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Rise Park
Rise Park Location within Greater London
London borough	Havering
Ceremonial county	Greater London
Region	London
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	ROMFORD
Postcode district	RM1
Dialling code	01708
Police	Metropolitan
Fire	London
Ambulance	London
London Assembly	Havering and Redbridge

Toponomy

Rise Park is named from Risebridge which is immediately to the east. Risebridge means 'causeway made with brushwood' from the Old English 'hrÌs' and 'brycj', probably referring to the crossing of a marshy area where two streams flow into the River Beam.

Park

The park is one of four parks that stretch from Romford town centre to Havering-atte-Bower.

• The first is Lodge Farm Park with the southern entrance in Carlton Road and the northern entrance on Main Road.
• The next is Raphael Park, (normally referred to as Raphael's Park,) with the southern entrance in Main Road and the northern entrance just south of the A12 Eastern Avenue.
• The next is Rise Park with the southern entrance close to the northern side of the A12 Eastern Avenue. There are other entrances in Beauly Way, Dee Way and Garry Close. The northern entrance is on Lower Bedfords Road.
• The final one is Bedfords Park with the southern entrance on Lower Bedfords Road and the northern entrance on Broxhill Road.

Move these two sections around so Tommy England is at the beginning. Amend the wording so it is not a straight copy.

Much of Risebridge’s farmland was acquired during the First World War by Tommy (Thomas) England, a local trader, property speculator and Councillor. Rise Park forms part of Tommy England's vision of a 'Green Lung' running through the borough connecting Romford in the south to Havering-atte-Bower in the north. He was instrumental in various public improvement schemes in the borough between the two World Wars. In order to realise his green corridor through the borough, in 1937 he donated 23.5 acres of land for the creation of Rise Park to connect Raphael Park and Bedfords Park. The park was opened in 1937 and was laid out with a children's play area and paddling pool. In the 1960s the Romford Official Guides were able to promote a long distance walk through 4 Council owned parks. The stream running through Rise Park is not named (although on an incorrectly mapped Environment Agency map it is named as Orange Tree Stream). It originates from a spring in Havering-atte-Bower and flows underground at the main culvert near Rise park play area to join the River Rom at North Street whilst the spur off to form the Rise Park Drain running around the border of the park and golf course flows underground to join Blacks Brook in Raphael Park at Brook Road entrance.

In 1939 Gidea Park Cricket Club found a new home at Rise Park but facilities were not ideal, each match requiring a marquee to be erected. In 1940 the Secretary reported that the season had been marred by hold ups due to air raids and two large bomb craters on the outfield! Finally, after temporary use of the South Essex Waterworks ground, the club applied to the Council to use the Gidea Park Sports Ground. Add bit about photo.

In 1964 a pavilion was built and wooden huts to the far side of the stream. It is understood the ground was used by the former Romford Athletics club with the park being laid out with a marked running track, two throwing circles, a long/high jump pit and practice cricket nets. The park had a cricket pitch and was used for regular cricket matches during the summer months.

The Friends of the park were formed in 2010 and were awarded Official Friends Group Status in 2014. In 2015 the Friends made a successful application to Veolia North Thames Trust based upon consultation feedback and the park was awarded £70,000.

The park was presented with a Silver Award in the Large Park of the Year Category in London in Bloom 2015.

During the winter of 2015/16 the Parks Service undertook restoration works to the park including; new outdoor gym equipment, signage, interpretation signage, bins, benches, planting, inner gate from the car par to the park. Repairs were made to the main gates, and the pillars were replaced at the main entrance. Two tennis courts were created. The Friends of Rise Park undertook a major repainting programme and repainted the railings and gates.

Estate

Move these two sections around so Tommy England is at the beginning. Amend the wording so it is not a straight copy.

Move these this section around so history of the estate is at the beginning.

Despite his own surname, England gave most of the new roads names derived from the geography of Scotland. To the west of Rise Park, Lawns Way and Lawns Park are named after the former Lawns House, the area’s only large property in the 19th century. Housebuilding in Rise Park started in the 1920s and accelerated in the 1930s. In the same year the Rise Park estate went on the market, through local agents Hilbery Chaplin. The promotional literature proclaimed that with its rural atmosphere and various different types of houses this was “undoubtedly one of the most attractive estates in Romford … For the housewife who requires less work and does not wish to climb stairs there are bungalows, detached or semi-detached.” Prices started at £610 freehold.

