This industrial and residential Romford neighbourhood is situated between Harold Wood, Harold Park and Harold Hill, in the east London Borough of Havering. As the area sits in the Essex County suburbs, its name is an ode to its green surroundings, with Gidea Park, Raphael Park, and Tylers Common taking up much of the nearby land. Despite being in the suburbs, and in TFL’s Zone 6, it only takes 40 minutes to get from Harold Wood station to central London’s Liverpool Street station, which makes the neighbourhood incredibly popular with commuters. For those who drive, the area is also located just to the south of the A12 and west of the M25. Its outer London location allows the room for large interwar and post-war homes, many of which have gardens and driveways, and the numerous local schools and amenities mean that the locality is great for families too.

This neighbourhood was named by King Harold II, who was England’s last Anglo-Saxon King, and who held the area until he was defeated by William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Harold Wood became its own ward in the ancient parish of Hornchurch, and nearby Harold Hill began to extensively develop when in 1944 housing was built under the Greater London Plan, hence the large amount of post-war housing in the area.

Harold Court, located in Harold Park, was a mansion built in 1868 by a wealthy Brentwood solicitor. However, the owner became bankrupt which led to the mansion being transformed into a children’s home in 1929. It later served as a lunatic asylum, a sanatorium, and a teacher training college. More recently though, it has been turned into private flats.

In 2006 Harold Wood Hospital permanently closed which put increased pressures on local GPs. Local GP, Dr Mark Feldman, led a campaign to stop the closure of his walk-in-clinic. The campaign was sadly unsuccessful and now local patients must queue for appointments and inquires before 8am because telephone lines continue to be incredibly busy.

A new housing development in Harold Wood called Kings Park recently saw it final phase of construction completed. The developers said that the new Elizabeth line, which now services Harold Wood station, is making the area more attractive for first-time buyers and therefore for developers. In worse news however, in 2019 it was discovered that some of the King’s Park buildings were discovered to have been fitted with combustible cladding, similar to that used in Grenfell Tower. In September 2019, a fire tore up the side of one of the development’s blocks, damaging properties on every floor.