Shot across two freezing cold days in February, I finally set out to make a video about the history of Wanstead Park. It’s a place so rich in narratives that I was slightly intimidated by the idea of trying to capture this on camera in one walk but knew it was time to have a go anyway.

Video description, credits and info

Wanstead Park, in the London Borough of Redbridge and controlled by the Corporation of London, has a history that stretches back to the Mesolithic period. Flint artefacts have been found in the park as well as a Bronze Age arrowhead and numerous Roman antiquities.
The Park is famous for being the landscaped grounds of Richard Child, Earl Tylney’s enormous mansion, Wanstead House. When the house was built in 1715 it was said to be one of the finest ‘palaces’ in all of Europe. Sir Josiah Child had purchased Wanstead House in 1673 and passed it on to his son, Richard, who became Earl Tylney. It was when the house and park was inherited by Catherine Tylney Long who married William Pole Wellesley in 1812 that the story enters into the folklore of East London and Essex.

But the manor of Wanstead goes back much further in time. A favourite hunting lodge of Henry VII, it was frequently visited by Elizabeth I when owned by Richard Dudley, Earl of Leicester and later the Earl of Essex. James I was also very fond of Wanstead Hall.

Wanstead Park was saved for the people of London by the Corporation of London as part of Epping Forest, and is a real treasure of East London. The bluebells in Chalet Wood are a major attraction, and the extensive ponds are home to an array of birds – most notably Herons.

Credits:
Shot edited and presented by John Rogers
Drone footage by highflyingdroneshots.co.uk / instagram.com/highflyingdrone
Thanks to: Wanstead Golf Club, Sam and Mike, and Geoff Burrage
Castlemaine XXX image from Wikimedia Commons CC licence
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi…
Open Street Map “© OpenStreetMap contributors” using data available under the Open Database Licence

*The drone footage used in this video was shot by a fully insured operator with CAA permissions and was captured in accordance with regulations and local bylaws.