is often said to have inspired the Small Faces’ song ‘Itchycoo Park’ – but the same claim is made for other parks nearby.
