ECONOMIC HISTORY.
The wealth of woodland
in Woodford long determined the economic life of
the village, providing timber and some pasture,
while restricting the amount of arable land. The
Domesday survey with its estimate that 500 swine
could be pastured there indicates that Woodford
was densely wooded. (fn. 1) Monkhams was originally all
wood, and there also pannage was important. (fn. 2)
Some clearances had been made in the woodland
at an early date. In 1066 there was arable for 2
ploughs on the demesne and for the relatively large
number of 13 on the rest of the vill. There were then
13 villeins, 4 bordars, and 4 serfs; by 1086 there
were still 13 villeins but 7 bordars, and no serfs; the
number of ploughs owned by manorial tenants had
fallen to seven. The 26 a. of meadow by the river
accounts for the large number of 100 sheep. There
were also 6 'beasts', 50 swine, and 40 goats in 1086. (fn. 3)
The amount of arable land gradually increased.
Richard I acquitted the canons of Waltham of
various assarts made in the forest, including 32 a. at
Woodford, (fn. 4) and in 1200 the abbot accounted for
4 a. of pasture at Woodford which had been converted to tillage. (fn. 5) By the 17th century the demesne
was largely arable. (fn. 6)
The demesne at Woodford was never extensive,
but about 1235 the men of the vill held between
them some 15 virgates. (fn. 7) They held either one virgate
(the standard 30 a.) or a fraction of a virgate, for
which they did service in proportion. Some paid
a money rent (fn. 8) and sent one man to work in the
lord's meadow at hay-time and two or three men
to the boon works, but more paid no rent, working
on the demesne two days a week and three days in
August and September.
There is some evidence of open fields. Names
such as Brodfeld and Suthfeld, which occur in 1517, (fn. 9)
may indicate them. Common fields and meadows
are mentioned in the 17th century (fn. 10) and in 1653
two cows or one horse were allowed in the common
meadow for every acre held. (fn. 11) As late as 1700 the
demesne included 5 parcels containing 5 a. in the
common field. (fn. 12) The tithe map shows strips only in
the common meadow (now Old Mill playing field). (fn. 13)
By the mid 18th century the fields had been
inclosed with hedges. Wheat, oats, and peas were
being grown for the London market, but pasture
farming was more profitable. Londoners paid
weekly rates to graze their horses or cattle on Woodford fields. Local farmers also kept many cows and
bought animals to fatten for city butchers. (fn. 14) In 1801
206 persons were engaged in agriculture compared
with 148 in trade and handicrafts. (fn. 15) A market-Monkhams, Milkwell
gardener is mentioned in 1812. (fn. 16)
By 1814 the greater part of Woodford was
pasture. (fn. 17) Larger residences with their gardens and
paddocks took up so much space that by 1838 only
six farms were left: the home farms of Woodford
Hall, Ray House, and Monkhams, together with Hill
House and Gales east of the Roding, and Milkwell
farm. There were then 339 a. of arable land compared with 1,120 a. of pasture or meadow. (fn. 18) Pasture
remained important; about 1900 the district round
Woodford and Chingford was known as the 'Hay
Country', (fn. 19) and in 1905 there were still 523 a. of
permanent grass compared with 317 a. of arable and
216 a. of woodland. (fn. 20) But by 1922 only three farms—Monkhams, Milkwell, and one at Woodford Bridge—were being worked (fn. 21) and in the following years
these too were cut up for building. Some nurserygardens were cultivated in the early 20th century (fn. 22)
and a few cattle are still (1965) grazed at Woodford.