1953 ***** Four hundred private houses would be built in Rise Park after Romford Council failed to secure a compulsory purchase order for the land. It meant the council wouldn’t be able to build council houses as it hoped. Instead, the homes built would be for private buyers, costing between £2,000 and £2,350. Objections came from the people who owned the land and had already planned to build on it. The borough surveyor Hugh Hird conceded that private developers Messrs Jackson would be able to complete a development faster than the council, but the deputy town clerk Mr J. E. Symons said there was “no doubt” that council houses were more needed than private houses for sale. The houses that would now be built were expected to constitute the London area’s largest post-war development. The area suffered bombing during the Blitz and saw further building after the Second World War, with another flurry more recently.

Add bits about 1. Jackson (style) houses as they are called 2. Largely three bedroom semi detached with oriel bay windows to small front bedroom 3. No garage 3. Nash houses probably forget this one

Finlock gutters

oriel bay windows semi detached

Places of Worship

St. James Collier Row

***** Vicarage (add link) in Rise Park *****

Education

Rise Park Infant and Junior Schools

Rise Park infant and junior schools were built on Annan Way in the late 1950s. The schools converted to academy status in 2014 under the aegis of the Rise Park Academy Trust.

Bower Park Academy

Bower Park Academy is not strictly on the estate, but just over Lower Bedfords Road on the northern boundary.

Transport

Buses

Add bit about no train connection. Also no direct link to Collier Row

Route Number	Route	Via	Operator
103	Rainham Station to Chase Cross	Dagenham East Station Dagenham Civic Centre : Romford Station Romford Bus Garage	Stagecoach
499	Stansgate Road Shops to Gallows Corner Tesco	Dagenham Civic Centre : Queen's Hospital : Romford Station Marshalls Park School : Hilldene Primary School	Stagecoach
575	The Brewery to Harlow Bus Garage	Havering-atte-Bower Green - Passingford Bridge - Abridge Market Place - Debden Station Epping	Go-Ahead London

Shopping

There is a parade of shops in Moray Way by the junction with Havering Road, opposite the Havering Road Methodist Church. Another parade of shops, (called Rise Park Parade,) are on the junction of Pettits Lane North and the A12 on the northern side. They are diagonally opposite the Fire Station. There is also a parade of shops just outside of the estate on the western side of Havering Road, in Gobions Avenue, just beyond The Aspen Tree public house. A larger selection of shops are at Collier Row, but there is no direct bus link to it. Romford provides extensive shopping facilities.

Post Office

There was never a Post Office at Moray Way, but there were post offices at Rise Park Parade and Gobions Avenue. They are now closed and the nearest post office is at Collier Row.

Fire Station

There is a Fire Station, one of four in Havering, in Pettits Lane North, close to the junction with the A12.

Social Hall

Tweed Way Social Hall was built in 1956 and was taken over by a community organisation in 2012. The hall measures 18.3m x 9.1m and can accommodate up to 150 people. There is a kitchen, disabled toilet and parking for 20 cars. There is a small annexe which can be hired separately. It acts as a polling station during local and general elections.

Rise Park is an area of Romford, a district in the London Borough of Havering. It is one of a series of parks which stretch northwards from the railway line at Romford. The southern entrance to Rise Park is just north of the A12 Eastern Avenue, and the northern entrance is on Lower Bedfords Road. It does have a further four other entrances located in Beauly Way, Dee Way, Garry Close, and Isbell Gardens. Rise Park has a low crime rate and has a significant number of bungalows located in the area. There has a been a number of new housing developments in the area, and there are even some private roads it is defined by estate agents as 'sought after'. House prices in the area vary a typical 3 bedroom house sells for an average of £300,000, where as houses in roads such as Wood View Mews and Wallace Way houses can fetch up to £500,000 or more.

See Also

• Havering parks and open spaces
• Havering Council, Parks and open spaces
• Havering Council, Rise Park Management Plan
• Hidden London, Rise Park
• Romford Recorder, Havering history, 26 July 1953
• Tweed Way Hall Community Association

Photographs

• The Café, Rise Park Take new photo.
• Tweed Way Hall
• Tweed Way Hall
• The Fire Station

Category:Parks and open spaces in the London Borough of Havering Category:Areas of London Category:Districts of the London Borough of Havering Category:Romford