Back To Grass Roots

Chigwell’s proximity to the capital may make you think that green space is at a premium, but with a bit of forethought more than 100 years ago, there is plenty of space for a growing community of sport.

- Petra Hornsby

CHIGWELL is located in the Epping Forest District and is very much part of suburban London, accessible to and from the capital via the London Underground’s Central Line. Its proximity to the city has been of benefit to residents in many ways, but in particular, a legacy established before the war to create a substantial space for recreation has more than fulfilled its remit over the years and continues to do so today.

Chigwell and its community has much to thank the City Parochial Foundation for. The foundation was founded in 1891 with a key aim to provide and maintain green spaces for the health and welfare of city residents. The foundation’s former clerk, Donald Allen, earmarked 50 acres of land in Chigwell Row for use as a Girl Guide campsite. Allen was a great advocate of, ‘fresh air, sport and exercise for young people’ and, in 1938, inspired the purchase of Grange Farm and its 106 acres. Although World War II interrupted plans for the site’s development, it would eventually go on to accommodate 2,000 foreign students for the Festival of Britain in 1951 and then be a popular recreational facility for holiday makers — largely from nearby London.

However, as with many once-popular British resorts and holiday destinations, cheap continental package holidays became more available in the 1970s and rang the death knell for the site, which closed in 1983.

Today, The Grange Farm Centre Trust oversees the site and continues to support leisure and recreational projects, as well as groups within the community in line with its stated aim – ‘The provision for recreational and leisure time occupation for the inhabitants of Epping Forest and the London Metropolitan Police Area’.