There was a water-mill in Woodford in 1066,
though it had ceased to work 20 years later. (fn. 23) In 1605
and 1610 there were complaints that the water pent
up for Sir Bernard Whetstone's mill flooded the highway. (fn. 24) By 1635 the mill had been taken down and
in 1641 the mill-house was deserted. (fn. 25) It was still
standing in the late 19th century approximately
where the Southend road now crosses the river. (fn. 26)
Woodford windmill existed by 1628. (fn. 27) It belonged
to the demesne of Woodford manor, with which it
descended until 1710. (fn. 28) The mill, which was a post-mill, stood on a piece of waste on the southern edge
of Woodford Wood, with a house adjoining, just on
the Woodford side of the boundary with the manor
of Higham Bensted in Walthamstow, in the vicinity
of the present Mill Road. (fn. 29) There are several references in the 17th century to cottages built near it
on the Higham Bensted waste. (fn. 30) In 1677 the justices
ordered the mill to be fenced because it was dangerous to cattle and passers-by. (fn. 31) An attempt by a
Walthamstow miller, perhaps the operator of the
newly-erected Walthamstow windmill, (fn. 32) to burn it
down in 1699 was apparently unsuccessful. (fn. 33) The
mill probably ceased working by 1723, when
Christopher Crow, after buying the demesne lands
of Woodford manor, leased the 'millhouse at Woodford Row' to the churchwardens and overseers from
1724 to 1745 as the Woodford poorhouse. When the
lease expired it was not renewed, and the mill and
adjoining house had disappeared by 1757. (fn. 34)
The making of bricks and tiles is mentioned at
Woodford in 1506, (fn. 35) and a few years later the tenant
of Ray House was licensed to dig clay from his land
for this purpose. (fn. 36) A field in this corner of Woodford
was called Long Tyle Killin from at least 1609. (fn. 37)
Soon after buying Ray House, about 1776, Sir James
Wright established a factory there for making
artificial slates. The business was discontinued soon
after his death in 1804, and the factory, built of
artificial slate, was demolished before 1811. (fn. 38) Sir
James's son Sir George invented a method of cutting
stone pipes, chimney pots, and other objects from
solid stone, leaving the core available for use as
columns. He patented this process in 1805 and
formed a company, but left Ray House before the
inadequacy of his weak, porous pipes was revealed
in Manchester, where he had been authorized to
supply water. (fn. 39) Later in the 19th century bricks and
tiles were still being made in this part of the parish. (fn. 40)
A few are still made there now (1965).
Before the coming of the railway road transport
provided much occupation in the village. In 1686
there were beds for 19 guests and stabling for 31
horses. (fn. 41) In 1848, besides the inns and posting-houses, there were 5 blacksmiths, 4 horse-hirers,
2 saddlers, 3 wheelwrights, 2 omnibus proprietors,
and 2 carriers. (fn. 42) During the past forty years a small
amount of light industry has grown up in what is
essentially a dormitory town. The industries include
the making of plate-glass, refrigerators, furniture,
and sports equipment.
FOREST.
The whole of Woodford was within the
ancient Forest of Essex. In the Middle Ages it was
part of the forest bailiwick of Becontree. (fn. 43) In the
16th century, when the bailiwicks were replaced by
smaller 'walks', the parish comprised Woodford
walk. (fn. 44)
In 1203 King John licensed the inclosure of
Monkhams wood. (fn. 45) In 1225 an agreement was made
between the abbot of Waltham and the king about
the great wood attached to the demesne at Woodford.
