CHIGWELL

'Chigwell' is a civil parish in the Epping Forest district of Essex. According to P. H. Reaney's 'Place-Names of Essex', the most authoritative guide to etymology in the county, the name means 'Cicca's well', Cicca being an Anglo-Saxon personal name. Folk etymology derives the name from a lost 'king's well', supposed to have been to the south-east of the village centre near the border of what is now the London Borough of Redbridge. There were several medicinal springs in Chigwell Row.
Chigwell is 11.6 miles (18.7 km) north east of Charing Cross and near the boundary with the London Borough of Redbridge. It is served by a London Underground station and has a London (020) area code. It forms part of the Greater London Urban Area.
Traditionally a rural farming community, but now largely suburban, Chigwell was mentioned in the Domesday Book and later lauded by Charles Dickens in the novel ''; the Maypole Inn is based on the King's Head inn, though the name was taken from the Maypole public house in Chigwell Row; and it is likely Dickens visited both hostelries. Charles Dickens frequently visited Chigwell, which he described in a letter as "the greatest place in the world...Such a delicious old inn opposite the church...such beautiful forest scenery...such an out of the way rural place!".
From 1933 to 1974 Chigwell formed together with Buckhurst Hill and Loughton the Chigwell Urban District. Parish councils were re-established for the parishes of Buckhurst Hill, Chigwell, and Loughton in 1996.
Chigwell now has many large suburban houses such as those on Manor Road and the High Road which featured in the popular English situation comedy Birds of a Feather (although many of the outside locations used in that programme were not in Chigwell). It is generally a wealthy area, which since the TV series ''Essex Wives'' journalists have called (with Loughton and Buckhurst Hill), the Essex ''golden triangle''.
Chigwell School, a public school, was founded from a bequest by Samuel Harsnett, Archbishop of York, in 1629. Among its many famous past pupils is William Penn, who later went on to found Pennsylvania. The diarist John Aubrey recorded that it was at Chigwell School that Penn had a mystical vision, which influenced his later conversion to Quakerism. The original 17th-century schoolroom where Penn was taught still stands, and is now the school library.

Contents

Famous residents

Transport

Bus

Train

References

Famous residents

Chigwell is widely regarded as an affluent area and has situated some large and expensive houses within the area. Famous residents have included/include:

★ Sir Alan Sugar, British born Jew, former owner of Amstrad, host of The Apprentice

★ Ronnie O'Sullivan, Famous Snooker Player

★ Bobby Moore, Former footballer of the England team that won the World Cup in 1966

★ Ian Miller

★ Simon Harris

★ George Shillibeer, inventor of the London omnibus, is buried in the churchyard of St. Mary's, the parish church.

★ Admiral Sir Eliab Harvey (1758-1830), Captain of the ''Fighting Temeraire'' at the Battle of Trafalgar, who lived at the mansion, Rolls, demolished 1953.

★ Ashley Cole, Footballer

★ Jermain Defoe, Footballer

★ Sir Geoff Hurst

★ Alan Davies, Regular guest on QI

★ Tim Howard

★ Sergei Rebrov

★ Didier Zokora

★ Gary Lucy, British Actor, portrays PC Will Fletcher in ITV's The Bill

Transport

Bus

{| class="wikitable"
|'Route Number'
|'Route'
|-
|150
|Chigwell Row to Becontree Heath via Barkingside
|-
|167
|Debden to Ilford via Barkingside
|-
|275
|Walthamstow to Barkingside via Woodford
|-
|362
|Grange Hill to King George Hospital via Marks Gate
|-
|462
|Hainault (Manford Way) to Ilford via Gants Hill
|-
|667
|West Hatch School to Ilford via Barkingside
|-
|804
|West Hatch School to Debden via Loughton
|-
|W14
|Woodford Bridge (Manor Road) to Leyton via South Woodford
|-

Train

{| class="wikitable"
|'Operator'
|'Route'
|'Other Information'
|-
|Central Line
|Woodford to Ealing Broadway/West Ruislip via Chigwell, Hainault and Central London
|-
|Central Line
|Hainault to Ealing Broadway/West Ruislip via Chigwell, Woodford and Central London
|Now operating past 8pm

References

★ Chigwell Parish Council website

★ Population figures

★ Chigwell School website

★ Chigwell - White's Directory of Essex, 1848

★ All Saints Church Chigwell Row