Epping Forest at Chingford Plain

The Corporation bought out the nineteen forest manors under Acts of 1871 and 1872, and the Epping Forest Act 1878 required it to keep Epping Forest unenclosed and unbuilt on as an open space for the recreation and enjoyment of the people. Queen Victoria dedicated the forest 'to the use and enjoyment of my people for all time' at Chingford on 6 May 1882, which is where the name the People's Forest comes from. The parts of the forest inside the London Borough of Waltham Forest are Chingford Plain, Walthamstow Forest, Gilbert's Slade, Leyton Flats and Bush Wood; Wanstead Flats lies mainly beyond the borough boundary, and Connaught Water, the lake near the Chingford entrance, is in Epping Forest District, Essex. Wanstead Park, a Grade II* registered park and garden, NHLE 1000194, is Redbridge's, and the western fringe of that registered landscape, at Bush Wood, falls inside the Waltham Forest boundary. The car parks are Barn Hoppitt, E4 7QH, Bury Road, E4 7AZ, and Connaught Water, IG9 5UB, all with ANPR cameras. Chingford station is 501 m from the Rangers Road entrance, and buses 97, 179, 212, 397, 444 and night route N26 serve the road.