Hornchurch Country Park

RFC Suttons Farm opened on 3 October 1915. On the night of 2/3 September 1916 Lieutenant William Leefe Robinson took off from it and shot down the airship SL11, which crashed in flames near Cuffley; he was awarded the Victoria Cross. Suttons Farm closed on 31 December 1919, the site was bought back from New College Oxford, RAF Suttons Farm opened in 1928 and was renamed RAF Hornchurch a few months later to make it easier to find on public transport, and the airfield closed in April 1962. The council states that the main car park at Squadrons Approach 'was an aircraft dispersal bay used to protect Spitfires and their ground crews during the war'. Ingrebourne Marshes, running down the eastern side of the park, are a Site of Special Scientific Interest with a freshwater reed bed; public access to the marshes is restricted but they are visible from within and outside the park, and spotted crake and bittern have been recorded in recent years. Albyns Farmhouse at the south-western edge is listed Grade II, NHLE 1299961. The RAF Hornchurch conservation area is a separate site of 0.93 hectares at Astra Close and 89-99 Wood Lane, South Hornchurch, designated on 7 June 1989, and the country park is not within it. The 252 and the 652 stop 336 m and 359 m from Squadrons Approach.