Published: 25/09/2024 By Amanda Hunt
Churchill Estates has proudly sat beneath a small historical landmark of Wanstead High Street - the Wanstead Clock. However, over time this clock has unfortunately been left to deteriorate and age. Us at Churchills decided to replace the original clock with a new, spruced up replica to improve the High Street even further as a gift to our local Wanstead community!While looking into this clock replacement, we thought we would delve into Wanstead's great history and we were not disappointed. In the mid-Victorian times, in 1881, the population of Wanstead was 4,448. However by the time Queen Victoria died in 1901, the population had more than doubled to 9,197. Wanstead Historical Society Secretary Mark Galloway said: “In the early to mid-Victorian era, the high street was dominated by great houses, occupied by rich merchants. “Only Manor House, now a bar and restaurant, looks the same as it was then. It was very rural and children would have been seen regularly playing in the middle of the high street. All this was steadily changing with the introduction of the railway to Wanstead, it made it possible to live here and work in central London.”
The site of the current Wanstead Church School was listed as school as early as 1790 but it underwent building work in 1890 before being demolished and rebuilt again in the 1980s. In 1897 the fountain on George Green was built to commemorate Queen Victoria's 60th year as monarch.
Soon after in 1903, The George Hotel, now a Wetherspoons pub, was rebuilt. The pub was the geographical centre of Wanstead and was standing as far back as 1752.
Finally, a fun Wanstead fact: “In the 1920s there were also 12 postal collections and deliveries a day, so you could send your post in the morning and get a reply later in the day!"
See photo below of Wanstead High Street back in 1904:
