Leytonstone

Leytonstone is an area of north east London and part of the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It is a suburban area, located seven miles north east of Charing Cross in Greater London. It borders Walthamstow to the northwest, Wanstead (in the London Borough of Redbridge) to the north, Leyton to the south, and Forest Gate (in the London Borough of Newham) to the east.

History
The main thoroughfare in Leytonstone, High Road Leytonstone, which runs the length of Leytonstone to Stratford is an ancient pathway dating to pre-Roman times. Roman archaeological features have been found in the area.

The name Leytonstone — in early documents Leyton-Atte-Stone — may derive from the large stone standing at the junction of Hollybush Hill and New Wanstead; in the 18th-century an obelisk was mounted on top of it, and it has been claimed that it is the remains of a Roman milestone.

Two of the obelisk's inscriptions are still just legible: others are not.


 * "To Epping XI Miles through Woodford, Loughton"
 * "To Ongar XV Miles through Woodford Bridge, Chigwell, Abridge"

It has been claimed that High Road Leytonstone is a prehistoric pathway dating from before the Romans built a road along the same route to London. However Roman roads have since been found during excavations.

The earliest known cartographic reference to Leytonstone is dated from 1545.

To the eastern side of Leytonstone lies the Lake House estate, which until its recent inclusion within the London Borough of Redbridge was also seen as belonging to the area.

Leytonstone was the centre of protests against the construction of the M11 link road, in 1990. The protesters' final stand was staged at Claremont Road, Leytonstone and was ended by the forced eviction of protestors in 1994.

Governance
Leytonstone was part of the ancient parish of Leyton in the Becontree hundred of Essex. For ecclesiastical purposes it constituted a separate parish from 1845. The parish of Leyton formed part of the West Ham Poor law union. In 1894 it became part of the Leyton Urban District, which was incorporated in 1926 as the Municipal Borough of Leyton. Leytonstone became part of the London Borough of Waltham Forest in 1965 upon the creation of Greater London.

The area is part of the Leyton and Wanstead constituency.

John Cryer was elected MP for the constituency in 2010, representing the Labour Party. For elections to the London Assembly it is part of the North East constituency and the AM is Jennette Arnold of the Labour Party. It is part of the London constituency for elections to the European Parliament.

Transport
Leytonstone High Road was a Roman track from London to Epping Forest. This route became important for long distant coaches from the 14th century. In the 1960s there was a problem of congestion around the shopping streets in Leytonstone, a problem which continues with the one way system today. In the 1990s the M11 link road was built through the area despite a long running protest by locals and road protestors. This and other protests led to the Conservative policy, Roads for Prosperity, being abandoned.

Leytonstone tube station is on the Central Line of the London Underground.

Leytonstone High Road is a London Overground railway station.

Education
The borough includes:


 * Connaught School for Girls, a specialist Language school
 * Leytonstone School, which is a specialist Business and Enterprise school
 * Buxton Secondary Phase, a specialist Science school Formerly known as Tom Hood High School
 * Norlington School for Boys, a specialist Maths and ICT school
 * Buxton Primary Phase Primary School, formerly known as Cann Hall
 * Acacia Nursery Nursery
 * The Jenny Hammond Primary School Primary school, near Buxton school
 * Gwynn Jones Primary School

Notable features

 * Epping Forest boundaries reach Leytonstone in wooded areas called Hollow Ponds and Wanstead Flats.
 * Whipps Cross University Hospital
 * Dagenham & Redbridge football club, currently a professional Coca-Cola League Two team, is an amalgamation of several amateur football clubs, including Leytonstone F.C., who played along Leytonstone High Road. The Wanderers F.C. also originated from Leytonstone but played in several other venues round London.

Public services
Thames Water supplies Leytonstones' water. EDF Energy Networks is the Distribution network operator licensed to distribute electricity from the transmission grid to homes and businesses in Leytonstone. Whipps Cross University Hospital, on Whipps Cross road, is a University Hospital administrated by Whipps Cross University Hospital NHS Trust. London Ambulance Service responds to medical emergencies in Leytonstone. Home Office policing in Leytonstone is provided by the Metropolitan Police Service. Statutory emergency fire service is provided by the London Fire Brigade, with Leytonstone Fire Station on Leytonstone High Road. As at November 2012, this fire station is scheduled to be rebuilt.

Notable people



 * Sir Alfred Hitchcock KBE, the film director was born and raised in the area; the entrance to Leytonstone tube station has a number of mosaics depicting scenes from his films.
 * Damon Albarn, singer-songwriter and musician.
 * Roger Ashton-Griffiths, actor.
 * Richard Ayoade, actor.
 * Reginald Poynton Baker, movie producer, born in Leytonstone, father of Conservative MP Peter Baker.
 * David Bailey CBE, photographer, born in Leytonstone.
 * Ashley Banjo, dancer and choreographer, was born in Leytonstone.
 * David Beckham OBE, footballer. He was born in Leytonstone and grew up in Chingford
 * Edward North Buxton, conservationist and liberal politician 1840-1924.
 * Cornelius Cardew, composer.
 * Cartrain graffiti artist associated with the Street art movement
 * Carly Cole, model, fitness trainer and wife of footballer Joe Cole.
 * Fanny Cradock, cook.
 * Curtis Davies, footballer.
 * John Drinkwater, poet and dramatist, born in Leytonstone in 1882
 * Eamon Everall, artist and educator.
 * Ken Farnes, cricketer.
 * Joanne Fenn, athlete.
 * Graham Gooch, cricketer, former captain of the England cricket team.
 * Steve Harris, bassist, band leader and primary composer of the band Iron Maiden was born in Leytonstone.
 * Tom Hood, humourist and playwright, born at Lake House in 1835
 * Sydney Horler, novelist.
 * Justin Hoyte, footballer.
 * Sir Derek Jacobi CBE, actor, was born in Leytonstone.
 * Jammer, a UK grime MC and record producer
 * Colin Kazim-Richards, footballer.
 * Lucy Kirkwood, playwright.
 * Natasha Little, actress.
 * Sir Morell Mackenzie, physician.
 * Seán Mac Stíofáin, first chief-of-staff of the Provisional IRA.
 * Dominic McVey, Britain's youngest self-made millionaire.
 * Tony Robinson, comedian and broadcaster.
 * Jonathan Ross and his brother Paul Ross
 * June Sarpong MBE, television presenter.
 * Rita Simons, actress, singer and model
 * Talvin Singh, musician.
 * Harold Spurr, English cricketer.
 * Andros Townsend, footballer.
 * Douglas Webb DFM, dambuster
 * Eugene McGuinness, born in Leytonstone, raised in Ireland

In drama, film and television

 * In The Bed-Sitting Room (1969), Spike Milligan created the (fictional) closest heir to the British throne after the outbreak of nuclear war as "Mrs. Ethel Shroake" of 393A High Street, Leytonstone. She appears in the final scene of the play.


 * Deep End, a 1970 horror film, was partly shot at the old Cathall Road Baths in Leytonstone.


 * Small Potatoes was a 1999 TV sitcom made by Hat Trick Productions for Channel 4, about the young manager of a video shop in Leytonstone.


 * I Proud To Be An Indian was a 2004 Bollywood film, about an Indian family in late 1970s Leytonstone terrorised by skinheads.

In Eastenders, Kim Fox is from Leytonstone.