Wanstead Library

William Morris Gallery

Walthamstow · 2.5 miles

A museum devoted to the life and works of William Morris occupies Water House, a substantial Grade II* listed Georgian building in Walthamstow, whose surrounding grounds form the public Lloyd Park. The gallery holds the most comprehensive collection of objects linked to Morris’s design, writing and social activism, arranged across nine permanent rooms that trace his early life, influences from the Pre-Raphaelites and John Ruskin, the formation of Morris & Co, workshop techniques, Victorian retail experiences, his printing ventures, socialist campaigning, the broader Arts and Crafts movement and works by his student Frank Brangwyn. Temporary exhibitions are accommodated in a 60 m² wing added during the 2012 redevelopment, and a tear-room featuring a Morris ‘Thistle’ frit pattern overlooks the gardens. Water House was built in 1762, served as Morris’s family home from 1848 to 1856, and was later donated to the town in 1900. The building opened as a museum in 1950, inaugurated by Prime Minister Clement Attlee, and after a major refurbishment it reopened in August 2012. Admission is free and opening times are published on the gallery’s listing. Lloyd Park provides a café, public toilets, artist studios, a play area, bowls pavilion, tennis courts, skate-park and basketball practice zones, together with a regular food market. The site is managed by Waltham Forest Borough Council.

Leyton Jubilee Park

Lea Bridge · 2.5 miles

Leyton Jubilee Park is a park in Leyton, London, and the largest park managed by Waltham Forest Borough Council. It was formed out of the merger of two green spaces, Ive Farm and Marsh Lane Playing Fields in August 2012.

Highams Park Boating Lake

Highams Park · 2.5 miles

The lake, created in the early 19th century when landscape gardener Humphry Repton redirected the River Ching, forms the water-centre of Highams Park in the London Borough of Waltham Forest. Repton’s 1793 plan turned a flood-prone site into the present lake, which later became part of the grounds of the Manor of Highams – a house built in 1768 and subsequently used as a Crimean-War hospital before becoming Woodford County High School for Girls. The water feature was opened to the public in the late 19th century and now lies within the larger parkland that borders Woodford Green and the Highams Estate. Boating has been a long-standing activity on the lake, with an “old boathouse” serving the community for more than a century. The building is currently leased from the Corporation of London by the Waltham Forest South District Scouts, who have restored it for use by local sailing clubs. Historically the lake hosted child-size Flies built by club owner Ken Ford and larger yachts such as the Moth IV; a 1970s appearance on the BBC programme *Blue Peter* highlighted a large yacht being lifted from the boathouse for a sea transfer. Recent engineering reports have classified the lake as a Category A reservoir, prompting plans to raise the dam while preserving Repton’s landscape design. The lake is identified on OpenStreetMap as a natural water feature near the Highams Park neighbourhood, and can be reached on foot from the surrounding residential area. As a public amenity, it does not require an admission charge, and the adjacent park provides open access for walkers and visitors.

Martyrs Memorial

Stratford New Town · 2.5 miles

A 19th-century monument in Stratford New Town marks the site where a group of eleven men and two women were executed for their Protestant convictions during the Marian persecutions of 1556. The stone column stands in St John’s churchyard on Stratford Broadway and was raised in 1879 to honour those who suffered at the hands of the authorities. Designed by J T Newman, the structure comprises an ornate hexagonal shaft topped by a twelve-sided spire that reaches approximately 65 feet. One face bears a terra-cotta relief panel that reproduces an illustration from Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, while the remaining sides list the names of the thirteen individuals, together with Elizabeth Warne, Stephen Harwood, Hugh Laverock, John Apprice, Patrick Packingham and the Reverend Thomas Rose, whose fates were linked to the same period of religious turmoil. The memorial was financed through public subscription, the appeal being chaired by Rev William Jay Bolton, Vicar of Stratford. Its unveiling on 2 August 1879 was conducted under the auspices of the Earl of Shaftesbury, whose address reflected the anti-Catholic sentiment of the time. Contemporary commentary in The Graphic criticised the polarising tone of the speech. The monument is recorded on the National Heritage List for England as a Grade II listed structure, with Historic England confirming its protected status. Visitors can view the memorial within the churchyard, where the surrounding setting remains unchanged since its erection.

Hackney Marshes

Lea Bridge · 2.5 miles

Covering roughly 136 hectares of protected common, Hackney Marshes stretches along the western bank of the River Lea in the Lower Lea Valley. The open space lies between the Old River Lea and the Hackney Cut, an artificial navigation channel dug around 1770, and is bounded to the south by the A12. Although the nearest settlement is Lea Bridge, the marshes fall within the London Borough of Hackney, which is responsible for their upkeep and public access. Originally a true marsh fed by regular river flooding, the area provided seasonal pasture long before permanent habitation was possible. Roman engineers constructed a stone causeway across the wetland, evidence of which was recovered alongside Roman coins. Throughout the early medieval period the river marked the border between the Saxon kingdoms of Essex and Middlesex and later formed part of the Danelaw frontier; legend records that King Alfred stranded a Viking fleet here in 895. Ownership passed from the Knights Templar, who operated mills at Temple Mills, to the Knights Hospitaller and eventually to the Crown after the Reformation. In the late 18th century the Hackney Cut reshaped the western edge, and a nature reserve now occupies the former Middlesex Filter-beds island. The London County Council purchased the common in 1890, opened it to the public in 1893 and dedicated it the following year, preserving it from urban development. Subsequent uses have included the National Projectile Factory (1915), later the Mabley Green recreation ground, and the Kingsmead Estate (1937). A camping site known as Tent City operated at the northern end near Cow Bridge until the 1990s. Today the marshes host sports fields and the remaining historic bridge that once served the White House Inn.

Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park

East Wick · 2.5 miles

A legacy of the 2012 Summer Olympics, the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park offers a mix of sporting venues and public green space. The site spans parts of Stratford, Bow, Leyton and Hackney Wick in east London, straddling the boroughs of Newham, Tower Hamlets, Hackney and Waltham Forest. Royal Mail allocated the postcode E20 to the park and the adjacent Stratford City development, and the nearest town recorded in OpenStreetMap is East Wick. Construction was completed in 2012, the year the Games were held. Originally called the Olympic Park during the event, it was later renamed to honour the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, although it is not an official Royal Park. After the Games, part of the area reopened in July 2013 and the majority, including the Aquatics Centre, VeloPark and the ArcelorMittal Orbit, reopened in April 2014. Key facilities include the London Stadium, the former Olympic stadium now used for athletics and concerts, the London Aquatics Centre with its distinctive roof, the Copper Box arena and the Lee Valley VeloPark. The ArcelorMittal Orbit, a steel observation tower, forms the park’s most prominent piece of public art. The former athletes’ village has been converted into the East Village, providing around 3,600 apartments adjacent to Stratford City. Additional amenities comprise the Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre, the London Olympics Media Centre, northern parklands and reinstated allotments. Management of the legacy is overseen by the independent charity The Legacy List, established in 2011 to develop art, education and skill-building projects. Plans announced in 2012 for a national Olympic Museum beside the Orbit were later shelved in July 2013. The park was designed by the EDAW Consortium with input from Arup, WS Atkins and landscape architects, and its lighting scheme was created by Speirs + Major. It is described as one of the largest urban parks created in Western Europe for more than 150 years, with restored wetland habitats and native planting.