February 2021

54
Wanstead Village Directory
Walks Past
Wanstead
Wanstead Park, as we
know it today, was
designed as a setting
for the grand Palladian
Wanstead House, built in
the reign of George I, and
which replaced the previous
house on the site, the
Tudor Wanstead Hall. Our
Rediscovering Wanstead
House walk looks at some
of the features, still in and
around the park landscape,
that remind us of its grand
origins.
Today, we can still walk down
Evelyn’s Avenue, named after
diarist John Evelyn. It was
first planted in the late 17th
century by Sir Josiah Child,
who purchased the original
Wanstead Hall and improved
the parkland around it.
The alignment of key features
in the landscape show us the
grandeur of the Hall’s replacement,
Wanstead House. The Straight Canal
is a stretch of water that lines up
with the Glade, a grand avenue of
trees rising towards the site of the
House, now marked by a sizeable dip
in the ground near Wanstead Golf Club.
The trees on either side of the Glade hide
two ‘mounts’, small hills built for viewing the
gardens. Viewed from the rear of Wanstead
House, the canal gave the impression of a
much larger lake system. Continuing on past
the site of the House leads us to the Basin,
a large ornamental lake designed to
add to the grandeur of the approach to
the front of the House. This approach
lay along part of the current Overton
Drive, the end of which is flanked by the
original gate posts of Wanstead House,
and bear the initials of the man who
completed it in 1722, Sir Richard Child,
the 1st Earl Tylney, and the son of Josiah.
The Temple and the Grotto, still handsome
structures in the park, were built around 1760
by John, the second Earl Tylney. John didn’t
get to enjoy them much, however, because
around the time they were built, he was
embroiled in a homosexual scandal and fled
abroad. He lived in Naples for the rest of his
life. There is a bit of John still in Wanstead
though. His heart was sent back when he died
and sits in a jar in the crypt of St Mary the
Virgin church.
We can still see the earth bank in Reservoir
Wood, which once held back water used to
feed the lake system in the park. The area was
To advertise, call 020 8819 6645 or visit wnstd.com