This wood, a rectangular projection at the north-west extremity of the parish, was to remain within
the royal forest until Henry III came of age, when
the canons were to be allowed to fence it and render
it extra-forestal; in exchange Epping and Nazeing
were then to be thrown back into the forest. (fn. 46) These
grants were no doubt rendered void by Henry III's
revocation of the Charter of the Forest in 1228, (fn. 47)
but the great wood was nevertheless a valuable asset
to the canons. In 1292 they obtained a royal licence
to sell timber at Woodford to the value of £15. (fn. 48)
Another licence was obtained in 1327, (fn. 49) and in 1342,
when the canons were in financial straits, they were
licensed to cut timber to the value of £200 in their
woods at Epping, Theydon (Bois), Loughton, and
Woodford. (fn. 50) On both these occasions the wood was
described as being within the bounds of the forest
of Waltham. At Monkhams the lessee was licensed
to fell and fence the grove in 1631, providing that
ridings were left so that the king could continue to
hunt, (fn. 51) and during the early 18th century timber was
frequently felled there, sometimes without licence. (fn. 52)
The main disadvantage of the forest to farmers in
the area was the immunity enjoyed by deer. Sir
Bernard Whetstone complained in 1603 that although
the greater part of his demesne was arable land he
had been unable to plough any of it during the
previous ten years because of the depredations of
deer. In spite of this, he was still obliged to pay
composition wheat and oats for the king's household. (fn. 53) After the Restoration John Hayes was
allowed to retain fences round Knighton wood only
on condition that he left open the customary deer
leaps. (fn. 54) At Monkhams, in the earlier 18th century,
the Norths were several times in trouble with the
courts of attachments for illegally erecting high
fences which prevented the passage of deer. (fn. 55)
As some compensation for the ravages of deer
the wood also provided pasturage. In early days
swine were herded in the forest; hence the importance of pannage and agreements made between
the lords of the adjoining manors about intercommoning, such as that of 1240 between the abbot
of Waltham and William le Breton, lord of Chigwell. (fn. 56) Pannage dues on Woodford manor amounted
to 12s. 10½d. in 1367. (fn. 57) In the 17th century no pigs
were allowed to root in the forest unless they had
been properly ringed. (fn. 58) There are several references
at this time to occupiers of land in Woodford claiming common of pasture as well as estovers. (fn. 59) At the
close of the 18th century the occupiers of lands
within the bounds of the forest had the right to
pasture horses and cows during the whole year
except the fence month. The general rule was to
admit one horse or two cows for every £4 annual
rent. The parish reeve branded cattle with the mark
for Woodford parish: (fn. 60) 'M' surmounted by a crown
in the shape of a recumbent 'E'. (fn. 61) Nevertheless,
according to local farmers, this privilege of commonage was not equal to a tenth of the losses they continually sustained from deer breaking down fences
and destroying crops. Against them no fences,
however laboriously contrived, availed. In addition,
the farmers complained that the forest was well
known as the resort of idle, profligate men whose
careers began with deer-stealing, as also of hardened
fugitives from justice. (fn. 62) In 1960 there were still 100
branded cattle loose in the forest. (fn. 63)
The problem of deer and other depredators
lessened as more woodland was cleared. This was
a gradual process. In 1572 Bernard Whetstone was
licensed to fence in a quarter of the woodland of
his manor, (fn. 64) an action that led to riots. (fn. 65) At Monkhams c. 1640 woodland extended as far south as
Snakes Lane, but the wooded area had shrunk considerably by 1777 and still more by the early 19th
century. (fn. 66) Knighton wood was originally part of
Woodford Hall manor but had been alienated before
1642. (fn. 67) Attempts were made to inclose and clear it
in 1670 and again a hundred years later. Neither
attempt was wholly successful, in spite of the fact
that the owner had obtained a lease from the Crown
in 1773, (fn. 68) and Knighton wood still survives. Nevertheless, during the 17th and 18th centuries many
encroachments on woodland waste were allowed by
the lord of the manor and sanctioned by the justices
of the forest, (fn. 69) so that by 1843 396 a. of common
land at Woodford had been inclosed. (fn. 70)
In 1856 and 1862 the Commissioners of Woods
and Forests sold the Crown's forest rights in Woodford, and the process of inclosure was accelerated.
Between 1851 and 1871 a total of 182 a. was inclosed,
leaving only 69 a. of open forest within the manor
of Woodford. (fn. 71) Under the Epping Forest Act (1878)
and the subsequent arbitration, however, 209 a. in
the manor and parish of Woodford were preserved
as part of the forest. This consisted mainly of
Woodford Green, strips on either side of the High
Road, and along the bank of the Roding, and a large
part of the north-west corner of the parish over
which the golf course is laid out. (fn. 72) Possibly the last
private inclosure of land in the forest occurred in
1910, when the tenant of the Roses inclosed a pond
outside his house. (fn. 73) Knighton wood (37 a.) was
added to Epping Forest in 1930, when it was bought
by the corporation of the City of London from the
trustees of the estate of E. N. Buxton. (fn. 74)