This is Greatfields Park, which is undeniably a great field in an area lacking much in the way of open spaces, but the name is not a reference to the park, but to a former farm, and arguably, the wrong one.
Long before the area was filled with housing, this patch of land was all farmland, and where the park is today was Movers House, which gave its name to the road that runs along the side of the park – Movers Lane.
OS map 1862 showing the park outline in red
It was the Movers who first began selling off land for housing in the 1890s, with the first roads, Gordon, Kennedy and St Johns, laid out east of where the park is today. Just 30 years later, the nearby Greatfields farm had also sold off their land for development for the Alfreds Way Estate, and the whole area was filled with regimented rows of terraced houses.
Oh, and if you want to cry, those new homes were being offered for sale for £465, with a £40 deposit required.
The park was created in the early 1920s after the Barking Urban District Council bought the land from Movers Farm for £330, and it was originally called the Movers Lane Playing Field. However, it was relaid in the mid-1920s with all the requirements of an Edwardian park – a bandstand, tennis courts, putting green and ornamental gardens.
OS map 1962 showing the park outline in red
It was also renamed after the nearby Greatfields farm, which seems a bit rude as the Movers family was still living in their house, which was still standing at the time.
In fact, you can see it in this photo.
The house had been demolished by the late 1930s, although the outline of the plot still exists in the park today, as a small patch of rectangular paths.
The official opening is reported to have taken place in 1926 – 100 years ago – although, oddly for the time, it seems to have taken place without any fanfare, as I haven’t found any contemporary reports of the event.
In July 1931, the park was visited by royalty when the King and Queen opened the King George Hospital in Ilford, and then took in the local sights, including Greatfield Park.
The park has changed a bit since then, as the trees have grown up, as they are wont to do. The paths have been relaid, the paddling pool is now a lawn, and the bandstand has vanished. An ornamental garden in the middle has also been removed, but the park has gained a running track. And four tennis courts are now just one.
Another sort of royalty also visited the park in the 1940s, when a young Bobby Moore used to practice football there. A blue plaque marks his childhood home on nearby Waverley Gardens.
The pocket park used to be slightly larger, but in 1997, a small slice was cut off the southern end to accommodate the A13 road-widening project. It could do with a bit of tender loving care to restore some of the lost ornamental gardens, but as a patch of green for locals, it’s hard to beat.
Instagram Engineering
Shopify Engineering
